CCM Slideshows: Don Carlos

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CCM’s 2013-14 Concert Series opened in grand fashion this past Sunday with the American premiere of the uncut 1867 Paris Opera version of Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlos.

In her review for ConcertoNet: The Classical Music Network, Mary Ellyn Hutton called the performance “an amazing accomplishment” and remarked that “the voices were uniformly outstanding.”

In his review for Seen and Heard International, Rafael de Acha observed, “The CCM orchestra and choruses do top-notch work in this challenging and lengthy assignment, playing passionately and when needed providing grounding accompaniment for the singers.”

Our Concert Series continues this week with an “Anniversary” themed performance by the CCM Wind Orchestra on Friday, Sept. 27, and a CCM Jazz tribute to the Rolling Stones on Sunday, Sept. 29.

For a complete calendar of events or to view CCM’s 2013-14 season brochure, visit ccm.uc.edu.

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CCM’s Concert Series Opens With Verdi’s ‘Don Carlos,’ Wind Orchestra’s ‘Anniversaries’ Concert and a CCM Jazz Tribute to the Rolling Stones!

The CCM Philharmonia. Photography by Dottie Stover.

This Sunday, Sept. 22, is not only the first day of fall… it’s also the official beginning of CCM’s 2013-14 Concert Series!

CCM’s Orchestras, Choral Ensembles and special guests join forces to usher in the season in grand style with an epic concert production of Verdi’s Don Carlos on Sept. 22. Learn more about the two-part concert production of Don Carlos here.

Next Friday, Sept. 27, the Wind Orchestra celebrates the centenary of Morton Gould’s birth, the bicentenary of Richard Wagner’s birth and several other “musical milestone” anniversaries in a stylistically diverse concert performance. Learn more about “Anniversaries” here.

Finally, on Sunday, Sept. 29, CCM’s Jazz Ensembles celebrate 50 years of “the world’s greatest rock and roll band” with a jazz tribute to the Rolling Stones, featuring dynamic new arrangements by guest artist Matt Harris. Learn more about “Satisfaction – The Music of the Rolling Stones.” here.

Single tickets and flex ticket packages are on sale now. Contact the Box Office at 556-4183 or order your tickets online here.

CCM Opens Its 2013-14 Concert Season in Grand Fashion with Verdi’s ‘Don Carlos’

Photography by Dottie Stover.

CCM opens its 2013-14 Concert Series with a unique two-part concert production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlos on Sunday, Sept. 22. In celebration of the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth (Oct. 10, 1813), all five acts and every single note composed for the 1867 Paris Opera premiere of this epic work will be performed in the acoustically fine Corbett Auditorium. This production will be sung in French. Single tickets and flex concert packages are on sale now.

Pared down to its pure, operatic essence, CCM Director of Orchestral Studies Mark Gibson promises that this concert performance of Don Carlos will be anything but modest. “This is the single largest project that I have attempted at CCM,” Gibson explains. In the grandest fashion, he has united a tremendous force of players including the CCM Philharmonia and Concert Orchestras, CCM’s Chamber Choir and Chorale, and UC Men’s and Women’s Choruses. These ensembles will be joined by faculty, student, alumni and guest artist soloists singing the opera’s leading roles, including Helen Lyons, Barbara Honn, Stacey Rishoi, Leah DeGruyl, Marco Panuccio, Tom Baresel and Gustav Andreassen. Working with CCM graduate student and stage director Omer Ben-Seadia, Gibson hopes to create a dynamic concert staging of Don Carlos, as well.

Beyond simply commemorating Verdi’s bicentennial, Gibson hopes to provide an opportunity for students to perform this epic work. “It’s Verdi’s most ambitious work, the one he wanted to be heard above all,” says Gibson, who will conduct both concerts. “There’s no other work of Verdi’s that passes through so much profound emotion or that gives us such a range, from pageantry to despair.”

The two-part concert performance of Don Carlos begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22. The first concert will end with Act III, scene iii. Opera-goers will have a two-hour dinner break between performances to visit the various eateries on and around campus, including the restaurants in the newly renovated U-Square complex on Calhoun Street. Acts III through V of Don Carlos will resume at 7 p.m.