Architectural renovation played a major role in determining my top 2017 Classical music events. Renovated spaces showed off their new acoustic chops with resounding success, rendering great performances even more memorable.
The year also marked the emergence of exciting Classical groups bringing to town new and rarely heard works often performed by supremely gifted young performers.
In no particular order, I’ll start with the great miracle that happened on the evening of Oct. 6. The much-anticipated reopening of Music Hall occurred on schedule, after a nearly two-year renovation that included a superb acoustic upgrade. New fixtures sparkle, there’s easier access to the upper floors and more bathrooms and concession areas.
Thanks to three platforms on hydraulic lifts, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is situated in the hall itself, in front of the proscenium arch. There is an actual sense of intimacy, with nearly 1,000 fewer seats and those remaining now wider with more legroom.
The sound is glorious. Opening night deserved a better program than the lackluster assemblage that showed off the acoustic improvements but had little sense of occasion. The real sonic triumph came two weeks later, with a staged performance of Claude Debussy’s Symbolist opera Pelléas et Mélisande. Maestro Louis Langrée led a brilliant performance of Debussy’s haunting, sensuous score. And director/designer James Darrah came through with an inventive staging that allowed the singers to literally surround the orchestra.
Memorial Hall reopened late last year, but 2017 saw a full range of Classical presentations — including one of my top choices. With improved seats, an intimate space and state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, it’s now one of the most sought-after venues for chamber music. The acclaimed Danish String Quartet’s long-awaited appearance in October demonstrated just how perfect Memorial Hall was for these musicians. (One of the violinists, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, expressed the group’s admiration for the hall’s acoustics.)
Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14 in C# minor, Opus 131, was a tour de force. I’ve simply never heard a better performance of this extraordinary work. The group appeared to play as a single organism, playing each of the seven movements with a sense of intimacy and clarity, concluding with fierce determination.
My third choice for year’s best took place in the non-renovated space of the Aronoff Center’s intimate Fifth Third Bank Theater. Five years after its acclaimed New York premiere, Missy Mazzoli’s opera Song From the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt proved to be worth waiting for. It was another example of Cincinnati Opera’s commitment to new works, this time in collaboration with concert:nova, whose members were in the pit and led by CSO associate conductor Keitaro Harada. I’ve been following Mazzoli’s music for years and this score was a breakthrough for her.
The production designed for Cincinnati Opera eliminated the original video projections but I didn’t miss them. The undisputed star was the brilliant Abigail Fischer, as Eberhardt. She embodied her character’s restless spirit with a lush, plangent mezzo-soprano incorporating every emotion from anticipation to resigned acceptance.
Another 2017 highlight was the Cincinnati Song Initiative, one of the city’s most intriguing new Classical groups, now in its second season. It explores Art Songs in thematic concerts that are one-offs or part of a larger series. In September, the Initiative presented works by Les Six, a group of French composers working in the early 20th century.
The setting, Willis Music in Kenwood, has a wonderfully intimate performance space that was perfect for songs that expressed love, anguish and the bitterness of war. The young singers and accompanists are University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music alumni with promising careers, especially baritone Simon Barrad, who’s becoming a fixture on the local scene.
Improved acoustics, more intimate venues and new groups promise more exciting offerings in 2018, which means the number of choice top Classical performances and events may grow. I can’t wait.
Contact Anne Arenstein: letters@ citybeat.com
This article appears in Dec 20-27, 2017.
