What? More snow? Fortunately, there’s plenty going on this week to warm your heart (Valentine’s Day is coming!) and take your mind off the weather. Shake it off and read on …
Wednesday, Feb. 4
Irish Heritage Center, The Merry Ploughboys in Concert | 7 p.m. Irish Heritage Center of Greater Cincinnati, 3905 Eastern Ave., Columbia-Tusculum. 513-533-0100. DETAILS: Nearly a year to the day since their last appearance here, the Merry Ploughboys bring their classic, authentic brand of Irish folk music to the Irish Heritage Center. The renowned band, which hails from The Merry Ploughboy pub in Dublin (est. 1789), has been performing and touring since 1989, when the members were students at University College Dublin.
Thursday, Feb. 5
CCM: Undergraduate Opera d’Arte Series, Cavalli’s “L’egisto” | 8 p.m., Cohen Studio Theater, College-Conservatory of Music | University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: This rarely produced Baroque masterpiece by Francesco Cavalli is being presented by CCM students under the Cincinnati Early Music Festival umbrella. The reworked musical score by Brett Scott is said to be more historically accurate than previous performing versions, preserving Cavalli’s unique orchestral style. Through Feb. 7.
Friday, Feb. 6
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, “Mahler Symphony No. 4” | 11 a.m. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-381-3300. DETAILS: Anna Thorvaldsdottir is one of Iceland’s most prominent composers, and her 2022 “ARCHORA” is a powerful example of her nature-inspired work, exploring the idea of “primordial energy.” It’s an unusual but somehow apt pairing with the rest of this CSO program, which features Gustav Mahler’s music: his “Rückert-Lieder,” a gorgeous set of songs on poetry by Friedrich Rückert, and his radiant Symphony No. 4, which concludes with a vision of heaven seen through the eyes of a child. Tabita Berglund is guest conductor, with soprano Camilla Tilling as soloist in both Mahler works. Also 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7.
Cincinnati Art Museum, “Longing: Painting from the Pahari Kingdoms of the Northwest Himalayas” | Cincinnati Art Museum, 953 Eden Park Drive, Eden Park. 513-721-2787. DETAILS:
CAM opens an exhibition of paintings from India, dating between the 17th and 19th centuries. “Longing” includes more than 40 small paintings in various styles created for royal, noble and priestly patronage, often given as gifts among families and allies. And it adds a multisensory touch, pairing some of the paintings with scents, textures or musical soundscapes. Through June 7.
Cincinnati World Cinema, “The Voice of Hind Rajab” | 7 p.m. Garfield Theatre, downtown. This recent Oscar-nominated film from Tunisia – for Best International Feature Film – comes to the cozy confines of the Garfield for three screenings this weekend. It is the true story of Red Cross workers attempting to rescue a young girl trapped in a combat zone in Gaza. Also, Saturday and Sunday, 4 p.m.
DE LA Dance Company, “Dance Cincinnati26” | 7:30 p.m. Anderson Center Theater, 7850 Five Mile Road, Anderson Twp. 513-871-0914. DETAILS: DE LA Dance presents its annual mixed-repertoire dance festival – including world premieres, newer works and old favorites – that celebrates the range of styles and techniques among our region’s dance artists. Through Feb. 8.
Beechmont Players, “Love Letters” | 7:30 p.m. Anderson Center Lower-Level Meeting Room, 7850 Five Mile Road, Anderson Twp. 513-233-2468. DETAILS: Another production opening at the same time in the same venue (in a different space, however): Playwright A.R. Gurney’s Pulitzer Prize finalist “Love Letters” chronicles a complex romance between artist Melissa and attorney Andrew, who read aloud the love letters written to each other over the decades. It’s a popular work among performers, having been tackled by just about any top actor you can name – Joanna Gleason, John Rubinstein, Kathleen Turner, George Segal, Christopher Walken, Stockard Channing, Jane Curtin, Robert Vaughn, Timothy Hutton, Jason Robards, Martin Sheen, Mia Farrow … the list goes on. This Beechmont Players production, directed by Steve Phelan, features a rotating cast of three pairs of actors. Through Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
Saturday, Feb. 7
Cincinnati Early Music Festival, Tapestry Concert | 3 p.m. Cincinnati Public Radio, 2117 Dana Ave., Evanston. DETAILS: A now-annual tradition at the Early Music Festival, the Tapestry Concert presents an assortment of area musicians performing sets of their own choosing – a musical tapestry, if you will.
