Another Cleveland departure
OrchestrasFrom Zsolt Bognar:
End of an era in Cleveland: Sergei Babayan plays his final performance before departing Cleveland Institute of Music, after more than 30 years on faculty and many lives touched and inspired. Rachmaninoff 3rd Concerto with Sarah Hicks, guest conductor; the CIM Orchestra was in wonderful form. Sergei will be missed; I came to Cleveland 25 years ago because of him.
If Paul Hogle’s recent violin hire sends a clue, he might replace Maestro Babayan with a ‘pedagogue’ with no students of note and, at best, a tier 2 performing record — OR hire Yanni.
Something nasty has gotten into the water in that sad lakeside city. FWM and Hogle may be in cahoots tearing it down.
Cleveland is in no way “that sad lakeside city.” It is a wonderful place to live and in many ways a musical heaven. The comment that “FWM and Hogle may be in cahoots tearing it down” is an absurdity. Whatever could this possibly mean? besides, no matter what you may think about their accomplishments, it is unjust and unkind to impugn their motives.
Subscriber:
“unjust and unkind to impugn their motives”…really???
I do think their motives are F’d up…CIM is being torn down, brick by brick…there are no “accomplishments”!
There’s no nice way to say that…and there’s certainly no nice way to view it.
I question whether they may even be breaking laws, the way they are skirting their own institutional bylaws, hiring family members to do puppetry, getting rid of amazing faculty, creating a toxic work environment, and a toxic student environment.
Idiots, they’re just…idiots!
Paul Hogle, yes…However, FWM has fine shaped the Cleveland Orchestra into a super band like never before…Cleveland is a wonderful place to live.., My ex wife lives there, and i visit her and our kids( we are grand parents now) each year. Always a pleasure to be there.
One of the best stories: Babayan’s CIM pupil Daniil Trifonov, who continued as a mentee and now his colleague. Their wonderful two-piano Rachmaninoff (which I heard live) is newly available on two CDs.
Please, “Cleveland”, unmodified reads as Cleveland Orchestra to us locals. Misleading headline. How about “CIM”?
I remember when Hicks was a conducting student. She had no presence, weak beat, no command. How has she developed such a major career?