The Ariel String Quartet, in residence at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, offered one each from Beethoven's early, middle and late quartets Feb. 22 in Corbett Auditorium at CCM. With Op. 18, No. 3, Op. 59, No. 2 and Op. 131, they have reached the midpoint in their complete Beethoven cycle.
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Music director laureate Paavo Järvi made a return visit to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Feb. 20 at Music Hall for the second time since he stepped down  as music director in May, 2011. His calling card was Mahler's Symphony No. 4.The concert was doubly notable, marking the CSO debut of pianist Zhang Zuo in Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1.
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Cincinnati Ballet observed its 50th anniversary in a big way Feb. 13-16, 2014, with the world premiere of "King Arthur's Camelot," a world premiere with a newly commissioned score by Canadian composer John Estacio. With everything going for it, including live music by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the $1.9 million project was a triumph for the Ballet.
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Shawn Mlynek as Orfeo prepares to lead Euridice from Hades in Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo" (photo by Autumn West)

Claudio Monteverdi's ground-breaking 1607 opera "L'Orfeo" is a legendary work in music history. Cincinnati Chamber Opera brought it to life Feb. 15 in a semi-staged performance at Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati. All it took was a full measure of talent and ingenuity.
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The Beatles made their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show 50 years ago this year. The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, led by associate conductor Robert Treviño, celebrated with Beatles tribute band "Classical Mystery Tour" Feb. 9 at Music Hall. The sellout concert drew enthusiastic baby boomers, as well as Beatles fans of all ages.
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Radu Lupu

(first published in the Cincinnati Enquirer Feb. 7, 2014)
It was nine degrees Fahrenheit Friday morning (Feb. 7) in Cincinnati. Despite the cold and continued slippery conditions from an ice storm last week, a large crowd turned out to hear pianist Radu Lupu perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra at Music Hall. Beethoven's sunny Symphony No. 4 was also on the program, which was led by guest conductor David Afkham in an auspicious CSO debut.
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Members of MYCincinnati performing with concert:nova Feb. 6, 2014 at The Carnegie in Covington, Kentucky (photo by Ellen Karns)

Cincinnati's concert:nova is noted for its imaginative programming and use of alternative venues. C:n participated in the worldwide remembrance of World War I Feb. 6 at Carnegie Center Galleries in Covington, Kentucky. The program, which consisted of chamber music, pop music, poetry, readings and dance, was deeply affecting and will long be remembered.
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Percussionist Colin Currie

(first published at www.cincinnati.com Feb. 1, 2013)
Percussionist Colin Currie performed fellow Scotsman James MacMillan's 1992 percussion concerto "Veni, Veni Emmanuel" before a rapt audience Jan. 31 at Music Hall. Also on the program -- led by guest conductor Christoph König in an impressive CSO debut -- was Dvořák's lesser known Symphony No. 5 in F Major, only heard once on previous CSO concerts, in 1981.
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L to R: Alexandra Kazovsky, Jan Grüning , Gershon Gerchikov, Amit Even-Tov

A journey of Beethoven’s complete string quartets began with three Thursday evening in Corbett Auditorium at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

The travelers were the Ariel Quartet: violinists Alexandra Kazovsky and Gershon Gerchikov, violist Jan Grüning and cellist Amit Even-Tov.

The youthful foursome, only in their second year as quartet-in-residence at CCM, took a rapt audience with them on the first of six concerts through March 29, to include all 16 Beethoven quartets and the “Grosse Fuge.”

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front, kneeling, Abigail Paschke as Maria, with Maria Ventura as the Abbess (photo by Mikkis Schaffner)

Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The Sound of Music," unforgettable onstage and on film -- to the point where even to attempt it is a challenge --  received a superlative performance by the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and The Carnegie in Covington Jan. 18 in The Carnegie's Otto M. Budig Theatre. A co-production of the KSO and The Carnegie, the show was remarkable for its impact within a "lightly staged" context. (first published in the Cincinnati Enquirer Jan. 20).
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image by Ben Garrison

The weather outside was frightful (by Cincinnati standards and accordingly, the house count was small), but January 16's Cincinnati Symphony concert at Music Hall was tops. Led by guest conductor John Storgårds (a Finn who must have blinked at the ice and snow), the program included Tchaikovsky's "Hamlet" Fantasy Overture, Four Legends by Sibelius and Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks' “Vox Amoris,” featuring Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto. Enhancing the "Hamlet" Overture (not heard at the CSO since 1967) was Cincinnati actor Jeremy Dubin, who framed it with verses from Shakespeare's play.   - [Read more]

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, led by music director Louis Langrée, said "Happy New Year" with Beethoven and Brahms January 10 at Music Hall. Guest artist in Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 1 was the brilliant French pianist Hélène Grimaud.
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