Review: "Mitchell conducts a vivid program at Texas Music Festival"

Brett Mitchell takes a bow with the Texas Music Festival Orchestra on Saturday, June 24 at the University of Houston’s Moores Opera House. (Photo by Andrew Davis)

HOUSTON — Texas Classical Review has published a review of Brett Mitchell's recent performance with the Texas Music Festival Orchestra:

The Texas Music Festival gives college and conservatory students a glimpse of how professional orchestras work—beginning with making the young instrumentalists tackle a new concert program each week. When an orchestral work springs to life during the weekend’s performance, one can hear the lessons taking hold.

So it was Saturday when conductor Brett Mitchell, the Colorado Symphony’s music director designate, led the 100 players in Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations in the University of Houston’s Moores Opera House. The orchestra may not consistently boast the well blended instrumental choirs and overall lushness of groups whose musicians collaborate year-round. But Elgar’s character sketches of his loved ones came across with vividness and warmth.

Mitchell and the orchestra set the tone immediately. The sound was full and mellow, and Mitchell gave Elgar’s lyricism a natural ebb and flow–which gained ardor when the cellos welled up with their countermelody near the theme’s end. All that established the air of family-and-friends coziness that suffuses the entire work.

From there on, the orchestra’s airiness, gusto and heft made each portrait come alive. The crisp, bustling strings in the second variation conjured up the enthusiasm of Elgar’s amateur-musician pals. Mitchell steered the group adroitly through the fifth variation’s contrasts between sonorous strings and breezy winds. The famous “Nimrod” unfolded naturally and with a supple grace, Mitchell guiding the music to a gradual crescendo of apt nobility.

The orchestra’s lustiness, especially on the part of its brasses and lower strings, captured the bounding energy of the bulldog belonging to the subject of “G.R.S.” At the other extreme, the diaphanous clarinet solo in the “Romanza” evoked feelings whose tenderness is palpable even though their real-life object remains uncertain. And the orchestra built the final variation to a ringing, jubilant close.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Students and faculty continue to impress in Sarasota Music Festival's second weekend"

Brett Mitchell led the Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra in works of Stravinsky and Mozart at the Sarasota Opera House on Saturday, June 17. (Photo by Peter Lockley)

SARASOTA — The Sarasota Observer has published a review of Brett Mitchell's recent performance with the Sarasota Music Festival Orchestra:

Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G Minor ended the evening, showcasing both the increasing artistry of the orchestra and introducing a new conductor to the Festival. Brett Mitchell, conductor of the Colorado Symphony and a slew of guest engagements, is a real find. His spare yet eloquent technique brought forth all the lovely contours of the work without sacrificing any of the precision. Often conducting phrases more than measures, Mitchell and the orchestra created a beautiful, moving and mature performance that made it even more difficult to realize this is nominally a student festival orchestra and not an ongoing entity. Yes, it was that good!

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra: 'West Side Story' at Severance Hall"

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story at Severance Hall. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

Cleveland Classical has published a review of Brett Mitchell's recent performances of West Side Story with The Cleveland Orchestra:

After the deaths of Riff and Bernardo during the rumble in West Side Story, Ice tells the simmering Jets to “keep cool, boy.” Associate conductor Brett Mitchell minded that advice early on Sunday afternoon at Severance Hall when his video monitor gave up the ghost right after intermission. Calmly watching two technicians grapple with that show-stopping problem, he quipped to the audience, “We could just tell you how it ends.” After some tugging on wires, the monitor came to life and the 1961 film version of the show went on to its inevitable, tragic climax amid the symphonic splendor of live music from The Cleveland Orchestra.

Mitchell’s role was crucial and tricky. Thanks to the way movies are made, vocal and orchestral tracks are recorded separately, making it an easy matter to nix the prerecorded orchestra but complicating things for the guy on the podium. It’s one thing to coordinate music between pit and stage in a Broadway musical and quite another to sync live musicians with the inexorable timing of a film. That’s where Mitchell’s video monitor came into play: a series of “streamers” (warnings of upcoming events) and “punches” (dots indicating precise moments of coordination) marched across his screen, superimposed on the movie, giving him both conductorial flexibility and the possibility of exactitude. It was fun to watch.

Conductor and orchestra did an admirable job of playing excitingly and expressively while matching their music to the singing and dancing on the big screen — and Jerome Robbins’ choreography makes West Side Story nearly as much of a ballet with singing and dialogue as it is a beloved piece of American musical theater.

