Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra are exploring musical ecstasy both divine and human this week. Olivier Messiaen’s exotic, program-length Turangalîla Symphony will feature pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and ondes martenot artist Cynthia Millar (playing that very odd, early electronic instrument) on Wednesday, April 25 at 7:30 pm. Then on Saturday, April 28 at 8:00 pm, countertenor Iestyn Davies and organist Paul Jacobs will team up with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus for exalted music by J.S. Bach, Giovanni Gabrieli and colleagues, and Franz Liszt.
The human side of musical ecstasy comes in the form of a complete concert version of Wagner’s opera, Tristan and Isolde. The final two performances will be on Thursday, April 26 at 6:00 pm (note the early start — this is a long piece) and Sunday, April 30 at 3:00 pm. The all-star cast is headed up by Gerhard Siegel and Nina Stemme. Tickets for all Cleveland Orchestra performances are available online.
Puccini’s operas owe a lot to Wagner, and you can explore that idea this weekend when Cleveland Opera Theater presents Madama Butterfly at the Maltz Performing Arts Center in University Circle on Friday, April 27 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, April 29 at 3:00 pm. Dina Kuznetsova sings the tragic role of Cio Cio San, who is wooed, then abandoned by U.S. naval officer B.F. Pinkerton (Timothy Culver). Scott Skiba directs the production, and Domenico Boyagian conducts. Tickets can be reserved online.
Two of Cleveland’s fine early music ensembles get together this weekend for three performances of “Let the Heavens Rejoice: Celebratory Psalms for Voices & Instruments.” Guest conductor Scott Metcalfe leads Quire Cleveland and Les Délices in works by Aubert, Rameau, Lefebvre, Charpentier, and Mondonville — a mix of well-known and obscure French Baroque composers — on Friday, April 27 at 7:30 pm in St. Noel Church in Willoughby Hills, on Saturday, April 28 at 8:00 pm at Lakewood Congregational Church, and on Sunday, April 29 at 4:00 pm in Herr Chapel of Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. Tickets are available online. Want to watch this performance get put together? The two groups will hold a free open rehearsal on Wednesday, April 25 from 7:00-10:00 pm in Herr Chapel.
West Shore Chorale will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a concert on Sunday, April 29 at 7:30 pm at Magnificat Performing Arts Center in Rocky River. The choir is giving itself a birthday present in the form of a commissioned work. Broadway composer Dave Malloy’s Dewdrops (A Requiem) will precede WSC’s performance of Mozart’s Requiem, led by John Drotleff and incorporating student singers from local high schools. Malloy, who is a Lakewood High School grad and former member of the West Shore Chorale, will be featured in a free, meet-the-composer Q&A session on Saturday, April 28 at noon in the same venue. Concert tickets can be ordered online.
Check out details of these and many other classical music events on our Concert Listings page.
