In Sunday’s (3/17) Plain Dealer (Cleveland), Zachary Lewis writes, “Change at the Cleveland Orchestra continues apace. Just look at its new season. The new calendar for Severance Hall released today reflects an organization eager and willing to experiment, to dispense with habit and explore new possibilities. And yet the developments, plentiful as they are, mark not so much a break from tradition as a redirection. ‘It’s all part of a continuum of change,’ said executive director Gary Hanson. ‘But it’s all within the context of continuing the core vision of the institution.’ … For the first time in recent memory, the orchestra will honor a composer centennial, that of Benjamin Britten. Representing him will be his Violin Concerto, ‘Spring Symphony,’ and rarely-heard Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings. … The orchestra next season will revive its newfound tradition of presenting opera. On tap with [Music Director Franz] Welser-Möst in late May are the Cleveland Orchestra’s first performances of Janacek’s ‘The Cunning Little Vixen,’ in a semi-staged production featuring soprano Martina Jankova and bass-baritone Alan Held. … British composer Ryan Wigglesworth will begin a two-year term as Young Composer Fellow and see performance next March of his ‘Sternenfall.’ The orchestra also will premiere a Piccolo Concerto by Gabriela Lena Frank and perform recent pieces by Christopher Rouse and Jorg Widmann.”
Posted March 19, 2013
