The Twin Cities’ enterprising Rose Ensemble devises programs that put modern listeners in touch with the music of earlier and distant cultures. Under the direction of Jordan Shramek, the ensemble will visit downtown Cleveland’s Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on Wednesday, September 30 at 7:30 pm to present “Slavic Wonders: Feasts and Saints in Early Russia, Poland, and Bohemia.” The program includes elaborate, 12-voice Baroque motets from the Russian Orthodox tradition, medieval Latin chants for Slavic saints, and double-choir works from the Polish Renaissance. The concert is free.
Gustav Mahler’s sprawly symphonies often take up an entire program. That will be the case on Thursday evening, October 1 at 7:30 pm at Severance Hall when Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra, the women of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, and the orchestra’s Children’s Choir in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. The soprano soloist is Kelley O’Connor, and the famous “Bell Chorus” will bring a smile to your face when St. Peter is absolved of his sins and welcomed into heaven. The concert will be repeated on Friday, October 2 at 8. Tickets are available online.
François Dumont, a medalist in the 2013 Cleveland International Piano Competition, will return to town this week with his wife, soprano Helen Kearns, for one of CIPC’s popular “PianoPaloozas.” Usually intimate house parties, this Palooza will take place at Harkness Chapel at Case Western Reserve University on Thursday, October 1 at 7:30 pm. The playlist will include four of Frédéric Chopin’s piano Ballades as well as arias from The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, Rigoletto, and other romantic operas and operettas. You can order tickets online.
On Sunday, October 4, there are at least a dozen classical concerts clamoring for your attention. Here are three especially interesting — and completely different — musical experiences to choose from.
At 2:00 pm, the Cleveland Museum of Art will present “Ustatshakirt Plus,” a concert of mountain music of the Kyrgyz republic and new compositions by Nurlanbek Nyshanov. The ensemble will play a range of traditional instruments during their performance in Gartner Auditorium (tickets here).
At 3:00 pm, the Autana Trio (Yuri Noh, piano, Rubén Rengel, violin, and Anna Hurt, cello) will play a free concert on the Arts Renaissance Tremont series at Pilgrim Church in Tremont. This opening concert of the 25th season will feature Ludwig van Beethoven’s tuneful Trio in B-flat, Op. 97 (“Archduke”) and Dmitri Shostakovich’s Trio No. 2 in e, Op. 67.
And at 5:00 pm at the Church of the Covenant in University Circle, a Baroque Vespers and Organ Recital will bring the Case Concert Choir and Boston organist Balint Karosi together for a cantata by J.S. Bach and solo organ music. This one’s also free.
Looking forward to early next week, London’s Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble will call in at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:30 pm to open the Cleveland Chamber Music Society’s 66th season — the second stop on the ensemble’s 14-city tour. They’ll play Antonín Dvořák’s String Quintet in G, Op. 77 and Franz Schubert’s Octet in F, music you can learn more about at 6:30 pm in a pre-concert lecture. Tickets are available online (and student tickets are a steal at $5).
Check out a complete two-week calendar of classical music events here.
© 2023 Cleveland Scene
