John Morris Russell

John Morris Russell is only the second conductor in Cincinnati Pops Orchestra history.  As successor to founding conductor Erich Kunzel, who died in September, 2009, he has "huge shoes" to fill, he said.  With talent, training, experience and the energy to match, he has the right formula to become the next "Mr. Pops."  Now music director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Windsor, Ontario, he will be coming "home," too, since he was associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony from 1995-2006.
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Eyjafjallajökull covered with ash plume

Like most years, picking the best of Cincinnati's classical music offerings for 2010 is not easy, about as easy as spelling the name of that Icelandic volcano . . . .?  Nevertheless, upon reflection, here is what impressed Music in Cincinnati the most during the year almost passed, ranging from Claudio Monteverdi to James MacMillan.
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Paavo Järvi

Cincinnati Symphony music director Paavo Jarvi has entered the home stretch of his ten-year tenure in the Queen City.  Absent since opening the season in September with soprano Kathleen Battle, he returns for the first of eight final programs through May with the CSO.  Guest artist is violinist Hilary Hahn in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 "Turkish").  The remainder of the program is small delights by Bartok (1939 Divertimento), Britten (Simple Symphony) and Stravinsky (Suite from "Pulcinella").  "It's bittersweet," said Järvi, of his impending departure.  "Certain things are inevitable and you know you have to move, but at the same time you come back (he plans to guest conduct the CSO in the future).  You know, it's life."
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Ennead Architects preliminary concept of a revitalized Music Hall, showing unbricked windows

Cincinnati's Music Hall is being "revitalized" to better serve the purposes it has acquired over the years.  Built to house the biennial May Festival, the building became the city's virtual convention center until replaced in the 20th-century by more modern structures downtown.  During the intervening years. Music Hall's Springer Auditorium became the performance home of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Opera and Cincinnati Ballet, though its size (3,516 seats) renders it less than ideal for any of them. A Working Group of the tenant organizations and the Cincinnati Arts Association, which administers Music Hall on behalf of the city, has engaged Ennead Architects of New York to design a plan for renovation of the building.  This plan was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Music Hall in September, 2010, as reported here by Kathleen Janson in the Winter issue of "Music Hall Marks," the quarterly newsletter of SPMH.
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Marco Panuccio in Italy, 2010

Tenor Marco (formerly Mark) Panuccio is one of Cincinnati's own. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Panuccio sang in the choir of St. Peter in Chains Cathedral when he came to town from his native Pennsylvania.  He was introduced to Cincinnati audiences at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's "Home for the Holidays" concert in December, 1999 when he sang "O Holy Night."  A highpoint of the show, he repeated it each year until the orchestra canceled "Home for the Holidays" in 2004 for budgetary reasons.  Panuccio, now singing leading roles on the opera stages of the world, returns to Cincinnati Dec. 4 to sing "O Holy Night" and more on his own holiday concert at St. Peter in Chains.
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The holiday season is accompanied by abundant music each year and 2010 is no exception.  Coming up in Cincinnati this December are concerts by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Pops, the May Festival Chorus, ensembles of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, the Vocal Arts Ensemble, tenor Marco Panuccio,Cincinnati Camerata, the Harlem Quartet, New York Polyphony, Cincinnati Children's Choir and Musica Sacra.  Add to that the debut of the "Mighty Wurlitzer" theater organ in the Music Hall Ballroom and the many fine programs at area churches and there will be a joyful noise indeed.
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Annalisa Pappano with her lirone

Earl Rivers of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, had been anticipating 2010 for some time.  Now that it's here, he will lead a 400th-anniversary performance of Claudio Monteverdi's ground-breaking Vespers of 1610.  The performance, a very special one, featuring noted early music artists, takes place November 21 in Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati.  The 90-minute work will be performed by the CCM Chamber Choir, Philharmonia Chamber Orchestra, eight vocal soloists and a continuo group comprising theorbo, archlute, baroque guitar, viola da gamba, lirone, harp, harpsichord, organ and double bass.  Michael Leopold of Milan, Italy will play theorbo, with Vivian Montgomery on harpsichord and organ, Annalisa Pappano on lirone and Rodney Stucky on archlute and Baroque guitar.
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Marble Court, Palace of Versailles, France

The word "baroque" comes from barroco (Portuguese) meaning "misshapen pearl."  There is baroque architecture, painting, sculpture and of course music.  The Cincinnati chamber ensemble concert:nova presents a two-part festival of the baroque with Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, Telemann, Albinoni and baroque-inspired works by Stravinsky and Samuel Barber Nov. 2 and 3 at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  Musicologist Bruce McClung of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music will provide commentary.
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Outside the Taft Theatre on Fifth Street in downtown Cincinnati

Because of construction work at Music Hall, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra will perform in the Taft Theatre during the 2012-2013 season.  With its good acoustics, unobstructed sight lines, reasonable size (2,500 seats as opposed to 3,500 in Music Hall) and prime location (across the street from Procter and Gamble headquarters on Fifth Street downtown), the Taft has much to offer.  The CSO will take over management of the theater as well, with the possibility of an added revenue stream for the orchestra.
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Alla Karishneva on deck of the "Mihael Lomonosov" on the Dnieper River in Ukraine

As a music writer and critic, I have observed many virtuosi: pianists, violinists, cellists, flutists, conductors, etc. etc.  The word can be extended to cover exceptional skill at anything, such as chess, computers, public speaking, even cooking. On a visit to Ukraine in August, 2010 I met a virtuoso tour guide, Alla Karishneva.
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Program cover, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra 2001-2002 season.

"Paavo's Pictures," a retrospective of Paavo Järvi's tenure as music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will run on this site during the CSO's 2010-2011 season, Jarvi's 10th and last as its music director.  The series begins on a fateful day, September 11, 2001.
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Sergiu Celibidache

Some of the best conductors are also pedagogues, said Leonid Grin, concluding his lecutre/master class "The Conductor's Mind" at Neeme Järvi's Summer Academy in Pärnu, Estonia July 27.  As an example, he chose the great Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache.  If a conductor could combine the three traits and rehearsal techniques Grin described in the lecture, i.e. artistry, perfectionism and pedagogic ability, the Heaven Orchestra would have an ideal music director.
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Herbert von Karajan

Conductor Herbert von Karajan had the gift of magnetism, said Leonid Grin in a lecture/master class for students at the Neeme Järvi Summer Academy in Pärnu, Estonia in July, 2010.  This was particularly useful for the legendary Austrian conductor whom Grin describes as "a perfectionist" who in rehearsal never left his work unfinished and would only move on when he was completely satisfied.
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Leonard Bernstein

Rehearsal style is a conductor's "authentic signature," said Leonid Grin in his lecture/master class at Neeme Järvi's Summer Academy in Pärnu, Estonia July 27.  It is in rehearsal that you see the full "personality, knowledge and ability" of a conductor.  Key to it is careful preparation and styles of rehearsing differ.  To illustrate, Grin presented videos of three great conductors in rehearsal, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan and Sergiu Celibidache.  Bernstein, he said, conducted a rehearsal like a "mini-concert" providing encouragement to his players in highly imaginative ways. 
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Leonid Grin conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Photo by David Philippi

Technique, as applied to orchestral conducting, is not just beating time or forcing one's ego upon a group of musicians.  It's the conductor's language and an expression of his personality, says Leonid Grin, co-instructor with Neeme Järvi at the 2010 Neeme Järvi Summer Academy in Pärnu, Estonia. 
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