When the original stage version of the show opened at New York’s Winter Garden Theater in 1957, an orchestra of 31 players — large for Broadway — included 5 percussionists, guitarist, and a piano/celesta player. On Sunday, the Severance Hall stage was teeming with musicians, providing an opulent symphonic palette for Leonard Bernstein’s music....

The management kept the lights down during the end titles, staving off the normal run for the exits and allowing the audience to enjoy retrospective music from the score. Brett Mitchell and The Cleveland Orchestra won a huge ovation at the end. After several bows, Mitchell responded by hoisting Bernstein’s score aloft for its own round of applause.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra closes season in style with spectacular 'West Side Story' film presentation"

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of Brett Mitchell's subscription performance of Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story:

Call it unorthodox. Call it populist. Just don't call the Cleveland Orchestra's season finale anything less than spectacular.

Sure, by performing "West Side Story" live with the film, the orchestra is breaking a few tired, unwritten rules. Instead of its traditional subscription brochure, the orchestra is taking a page out of its "At the Movies" pamphlet.

But who cares? The reward justifies the risk. Any number of core classical works might have filled the season finale slot, but the fact is "West Side Story" suits the occasion perfectly, better than just about anything else.

It's not just the season finale, you see. In addition to Severance Hall for the year, the orchestra is also bidding farewell to associate conductor Brett Mitchell, a staunch advocate of American music and of Leonard Bernstein's in particular. In that sense, then, this "West Side Story" is also an homage to his memorable tenure.

But let's make one clear: Even out of all context, this presentation is a joy. You may know "West Side Story" like the back of your hand. You may have seen the film or show a million times. Unless you were in attendance Thursday night, however, you've truly never seen a "West Side Story" quite like this.

Talk about larger than life. The screen Thursday night was big, but the Cleveland Orchestra was even bigger. To the experience the ensemble provided, no studio or pit orchestra comes close.

Anyone who's attended an "At the Movies" showing knows of the orchestra's ability to amplify a film, to bring a soundtrack into the forefront and make every action and emotion doubly poignant. Well, imagine the effect when that score is already one of the greatest of its kind, the tale is centuries old, and the film is an acknowledged classic boasting star power on just about every front.

The success of the overture might have been expected. As a stand-alone piece, it's part of the orchestra's repertoire. The rest, though, came as a series of miniature triumphs, surprisingly bold performances that made even the most familiar of tunes sound fresh and new.

Again and again, too, there was something magical in the contrast between the realistic (for the time) grit of the visuals and the supreme elegance of the music. At times, even as Mitchell kept the players in seamless balance with the film, not even Rita Moreno or a dubbed Richard Beymer or Natalie Wood were equal to the orchestra.

To call out highlights would be to list almost every musical number in "West Side Story." Still, a few moments stand out from the pack. "America" is always a hit; in this account, it was a smash. "Tonight," too, was thrilling, and "Gee, Officer Krupke" was a tsunami of song. "Cool" never gets much respect, but in this version, it fully lived up to its name, right along with the rousing "Jet Song."

At first, Thursday night, the audience kept its clear desire to applaud in check. But that restraint did not last long. After two or three of the bigger numbers, the floodgates burst open and remained open through the credits and beyond.

Bernstein. Jerome Robbins. Stephen Sondheim. The orchestra and Mitchell. All, in the end, received due praise for a job exceedingly well done.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: Brett Mitchell's final performance with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra

Brett Mitchell led his final concert as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra on Friday, May 12 at Severance Hall. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

Cleveland Classical has published a review of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2016-17 season finale, which also marked Brett Mitchell's final performance after four seasons as the group's Music Director:

The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra played an ambitious program of works by Joan Tower, Maurice Ravel, and Sergei Prokofiev at Severance Hall on Friday evening, May 12, the last concert of their 2016-17 season. It was a bittersweet occasion. Not only did the Orchestra bid farewell to a group of graduating seniors, but it was conductor Brett Mitchell’s 29th and final concert with COYO, marking the end of his four-year term as Associate Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra before taking up duties as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony.

Given the unsettled political climate in the United States, American composer Joan Tower’s Made in America seemed a particularly apt bit of programming. A 15-minute tone poem that draws on ongoing struggles in American history, its music is urgent and often quite dissonant. But phrases of America the Beautiful emerge from the musical texture, reminding the listener of the country’s strengths. COYO was up to the work’s challenges....

Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G is a minefield, full of exposed entrances, tricky ensemble, and important solos in the orchestra, with plenty of opportunities for things to go awry. On top of all that, the music needs to sound elegant and effortless. The stakes are high. Catharine Baek, a 17-year-old junior at Willoughby South High School and winner of the 2016-17 COYO Concerto Competition, was a fluent soloist. She had the fistfuls of notes well in hand, and she caught the spirit of Ravel’s difficult solo part.... It was an enjoyable reading. Brett Mitchell and COYO were supportive accompanists throughout.

Mitchell stretched the young performers to their limits in Prokofiev’s wartime masterpiece, Symphony No. 5. The opening movement features both soaring lyricism and Prokofiev’s own brand of high drama, reaching a volcanic fortissimo at the final chord. The second movement Allegro (essentially a scherzo) is full of chattering winds, with only a brief moment of repose at its center. Although the sense of the Adagio is funereal, Mitchell emphasized its mercurial mood changes, from calm to bombast. The fourth movement finished with a madcap race to the Symphony’s end.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "For young listeners, a poignant, relevant reminder of history"

Brett Mitchell led The Cleveland Orchestra in six performances at the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Temple-Tifereth in Cleveland. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

Seen and Heard International has published a review of Brett Mitchell's recent concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra:

Are we doomed to repeat our history?

Not if we do the work necessary to wake people up with the arts, humanity’s mirror. In light of fractious political movements worldwide, this Cleveland Orchestra presentation of “Violins of Hope” can be seen as not merely an educational program, but a critically important call for awareness....

The music was led with poise by Brett Mitchell, the Cleveland Orchestra’s outstanding associate conductor. Mitchell started with Gerald Finzi’s gravely beautiful Prelude for string orchestra, one of the few orchestral works by the always expressive but never prolific English composer, born of a Jewish family, though himself an agnostic....

The “Allegro molto” from Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony (an arrangement of his harrowing String Quartet No. 8) brought to life the terror that came with the rise of the Nazis and their attendant monstrosities. Mitchell’s direction made the explosive movement part of the program’s whole—intense but less violent than it might be in a complete performance, and showing a shrewd sense of musical storytelling....

The actors then told the story of violinist Bronislaw Huberman, who formed the Palestine Symphony—today the Israel Philharmonic. Their first concert was in 1936, led by Arturo Toscanini, who opened with Rossini’s overture to La scala di seta. Mitchell made no attempt to imitate Toscanini’s fierce manner, again maintaining the program’s context: joyous in relief, but guarded.

The orchestra performed this important program six times to student audiences in the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, reaching three thousand elementary and middle school students, who had been prepared with in-class study guides. The seriousness and attentiveness of these young thinkers are reasons to hope that this time, history will not be allowed to repeat itself.

To read the complete review, please click here.

"Violins of Hope" concert teaches about the Holocaust

Brett Mitchell led The Cleveland Orchestra in "Violins of Hope," a series of education concerts presented at the Maltz Performing Arts Center at The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Cleveland. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

Cleveland Jewish News has published an article about Brett Mitchell's concerts this week with The Cleveland Orchestra:

More than 3,000 local students and community members listened to music, learned about the Holocaust and were taught how music can invoke hope even in the most challenging times during The Cleveland Orchestra’s “Violins of Hope” concert’s encore presentations March 8 to 10 at the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center at The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Cleveland.

The hour-long show consisted of music played by the orchestra, interspersed with eight actors telling the audience about what Jews endured in the Holocaust and how music helped them survive.

The performance was conducted by The Cleveland Orchestra’s associate conductor Brett Mitchell and featured first associate concertmaster Peter Otto and assistant principal cellist Charles Bernard.

“They didn’t really realize how successful it was going to be, so immediately when we started it last time everybody I think had this collective feeling that there was something very special and so it would be a shame to just do it one time,” Otto told the Cleveland Jewish News. “I think even though it’s not particularly gruesome in its descriptions of what happened, it still gets the major points across and I think even for young kids the message is very uplifting because it’s ultimately about hope.”

