picked up a mention of Jonathan in the Plain Dealer:
Be There Do That
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Red (an orchestra). Jonathan Sheffer conducts a program, "In Mahler's Shadow," of music by Alma Mahler, Debussy and Gustav Mahler, with mezzo-soprano Linda Pavelka and baritone David Adam Moore. $15-$110. 440-519-1733. 8 p.m. Masonic Auditorium, East 36th Street and Chester Avenue, Cleveland.
Update: and a longer piece reviewing the performance (thanks to Mom for forwarding it along):
Alma Mahler sets inspiring stage for meaty, compelling season debut
Monday, November 07, 2005
Donald Rosenberg
Plain Dealer Music Critic
Lightening up Saturday at Masonic Auditorium after a meaty program with Red (an orchestra) revolving around Gustav, artistic director and conductor Jonathan Sheffer sat at the piano to sing and play Lehrer's witty ditty.We can feel empathy for "Gustav and Walter and Franz," as the lyric goes, while thanking the gods that Alma lived such a colorful and interesting life.
And we can be grateful to Sheffer and Red for opening their fourth season with such a compelling program, "In Mahler's Shadow." Along with music, the concert featured now-familiar Red commodities as actors and theatrical effects. Not everything worked, but Sheffer's ability to tie so many elements into a coherent package made the evening a real event.
Sheffer's premise focused on Gustav Mahler's widespread influence. Most of the night's pieces were chamber versions of famous works orchestrated for a private Viennese performance society by Arnold Schoenberg, a Mahler acolyte who would become a musical revolutionary in his own right.