John Morris Russell made his official debut as conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra personal September 16 at Music Hall.
It was out in front of Music Hall, actually, where he shook hands and greeted Pops fans on their way to the first concert of the season.  Russell's onstage program comprised a sampler of American music, with jazz, pop, Broadway and film music.  Making it an even more signal occasion was the Pops debut of Broadway great Brian Stokes Mitchell and "American Idol" star Katharine McPhee (first published in The Cincinnati Enquirer, Sept. 18, 2011).
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Neeme Järvi conducting encore (Strauss, "Bauern Polka") at final concert of 2011 Järvi Festival in Pärnu, Estonia (photo by Tea Tuhkur)

Beethoven's Seventh Symphony and encores by Johann Strauss Jr. made a jubilant finale for the first International Järvi Summer Festival in Pärnu, Estonia August 4.  Neeme Järvi conducted the Estonian National Youth Symphony Orchestra.  Soloists were cellist Teet Järvi in Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme, flutist Maarika Järvi and violist Mikhail Zemtsov in Ernest Bloch's Concertino for Flute, Viola and String Orchestra and bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann in Mozart's Bassoon Concerto. (first published at www.ConcertoNet.com)
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Paavo Järvi and Ivry Gitlis (photo by Tea Tuhkur)

Israeli violinist Ivry Gitlis, at the age of 88, captivated his audience in Pärnu, Estonia August 2.  The concert , which featured Gitlis in performance by himself and with six young violinists in concertos by Vivaldi and Bach, took place in Pärnu Concert Hall and was part of the first International Järvi Summer Festival.  Paavo Järvi led the Estonian National Youth Chamber Orchestra.  (first published at  www.ConcertoNet.com)
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Neeme Järvi

Chamber music was an integral part of the first International Järvi Summer Festival in Pärnu, Estonia (July 28-August 4).  All of the five chamber concerts featured one of more members of the prodigious musical family of conductor Neeme Järvi.  "Night music with Järvi's" July 31 at Pärnu's landmark Ammende Villa was a particularly tasty affair, with nine Järvi's in music from Robert Schumann to Astor Piazzolla.  (first published at www.ConcertoNet.com)
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Cincinnati Opera closed its 2011 summer festival July 27 at Music Hall with Mozart's Singspiel "The Magic Flute."  Everything about it worked, including soprano Audrey Luna's high Fs as the Queen of the Night."  There was  nothing to do but to smile. (by Thomas Consolo)
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Paavo Järvi conducting the Järvi Festival Orchestra, Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, violin, Pärnu Concert Hall, Pärnu, Estonia (photo by Tea Tuhkur)

The newly created International Järvi Summer Festival opened July 28 in Pärnu, Estonia on the shores of the Baltic Sea.  It was a wholly fitting program, with artistic adviser Paavo Järvi conducting the järvi Festival Orchestra.  There were "Sing into the Wind" by contemporary Estonian composer Tõnu Korvits, the Violin Concerto by Finnish neighbor Jean Sibelius performed by Anna-Liisa Bezrodny and in celebration of the new, Robert  Schumann's 'Symphony No. 1 ("Spring"). (first published at www.ConcertoNet.com)
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Tatiana Monogarova as Tatyana (photo by Philip Groshong for Cincinnati Opera)

Feelings -- and coming to terms with them -- are what Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" is all about.  Based on the verse novel by Alexander Pushkin, it tells the age-old story of what might have been.  Cincinnati Opera's "Eugene Onegin," the second in its 91-year history and first-ever opera sung in Russian, featured a stellar cast, with baritone Nathan Gunn as Onegin, soprano Tatiana Monogarova as Tatyana and William Burden as Lensky, a superb conductor, Vasily Petrenko, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in a performance to lacerate the heart. (first published at http://www.ConcertoNet.com/)
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Cincinnati's innovative chamber ensemble concert:nova closed its fourth season July 6 with a concert featuring choreographer Heather Britt and dancer/choreographers from the Cincinnati Ballet in Samuel Barber's "Cave of the Heart" and Copland's "Appalachian Spring."  The al fresco concert, which was conducted by Edwin Outwater of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, was held in Alice Bimel Courtyard at the Cincinnati Art Museum. 
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It was a red, white and blue evening at the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra's annual Fourth of July concert Monday night at Riverbend.  On the podium was Pops conductor designate John Morris Russell, who filled the late Erich Kunzel shoes with distinction -- and American flag sox.  Soloists were soprano Karen Slack, baritone Daniel Narducci and the Air Force Band of Flight Prism Brass.  Adding "boom" to the evening was a dazzling display of Rozzi's Famous Fireworks.
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John Adams' "A Flowering Tree" opened in a new production by Cincinnati Opera June 30 at Music Hall in Cincinnati (with repeat July 2).  Directed by Brian Robertson, it was a true feast for the senses -- to satiety, with video projections, ballet, dazzling costumes and Thomas Hase's magical lighting -- though there was Adams' magnificent score to provide constant reference.  Re-creating their roles in the 2006 premiere in Vienna were Eric Owens as the Storyteller, soprano Jessica Rivera as Kumudha and Russell Thomas as the Prince. Joana Carneiro led with assurance in the pit. (first published at www.Concerto.Net.com
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Updating opera is an oft-tried, seldom ideal endeavor.  Seattle Opera's re-setting of Verdi's "Rigoletto" in 1936 Mantua, during Mussolini-era Italy, works because of the museum aspect of the country, i.e. with classic artworks everywhere, and the universality of its characters.  Cincinnati Opera opened its 2011 summer festival June 16 at Music Hall with the Seattle Opera production, first seen in Cincinnati in 2005.  (first published at www.ConcertoNet.com)   - [Read more]

setting for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare, Corbett Theater, SCPA, June 12, 2011

From Shakespearean comedy to 21st-century angst, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra showed that less is more June 12 at the School for Creative and Performing Arts.  Bottom ("A Midsummer Night's Dream") rubbed flanks with Death herself in the Christian Jost/Woody Allen spoof "Death Knocks," both semi-staged with actors, singers, minimal props and costumes.
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Ekaterina Semenchuk

The second weekend of the 2011 Cincinnati May Festival began May 27 at Music Hall with a detour from this year's sacred music theme, Mahler's early fairy tale cantata "Das Klagende Lied."  It was a storybook performance, with strong voices and vibrant playing by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  Balancing the profane with the sacred was Haydn's Mass in B-flat Major, "Heiligmesse." (first published at www.ConcertoNet.com)
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Frequency String Quartet. L to R: Joshua Ulrich (seated), Michael Jorgensen, Amy Gillinghham, Dominic DeStefano

Steve Reich's "Different Trains" came to The Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati May 24.  Performing was the newly formed Frequency String Quartet.  The concert, co-sponsored by the Freedom Center and the Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education, was  presented in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month and also included works by Dmitri Shostakovich and Viktor Ullmann.
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James Conlon

Eastern Europe, sacred music and symphonies with voice were the themes of the second night of the 2011 Cincinnati May Festival.  Performed for the first time in 26 years was Leos Janacek's "Glagolitic Mass," introduced to the May Festival by music director James Conlon in 1985.  (first published at www.ConcertoNet.com)
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