The Cleveland Orchestra and the Case Western Reserve University / Cleveland Play House Master of Fine Arts Program in Acting put on the program. It included “Simchas Torah” (“Rejoicing”) from “Baal Shem,” by Ernest Bloch; “Kol Nidrei,” Opus 47 by Max Bruch; Overture on Hebrew Themes, Opus 34 by Sergei Prokofiev; and John Williams’s music from the film “Schindler's List.” The actors played Jewish, European characters, dressed in 1930s and 40s attire, who between songs described the role of music in Jewish life before, after and during the Holocaust.

“Music was central to Jewish life,” said one of the eight characters, who described when the Nazi’s came to power and began forcing restrictions on Jews.

“The instruments are the voices of the victims,” a character said, adding that some Jews survived the concentration camps because they were given jobs playing music. “As long as they wanted music, they couldn’t put us in the gas chamber.”

The first presentation of the program in December 2015 was attended by more than 10,000 students. For that production, The Cleveland Orchestra played instruments preserved from the Holocaust, which were collected by Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein. Although for the 2017 program those instruments were not available, Otto said that the program retains the always-relevant message.

“I think it’s a great educational tool for children and I think ultimately a lot of them don’t know anything about it,” said Otto, who in the original show played a violin saved from Auschwitz. “And in an environment with anti-Semitism on the rise again, I think it’s never too early to start educating people.”

To read the complete article, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra: Fridays@7 with William Preucil & Brett Mitchell"

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra in performance at Severance Hall. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

ClevelandClassical has published a review of Brett Mitchell's recent subscription program with The Cleveland Orchestra, presented on Friday, March 3:

For his next-to-last [subscription] appearance with The Cleveland Orchestra before taking up his new duties with the Colorado Symphony, associate conductor Brett Mitchell presided over a program of American music on Friday evening at Severance Hall. Two “Third” works were on the program: Aaron Copland’s stirring Third Symphony, and Augusta Read Thomas’s elusive Third Violin Concerto with concertmaster William Preucil as soloist....

Thomas has a fine ear for color and impressive skill in orchestration. Preucil, Mitchell, and the Orchestra put this eminently listenable piece across with all the nuanced care it deserves.

Mitchell let the first movement [of Copland's Third Symphony] unfold with a gentle sense of purpose and spaciousness. He took a laid-back approach to the second-movement scherzo, and...sculpted an understated lament in the third.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra meets with success on refreshing all-American program"

On his second-to-last scheduled subscription appearance before becoming music director of the Colorado Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor Brett Mitchell (seen here in March 2014) demonstrates once more the strength of his commitment to American music with a program of works by Bernstein, Copland, and Augusta Read Thomas. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of Brett Mitchell's subscription weekend with The Cleveland Orchestra:

Don't look now, but the Cleveland Orchestra just played an all-American program, on a subscription week nowhere near Independence Day.

Actually, scratch that. Do look now, and listen closely. This is one weekend at Severance Hall you don't want to miss.

On his second-to-last scheduled subscription appearance before becoming music director of the Colorado Symphony, associate conductor Brett Mitchell demonstrates once more the strength of his commitment to American music with an impassioned and absorbing evening of works by Bernstein, Copland, and Augusta Read Thomas.

The brilliance of the performances notwithstanding, the program is refreshing for its variety and deviance from the mostly European norm. What's more, within that program lies something even rarer than the program itself: an American local premiere.

Anyone daunted by the prospect of an American trio surely felt at ease after the first offering, Bernstein's Symphonic Suite from "On the Waterfront."

Last heard here in 2006, the vibrant, lush film score made a happy reappearance Thursday in a reading defined by forceful lyricism and a string of nuanced solos. The contrast between action and romance could not have been greater as the strings fueled the former and artists playing horn, saxophone, flute, harp, and percussion made seductive work of the latter. There's a reason, it seems, that Mitchell emerged during his tenure as the orchestra's go-to guy for film music.

Just as easy on the ears was Copland's Symphony No. 3. Copland himself keeps things moving briskly with abundant, memorable melodies - notably the famous "Fanfare" - and a seemingly boundless sense of textural creativity. Still, it was Mitchell and the orchestra who carried it home with a sweeping and regal performance.

Here was quintessential Copland. Through Mitchell and the orchestra, the composer spoke his unique harmonic language and conjured everything from dramatic vistas to serene, intimate conversations. Where Copland demands muscle, the artists supplied it in spades, and to the work's many reflective passages, the players brought impeccable articulation and elegance.

