CCM Performances Make Critics’ “Best of 2014” Lists

In case you missed it, Music for All Seasons Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Enquirer and Music in Cincinnati have each published “year in review” stories, looking back on the great performances of 2014.

Rafael de Acha selected 10 special performances from 2014 for Music for All Seasons Cincinnati, including:

• Professor Emeritus Frank Weinstock‘s return to the CCM stage as part of the 2014 Bearcat Piano Festival;
• Guest artist Andreas Scholl‘s all-Lieder recital at CCM;
• CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Les Misérables, which “won them a fine judgment from judicious lovers of the musical,” according to de Acha;
• CCM’s Studio Series production of Chabrier’s L’ étoile;
• CCM’s Opera d’arte Series production of Ravel’s L’ enfant et les sortilèges;
• and CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Don Pasquale, directed by the-graudate student Omer Ben-Seadia, who was in “full command of the style that infuses the spirit of Donizetti’s masterpiece,” by de Acha’s estimation.

Janelle Gelfand picked her 14 highlights of 2014 for the Enquirer, including:

• the Ariel Quartet’s groundbreaking Beethoven Cycle at CCM, which Gelfand dubbed the year’s “most impressive survey;”
• CCM’s Choral and Orchestral regional premiere of John Adams’ El Niño, which she described as the year’s “biggest spectacle;”
• and CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera Hansel and Gretel, which she called the year’s “most magical” performance.

Mary Ellyn Hutton widened her selection to 21 highlights for 2014 for Music In Cincinnati, including:

• CCM’s production of John Adams’ El Niño, which “alternately intrigued, touched and pinned one’s ears to the wall,” according to Hutton;
• CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale;
• The Academy of Ancient Music’s regional debut at CCM, performing the complete orchestral suites of J.S. Bach;
• CCM’s performance of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at Christ Church Cathedral, which Hutton described as a “treat for both eyes and ears;”
• and CCM’s Mainstage Series production of Hansel and Gretel.

The magic continues in 2015, as CCM presents over 125 major public performances during UC’s Spring Semester, beginning with a faculty artist recital by Pat Linhart and Julie Spangler on Sunday, Jan. 18, and concluding with the CCM Prep Jazz Extravaganza concert on Sunday, May 17!

See a full schedule of events at ccm.uc.edu/about/villagenews/notations-ovations/spring-2015-calendar-of-events!