Classical Concert Reviews Cinci

@cincysymphony continued its 2025-26 season with an exciting program pairing two supreme achievements of classical music during the 18th and 20th centuries, respectively, under the direction of former associate conductor Samuel Lee, making a fabulous return appearance to Cincinnati.The orchestra opened with a sprightly reading of a rarely-performed work by…

@uc_ccm presented its annual graduate student production for 2026 with a double bill of two underrated masterpieces of early 20th-century opera by Kurt Weill and Francis Poulenc in the intimate yet venerable acoustic of CCM’s Cohen Family Studio Theater.Weill’s Mahagonny-Songspiel, composed in 1927, was expanded two years later into the…

What a treat to hear @sevenhillsbaroque perform an all-vocal program of familiar music and otherwise unknown works from the 15th to 18th centuries in the gorgeous acoustics of Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Church in Newport, KY under the collective title Singing through Life’s Journey. Performed by soprano Olivia Knutsen, alto…

@uc_ccm’s Philharmonia continued its winter-spring 2026 semester with a pair of late-Romantic masterpieces performed under the title Midlife Crisis in the acoustical wonder of CCM’s Corbett Auditorium.Joined by two guest alumni soloists, cellist Jonathan Lee (principal cellist of the Dayton Philharmonic (@daytonphilharmonic)) and violist Rebecca Barnes (currently a member of…

@uc_ccm’s Chamber Choir opened its slate of musical offerings for the winter/spring of 2026 with an absolutely SPECTACULAR performance of one of James MacMillan’s most popular and most frequently performed choral works, Seven Last Words from the Cross coupled with Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, under the direction of CCM’s…

@collegium_cincy presented a rare treat as part of the 2026 Cincinnati Early Music Festival at @christchurchcathedralcincy – an opportunity to hear some of the best examples of standalone choral writing by Johann Sebastian Bach in four of the six motets which survive in his name, sung by an ensemble of…

@cincysymphony continued its 2025-26 season with a program featuring one of the crown jewels of 20th-century symphonic music, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4.Under the direction of guest conductor Tabitha Berglund, newly-appointed principal guest conductor of the Dresdner Philharmonie, the orchestra opened with perhaps one of the quirkiest new orchestral scores…

@uc_ccm’s undergraduate Opera D’Arte program presented its winter 2026 semester production, a rare opportunity to hear L’Egisto by Francesco Cavalli (a direct contemporary of Claudio Monteverdi). Presented as part of the 2026 @cincy_early_music_festival, the performance was sensual and evocative, and fit the acoustics of CCM’s Cohen Family Studio Theater surprisingly…

@uc_ccm’s Philharmonia opened its winter/spring 2026 semester of performances with a program titled North by Borthwest, highlighting works by three musical titans of the late-19th and early 20th centuries.George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, perhaps his most famous orchestral work, made a vibrant and exciting opener under the direction of…

@cincysymphony continued its 2025-26 season with a program showcasing works by Slavic composers, some based on folklore and/or fairytales, including a U.S. premiere performance.Under guest conductor Oksana Lyniv, music director of the Teatro Communale di Bologna, the orchestra opened with an intriguing performance of said premiere, Five Interrupted Lullabies by…