Gerard Schwarz guests conducts Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic

On April 10, 2026May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn pittsburghLeave a comment

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic
Carnegie Mellon Chorus
Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Thomas W. Douglas, chorus director

Carnegie Music Hall
Pittsburgh, PA
April 8, 2026

Hanson: Lament for Beowulf, Op. 25
Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major

In what must have been a remarkable opportunity for students at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music, distinguished conductor Gerard Schwarz led the university Philharmonic and Chorus in a compelling program. To reach those outside the Pittsburgh area, the performance was live-streamed (linked below). Schwarz currently serves as music director of the Palm Beach Symphony, but was most notable for a more than quarter-century tenure at the helm of the Seattle Symphony, doing much raise that ensemble’s prominence. He has also produced a vast discography, impressive not just for its scope, but for its inclusion of neglected and contemporary repertoire.

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In style and spirit, Noseda offers a Brahmsian evening at the National Symphony

On March 16, 2026May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn washingtonLeave a comment

National Symphony Orchestra
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Ying Fu, violin
Raymond Tsai, cello
Concert Hall
Kennedy Center
Washington, DC
March 14, 2026

Schumann: Overture to Manfred, Op. 115
Simon: Double Concerto Suite
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

Under the helm of music director Gianandrea Noseda, the weekend’s program at the National Symphony Orchestra traced the spirit of Brahms with works that influenced and were influenced by him, culminating in a symphony by the German composer himself. As per official decree from the current administration, all NSO concerts now begin with a rendition of the national anthem (led by the concertmaster, without the conductor present).

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John Adams in Cleveland: tangos, frenzy, and a visit to Greenland

On February 21, 2026May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn clevelandLeave a comment

The Cleveland Orchestra
John Adams, conductor
Aaron Diehl, piano
Mandel Concert Hall
Severance Music Center
Cleveland, OH
February 19, 2026

Ives: From Greenland’s Icy Mountains (from Symphony No. 4)
Andres: Made of Tunes
Adams: Frenzy
Piazzolla-Adams: Three Tangos

Following the previous week’s American program with Barbara Hannigan, The Cleveland Orchestra presented a second offering of American works with the doyen of living American composers himself at the podium, John Adams. Adams has a long, fruitful history with TCO and this years marks the 35th anniversary of his local debut.

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Mao Fujita traces the development of Romanticism in Cleveland recital

On February 19, 2026May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn clevelandLeave a comment

Mao Fujita, piano
Mandel Concert Hall
Severance Music Center
Cleveland, OH
February 17, 2026

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2 No. 1
Wagner: In das Album Fürstin Metternich
Berg: Twelve Variations on an Original Theme
Mendelssohn: Variations sérieuses, Op. 54
Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1
Liszt: Isoldes Liebestod, S447

Encore:
Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 28 – Lento

In another memorable entry of The Cleveland Orchestra’s recital series, Japanese pianist Mao Fujita delivered a wind-ranging, thoughtfully-curated program at Severance Hall. This counted as his debut in the hall, having previously performed with TCO at Blossom in 2023. I recall viewing a live-streamed recital he gave in Berlin during the pandemic; even watching from my computer during those lonely days of lockdown, his playing was utterly enthralling, so an opportunity to see him in the flesh in Cleveland was unmissable.

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Igor Levit at Carnegie Hall: 69 variations, 2 themes, 1 improvisation

On January 24, 2026May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn new yorkLeave a comment

Igor Levit, piano
Stern Auditorium
Carnegie Hall
New York, NY
January 22, 2026

Beethoven: Thirty-Three Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Op. 120
Rzewski: The People United Will Never Be Defeated

In his solo recital at Carnegie Hall, pianist Igor Levit paired two massive sets of variations, each pinnacles of the form by composers who were virtuoso pianists themselves. Both the works have been in Levit’s repertoire for many years; in 2015 he released a monumental album with them along with Bach’s Goldberg Variations. One of Beethoven’s final works for solo piano — and his last large-scale essay for the instrument — the incomparable Diabelli Variations takes a simple, innocuous theme and yields a summation of everything the composer developed for the keyboard.

