Courtesy Cleveland Orchestra
Young Finnish phenom Klaus Mäkelä makes his conducting debut with The Cleveland Orchestra this Saturday, July 20 at 8 pm at Blossom Music Center. If one prodigy weren’t enough, the 23-year-old conductor joins 18-year-old Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovich for Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Mäkelä will also conduct Kodály’s enigmatic Dances of Galánta and Sibelius’ Symphony No. 5.
The Orchestra returns to Blossom on Sunday, July 21 at 7:00 pm under the baton of Thierry Fischer. Bizet’s Suite from Carmen launches the evening before guitarist Pepe Romero tackles Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. The Orchestra will also play Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio espagnol and will end with Debussy’s La mer. They’ll perform the same program in town, minus the Rimsky-Korsakov, on Friday, July 19 at 7:00 pm for the Summers@Severance series.
Tickets for these concerts, and multi-concert packages, are available here.
In the mid-century mood? The Kent/Blossom Music Festival’s Faculty Concert Series continues this week with a variety of mostly woodwind music on Wednesday, July 17 at 7:30 pm. Members of The Cleveland Orchestra will play Poulenc’s Flute Sonata, Honegger’s Rapsodie, Nicolas Roussakis’ Six Short Pieces, Martinů’s “Scherzo” from the Sextet for Piano and Winds, Henri King’s Two Little Bullfinches, and pieces by Piazzolla for cello and piano. The concert occurs in Kent State University’s Ludwig Recital Hall. Tickets available here.
The Cooper International Violin Competition heats up with its semifinal rounds this weekend. Young virtuosos from around the world will make their cases for advancing in the Competition with 35-minute programs of music. The semifinals span three days of concerts from Saturday, July 20 to Monday, July 22, with two sessions each day at 1:30 pm and 7 pm. Click here for the list of contestants and their repertoire. Rounds continue next week. All performances take place in Oberlin Conservatory’s Warner Concert Hall, and are free and open to the public. Click here for a live stream.
M.U.S.i.C invites you to their Summer Cabaret Concerts on Thursday, July 18 and Saturday, July 20, both at 7:30 pm at Orange Village Hall. Thursday’s program is called “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” sure to be an enchanting evening with selections from Chopin, including a Nocturne and the “Allegro moderato” from his Cello Sonata performed by Cleveland Orchestra cellist Brian Thornton, Liszt’s Feux follets, Rachmaninoff’s arrangement of Mendelssohn’s “Scherzo” from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mozart’s Oboe Quartet, “Quando m’en vo” from Puccini’s La bohème, and others.
Saturday’s concert, titled “Un soir d’Été — A French Musicale,” features music by Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Delibes, Bolcom, Piazzolla, and “a few surprises.”
Both Cabarets feature a talented mix of emerging and established musicians.
Tickets are available here.
For more concert events and details, visit our Concert Listings page at ClevelandClassical.com.
