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To•Day

DIARY: Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-25, 2026

by Daniel Hathaway

CLASSICAL MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEKEND:

Trobár presents “The Lady” of Medieval Song. An exploration of rarely-performed medieval songs about The Lady, to The Lady, and by The Lady. (Pictured, 7 pm in Tucker Hall at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights, repeated on Saturday at West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River.)

The Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst, conductor, Leila Josefowicz, violin, and Trina Struble, harp, perform Adolphus Hailstork’s Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed, Bacewicz’s Symphony No. 4, the world premiere of Jüri Reinvere’s Concerto for Violin, Harp, and OrchestraI, and Dvořák’s Hero’s Song. (7:30 in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center. One performance only.)

MAY 23 – SATURDAY

Cleveland Repertory Orchestra presents “The Art of Joy,” Matthew Salvaggio, conductor, and M. Isaac Ripple, oboe. Zhou Tian’s Joy, Jennifer Higdon’s Oboe Concerto, and Christopher Theofanidis’ Chamber Symphony No. 1. (7 pm at Rocky River Presbyterian Church.)

The Cleveland Orchestra presents the third and final performance of the central event in its Opera and Humanities Festival, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Franz Welser-Möst, conducting, with Sara Jakubiak & Ashley Emerson, sopranos, David Butt Philip & Owen McCausland, tenors, Tomasz Konieczny & Dashon Burton, bass-baritones, Martin Summer, bass, and The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (7 pm in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center).

For details of these and other classical music events, please visit the ClevelandClassical.com concert listings

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Heights Arts announces an open call for performers for its Gallery Concert Series and ARTbar, applications due on May 31. Details here.

The Music Settlement announces its summer camps. Click here to read the announcement.

WEEKEND ALMANAC:

On May 22, 1874, Giuseppi Verdi’s Requiem was first performed at the church of San Marco in Milan, ending a long requiem saga for the composer, who had originally proposed a collaborative work by several Italian composers to honor Gioachino Rossini after his death in 1868. [Read More…]

Pre•Views & Features

No Exit welcomes Anika Kildegaard back to Cleveland for “Songs, Soundscapes and Sonnets”

by Mike Telin

In his composer note for Sonnets, Robert Honstein writes, “At a time of high poetic modernism, [Edna St. Vincent] Millay injects the ancient form with vitality and stylistic ingenuity. In her hands the sonnet feels fresh and urgent.”

On Thursday, May 28 at 7:00 pm at Waterloo Arts No Exit will present “Songs, Soundscapes and Sonnets” featuring soprano Anika Kildegaard. The setlist features Robert Honstein’s Sonnets, as well as Annika Socolofsky’s Don’t say a word, and Timothy Beyer’s Malekhamoves. The program will be repeated at 7:00 pm at  The Bop Stop (May 29) and Heights Arts (May 30). As always, No Exit concerts are free.

I reached Anika Kildegaard by phone and began by asking her about Hohnstein’s piece.

Anika Kildegaard: This is a work that Robert wrote for No Exit a few years ago. Five of the songs were premiered by soprano Lauren Pearl. I’ll be singing those plus three new ones.

[Read on…]

Mandel Festival of Opera and Humanities: tenor David Butt Philip looks inside Fidelio

by Mike Telin

In his program note, Franz Welser-Möst writes that “Fidelio is not only an opera; it’s a philosophical statement about courage, liberty, love, and the triumph of the human spirit. Every stage director I’ve met wrestles with the same question when putting on Fidelio: How do you make it relevant to the time we live in? Here, we present it in concert to bring attention to the extraordinary ways that Ludwig van Beethoven’s music is philosophy set to sound.”

On Thursday, May 16 at 7:00 pm and Sunday May 24 at 3:00 pm in Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Franz Welser-Möst will lead The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus in the second and third performances of Beethoven’s only opera as part of the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Opera & Humanities Festival.

[Read on…]

Mandel Festival at Severance presents Hero’s Song: a conversation with composer Jüri Reinvere

by Mike Telin

Jüri Reinvere is more than a celebrated Estonian composer. He has also published essays and poems, worked for Estonian and Finnish Radio, produced and written screenplays for documentary films, and translated and co-written books, as well as written the libretto for his earlier opera, Purge.

All of his artistic abilities have influenced his Concerto for Violin, Harp, and Orchestra, which will receive its world premiere on Friday, May 22 by violinist Leila Josefowicz, harpist Trina Struble and The Cleveland Orchestra led by Franz Welser-Möst.

The 7:30 pm performance at Severance Music Center is part of the Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival. The program also includes Adolphus Hailstork’s Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed, Grażyna Bacewicz’s Symphony No. 4, and Antonín Dvořák’s Hero’s Song. Tickets are available online.

[Read on…]

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