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Hamelin’s powerful pianism opens the new year at Chamber Music Pittsburgh

On January 14, 2026May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn pittsburghLeave a comment

Marc-André Hamelin, piano
Carnegie Music Hall
Pittsburgh, PA
January 12, 2026

Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, Concord, Mass., 1840–60
Schumann: Waldszenen, Op. 82
Ravel: Gaspard de la nuit

Encores:
Ravel: Jeux d’eau
Rachmaninoff: Étude-tableau in E-flat minor, Op. 39 No. 5
Hamelin: Music Box, no. 5 from Con intimissimo sentimento

Opening 2026 at Chamber Music Pittsburgh – and the first major event of the local classical music calendar this year – was a much-anticipated solo recital from pianist Marc-André Hamelin. A piano on loan from Carnegie Mellon University had an imposing presence on the Carnegie Music Hall stage. Hamelin is among today’s most intrepid explorers of the instrument, never shying away from a work no matter how little known or technically demanding. This was amply apparent in the first half, which opened in uncompromising form by of Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata.

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Chamber Music Pittsburgh delights in Bach’s Brandenburgs

On November 26, 2025May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn pittsburghLeave a comment

Members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Carnegie Mellon School of Music
Carnegie Music Hall
Pittsburgh, PA
November 24, 2025

Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major, BWV 1047
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051
Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049

Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos have nothing to do with the holidays, yet their cheery, celebratory spirit makes them a favorite this time year. A survey of the complete series made for a satisfying evening at Chamber Music Pittsburgh during the week of Thanksgiving. No two of these concertos are scored for the same instrumentation, and a wide panoply of performers were culled from the ranks of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Carnegie Mellon School of Music.

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The beauty of two cellos with Pablo Ferrández and the Pittsburgh Symphony

On November 17, 2025May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn pittsburgh1 Comment

Pablo Ferrández, cello*†
David McCarroll, violin†
Justine Campagna, violin*
Dylan Naroff, violin†
Zhenwei Shi, viola*†
Anne Martindale Williams, cello*†

Heinz Hall
Pittsburgh, PA
November 15, 2025

Arensky: String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 35*
Schubert: String Quintet in C major, D956†

Following his lyrical and refined performance of Saint-Saëns with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the next evening cellist Pablo Ferrández was featured in a PSO360 program alongside string players drawn from the orchestra’s ranks — the first three of the violins, principal viola, and principal cello. Both the works programmed were strikingly scored for two cellos: the first a remarkable discovery, the latter, a pillar of the chamber repertoire.

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Valčuha leads Pittsburgh Symphony in lush Strauss, Saint-Saëns

On November 16, 2025May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn pittsburgh1 Comment

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Juraj Valčuha, conductor
Pablo Ferrández, cello
Heinz Hall
Pittsburgh, PA
November 14, 2025

Wolfe: Liberty Bell
Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33
Encore:
Bach: Sarabande from Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV 1009
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40

Featuring a return to the Heinz Hall podium of Juraj Valčuha, this weekend’s PSO program opened with another entry in this season’s survey of American orchestral works. Receiving just its second performance was Julia Wolfe’s Liberty Bell, premiered in September at the Houston Symphony where Valčuha serves as music director. Based in the titular bell’s home of Philadelphia, Wolfe was on hand to introduce the piece in person (I liked how she described Philly and Pittsburgh as “the two pillars of Pennsylvania”).

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Takács Quartet marks 50th anniversary in return to Cleveland Chamber Music Society

On November 13, 2025May 21, 2026 By Sam JacobsonIn clevelandLeave a comment

Takács Quartet
Cultural Arts Center
Disciples Church
Cleveland Heights, OH
November 11, 2025

Haydn: String Quartet in G minor, Op. 74, No. 3, Hob. III:74, Rider
Bartók: String Quartet No. 3
Dvořák: String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106

Encore:
Debussy: String Quartet in G minor – 2nd mvt.

Founded in 1975 while students at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, half a century later the Takács Quartet continues to offer a gold standard of string quartet playing — and remarkably, still counts one original member in its ranks (cellist András Fejér). Tuesday night marked a welcome return to the Cleveland Chamber Music Society (which celebrated its own 75th anniversary last season) where they have long been regular guests — in recent years, performing with Marc-André Hamelin and in a memorable Grieg/Shostakovich program.

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