Taft Museum of Art, “Rembrandt: Masterpieces in Black and White” | Taft Museum of Art, 316 Pike St., Lytle Park, downtown. 513-241-0343. DETAILS: The Taft presents an exhibition of nearly 50 rarely shown etchings by the great Rembrandt van Rijn, not displayed outside of the Netherlands for nearly 30 years. Organized by the American Federation of Arts and the Rembrandt House Museum, the show features portraits, self-portraits, scenes of daily life, landscapes, narrative works and still lifes created by the Dutch master. Through May 17.
Playhouse in the Park, “Mary’s Wedding” | Rosenthal Shelterhouse Theatre, 962 Mt. Adams Circle, Mt. Adams. 513-421-3888. DETAILS: Set in the early days of World War I, Canadian playwright Stephen Massicotte’s “deeply romantic dream-play,” as a Seattle Times critic called it, tells the suspenseful story of the love between Mary and Charlie, who first meet in a barn during a thunderstorm. Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Blake Robison directs. Through March 8.
Sunday, Feb. 8
Cincinnati Early Music Festival, “A Saint of Our Time: A Concert Celebrating Carlo Acutis” | 4:15 p.m. St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 100 Miami Ave., Terrace Park. DETAILS: Carlo Acutis – an Italian teenager who inspired many to the faith and was credited with two miracles, but died of leukemia in 2006 – was canonized by the Catholic Church last year. Harpsichordist Micaela Schmitz, playing the harpsichord-like instrument called the pentagonal virginal, celebrates his life with a program of Renaissance music that reflects the new saint’s devotion. Also 3 p.m. Feb. 15, St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, 2501 Riverside Drive, East End.
Cincinnati Song Initiative, “Liebeslieder Salon” | 3 p.m. Cincinnati Public Radio, 2117 Dana Ave., Evanston. DETAILS: Liebeslieder is German for “love songs,” and this Valentine-season program features not only Johannes Brahms’ wonderful “Liebeslieder Waltzes,” Op. 52, but a generous selection of art songs by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and other German composers. The performance will air live on WGUC, 90.9 FM. What a love-ly idea for a Sunday afternoon concert. CSI performers include soprano Murrella Parton, mezzo Kathryn Leemhuis, tenor Daniel Weeks, baritone Jorell Williams, and pianists Allen Perriello and Marie-France Lefebvre.
Jazz@First, “Travels: The Metheny/Mays Legacy” | 2 p.m. First Unitarian Church, 536 Linton St, Cincinnati, OH 45219. 513-280-8181. DETAILS: In a program presented by the Cincinnati Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, guitarist Brad Myers and the Phil DeGreg Trio pay homage to two greats of modern jazz, guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Lyle Mays.
Faculty Artist Recital, pianist Avan Yu | 2 p.m., Werner Recital Hall, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: New CCM faculty member Avan Yu, a multiple competition-winning pianist from Vancouver, presents an enticing program of Maurice Ravel’s works for piano: “Le Tombeau de Couperin,” “Miroirs,” “Valses nobles et sentimentales” and “Gaspard de la nuit,” with its ferociously difficult finale “Scarbo.” Wow. The recital is free to the public.
Monday, Feb. 9
Jazz at the Memo, “Love Makes the World a Better Place” | 7 p.m. Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 513-977-8838. DETAILS: Guitarist Brad Myers is a busy guy, turning around after Sunday’s Jazz@First event to join vocalist Mandy Gaines and bassist Chris Berg for a program of classic love songs from the Great American Songbook.
Tuesday, Feb. 10
Ariel Quartet, “Beethoven and Berg” | 7:30 p.m. Werner Recital Hall, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. 513-556-4183. DETAILS: CCM’s justly famous quartet-in-residence (since 2012!) performs for the home crowd in a program featuring the first and last of Ludwig van Beethoven’s late-period quartets – No. 12 in E-Flat Major, Op. 127; and No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135, the last major work he completed. In between those two giants of the quartet literature is Alban Berg’s atonal, expressionist yet intensely romantic String Quartet, Op. 3.
Broadway Across America, “Shucked” | 7:30 p.m. Procter & Gamble Hall, Aronoff Center, downtown. 513-721-3344. DETAILS: In the sublime-to-the-ridiculous category, lend your ears to this one: The Aronoff hosts one of the funniest and, yes, corniest recent musical comedies – outstanding in its field, you might say. The Tony-winning country-pop musical by Robert Horn, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally is about the corn-obsessed town of Cob County (naturally), which is thrown into a crisis when a mysterious ailment comes, uh, stalking and starts killing off the crop. The heroine goes to Florida in search of a “corn doctor,” who turns out to be a podiatrist (get it?) and huckster. Or shuckster (it gets worse, folks). And of course, a love story is involved. Through Feb. 22.
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