Its Piano Days Time Plus the Rest of the Classical Music to Catch This Week

Summer is a time to relax and recharge, but that doesn’t mean that classical music events go on holiday. Here’s an edited list of concerts for your consideration.

– It’s the final week for Ohio Light Opera at Freedlander Theater in Wooster. The curtain goes up on Noël Coward’s Bitter Sweet on Wednesday, July 30 at 2 pm, and at 7:30 catch Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience. Herman Haller and Eduard Künneke’s The Cousin from Batavia plays on Thursday, July 31 at 2 pm, followed at 7:30 by George and Ira Gershwin’s Tip-Toes.

– On Friday August 1 at 2 pm, catch Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon and stick around to enjoy Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel at 7:30. Saturday, August 2 brings Bitter Sweet at 2 pm and Patience at 7:30. The 2025 season wraps up on Sunday, August 3 at 2 pm with The Cousin from Batavia. Tickets for all shows are available online.

– Piano Cleveland’s Piano Days wrap up this week as well. On Thursday, July 31 at 7:30, Kotaro Fukuma, the 2003 Cleveland International Piano Competition First Prize Winner returns to the Forest City to play Shimmering Water — 洸, a recital of French Impressionist music by Debussy and Ravel juxtaposed with works by contemporary Japanese composers in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Tickets available online.

– Then on Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 pm at the Hanna Theatre in Playhouse Square, Julliard-trained pianist, singer-songwriter, and storyteller Natalie Tenenbaum will present The Piano Re-imagined, which “incorporates live electronics and lighting design into a genre-bending show.” Tickets available online.

– The Cleveland Orchestra will play two different programs this week. On Thursday, July 31 at 7:00 pm, the Summers at Severance series will welcome guest conductor Christoph Koncz for Franz Liszt’s Les préludes, Ernst von Dohnányi’s Symphonic Minutes, and Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. Tickets available online.

– And on Saturday, August 2 at 7 pm, the Orchestra moves to Blossom with guest conductor Daniele Rustioni and pianist Alessio Bax, for Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture, Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1, and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 1. Tickets available online.

For details of these and other classical events, visit the ClevelandClassical.com Concert Listings.

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