Mida oli 2/26/08

They're calling it "Russian Passion," complete with flaming heart.
   The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra offers BOTH Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky Feb. 28-March 1 at Music Hall, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony. Concerts are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28, 8 p.m. Feb. 29 and March 1.
   Call it an overdose, but there's little doubt the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's attendance numbers will see a bit of a spike because of it.
   Five minutes of new music to open the concert, Norwegian composer Knut Vaage's "Tjat" ("Chatter") won't hurt a bit. Nor will a new, young conductor who is making waves, Norwegian Eivind Gullberg Jensen, and a pianist from Georgia (Russia) who earns raves, Alexander Korsantia.

Eivind Gullberg Jensen

Alexander Korsantia

Sweeten it even more Feb. 28 (only) with a buffet dinner before the concert free to ticketholders in the Music Hall Ballroom.  Doors open at 6 p.m.
   Tickets are $12-$75.25, $10 for students, half-price for seniors.  Call (513) 381-3300. or order online at www.cincinnatisymphony.com.
    Cincinnati's 24-member, all-professional Vocal Arts Ensemble has a choicer item on its menu, Gian Carlo Menotti's "madrigal fable" "The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore" at 8 p.m. March 1 in the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music's Corbett Auditorium. 4 p.m. March 2 at St. Margaret of York Catholic Church in Loveland.

Dancers of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music dance department in Menotti's "The Unicorn, the Gorgon and the Manticore" at CCM's Corbett Auditorium March 8

Led by music director Earl Rivers and presented in conjunction with the CCM dance department (Jiang Qui, choreographer) and CCM Chamber Players, it will be the VAE's first dance collaboration.
   Also on the program are two of Morten Lauridsen's "Madrigali: Six 'Fire Songs' on Italian Renaissance Poems" (1987) , William Hawley's "Tre Rime di Tasso" (2000) and Eric Whitacre's "Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine" (2001).
   Each concert will also feature a guest children's choir.  Cincinnati Children's Choir and the York Youth Singers will join the VAE in Mack Wilberg's setting of the American folk hymn "We'll Shout and Give Him Glory" March 1 and 2, respectively.
   Composed in 1956, Menotti's 45-minute fable  derives from the 16th-century madrigal comedy and evokes  the music of that period.  Set for chorus, dancers and a nine-member instrumental ensemble, it comprises 12 madrigals with an introduction and interludes.
   The story -- about a reclusive poet who periodically emerges from his castle to take Sunday strolls, each time accompanied by a different pet -- is a metaphor on the vagaries of fashion.  The three beasts, representing youth, middle and old age, symbolize the creative work of the artist and how humans embrace and reject it.  (This was an experience Menotti shared as a mid-century conservative.)
   Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students, at www.vaecinci.org, (513) 559-0000, or order by e-mail at vae@vaecinci.org.

   The Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestras have announced their 2008 summer season at Riverbend Music Center on the banks of the Ohio River.  There will be eight concerts, six by the Pops, two by the CSO.  Pops conductor Erich Kunzel. Pops music associate/principal arranger/composer Steven Reineke and CSO assistant conductor Eric Dudley will share conducting duties.
   Guest artists include the von Trapp Children ("Sound of Music" progeny) and Broadway singer/pianist Michael Cavanaugh (star of "Movin' Out").  There will be special concerts devoted to "Star Trek," July 4, the music of Billy Joel and George Gershwin, what's new on Broadway, "vintage" music and the inevitable, outdoor ("1812" Overture) Tchaikovsky.
   The schedule:

Cincinnati Pops

• June 21. The von Trapp Children. Steven Reineke, conductor.
• June 28. "Star Trek: The Music." Guests John DeLancie (Q from "Star Trek: The Next Generation") and Robert Picardo (doctor in "Star Trek: Voyager"). Erich Kunzel, conductor.
• July 4. "Red, White and Boom." Songs of America. Rozzi's Famous Fireworks. Reineke.
• July 12. "The Music of Billy Joel and More." Michael Cavanaugh. Reineke.
• July 19. "Piano Idol." Music of George Gershwin, including "Rhapsody in Blue" with CCM competition winner/pianist Myron Brown, "An American in Paris" and selections from "Porgy and Bess" with Roberta Laws, Antwayn Hopper, Gregg Baker and the May Festival Summer Chorus.  Kunzel.
• July 26. "Broadway and Beyond." Hits from recent Broadway shows, with vocal soloists Kristen Bracken, Steve Morgan and Michael Lowe and the May Festival Summer Chorus. Kunzel. 

 Cincinnati Symphony

• June 22. "Vintage Classics." Music from the world's greatest wine-producing countries. For $15 extra, pre-concert wine and cheese sampling and tour of Riverbend's new National City Pavilion. Eric Dudley, conductor.
• July 20. "All-Tchaikovsky Spectacular." "Marche Slave," Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Andrew von Oeyen, selections from "The Nutcracker," "1812" Overture with cannon fire and bells. Kunzel.
  

   Pops concerts begin at 8 p.m., classical concerts at 7:30 p.m.
   Tickets are $12.50-$46 for the pavilion (children $12.50), $18 for the lawn (children 12 and under free), $20 and $15 for July 4.  Lawn coupons are 10 for $125.  Call (513) 381-3300 or order at www.cincinnatisymphony.org.