Copland also turns playful in Symphony No. 3, and in those instances, too, the orchestra responded aptly, with bubbly animation and brash energy. But of course it was the finale, steeped in the stirring "Fanfare for the Common Man," that clinched the victory. The theme itself saw a majestic reading by the brass, while Mitchell saw to it that the music surrounding it developed organically and retained all its vitality.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Chorus model best of youthful music-making"

The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and music director Brett Mitchell, seen here in November 2016, reconvened Sunday for a program of Debussy, Poulenc, and Bates at Severance Hall. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's second subscription concert of the 2016-17 season, led by music director Brett Mitchell:

The tonal superiority of the youthful voice over its adult counterpart was demonstrated once again at Sunday night's Severance Hall concert by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.

On the program: works by Debussy and Poulenc. There was also an orchestra-alone curtain raiser by American composer Mason Bates.

The first inkling of vocal freshness came at that felicitous moment in the third of Debussy's Nocturnes for orchestra, "Sirens," when unaccompanied women's voices suddenly blossom out of the sonorous musical web that Debussy weaves in the opening bars.

COYO music director Brett Mitchell had the happy notion to place the singers not on risers behind the orchestra but right in the midst of the players, which made for a rich blend of vocal and instrumental textures. Those who know Debussy's magical score could not have been but impressed by this magical effect, and the lightness and luster of these young voices, so ably rehearsed by COYC director Lisa Wong, was unforgettable.

The other movements of Debussy's triptych, "Clouds" and "Festivals," were given excellent performances by the COYO players, with muted coloristic effects to the fore in the former, and a flashes of light and movement in the latter. The distant trumpet fanfares in "Festivals" were especially nice....

The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus returned on the second half of the program, taking their traditional place on the risers for Poulenc's Gloria, a late masterwork from 1959 that achieves a surprisingly satisfying alliance of the composer's sacred and profane duality....

Again, the youthful purity of the chorus was a central element in the performance's success. That, combined with the young singers' mature understanding of the music, made a strong case for this strange work. The orchestra, under Mitchell's baton, was brilliant, especially in the last section, when Poulenc calls for them to underscore the chorus with a blaze of sharply dissonant color.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Year in review: "The Colorado Symphony finds its next maestro"

Brett Mitchell, who will become music director of the Colorado Symphony in 2017, leading the Cleveland Orchestra in concert. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

Colorado Public Radio has listed Brett Mitchell's appointment as Music Director of the Colorado Symphony as the top classical music story of 2016:

The next music director of the Colorado Symphony is in his mid-30s, comes from the Cleveland Orchestra and fell in love with orchestral music partly because of John Williams’ film scores. Brett Mitchell will lead the symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall for [four] years beginning in September 2017. He replaces Andrew Litton, who left the symphony to take the helm of the New York City Ballet. Get to know Mitchell through our in-depth interview.

Also included in this article is an audio retrospective, transcribed below: 

Mitchell: Even the very best orchestras and the very best conductors, sometimes when they get together, it just doesn't quite gel. But from the very first downbeat of our first rehearsal, the Colorado Symphony and I seemed to just hit it off gangbusters, so I couldn't have been more thrilled to get the call.

Announcer: It was a bit like love at first sight. After the Colorado Symphony announced a reduced role for music director Andrew Litton, the search began for a new music director, and one who would hopefully live in Denver and be here for a long time. Brett Mitchell conducted the orchestra this past summer. It was a concert of season previews for the upcoming season, and that's all it took before everyone gave the partnership a big thumbs-up.

Mitchell: The thing that the Colorado Symphony does so well that I experienced on the performance that we gave together back in July: There were ten little pieces in all of these different styles, and it was just amazing to me how easily the Colorado Symphony was able to shift between the styles of Richard Strauss and then Beethoven and then Brahms, but then also John Williams and Leroy Anderson. There's no weak spot in the Colorado Symphony's repertory, so that means that the kind of dreaming I can do in terms of what we're able to program is just totally unlimited, and that's very exciting to somebody that has as diverse a musical background as I do.

To read the complete article and listen to this retrospective, please click here.

Year in review: Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra included in list of top ten performances of 2016

Brett Mitchell leads the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in Bruckner's Symphony No. 4 at Severance Hall in November 2016. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published its annual year-end review of the top ten concerts of 2016, which includes for the first time a performance by the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra under the baton of music director Brett Mitchell:

The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra had a watershed moment this fall. With caring oversight by music director (and Cleveland Orchestra associate conductor) Brett Mitchell, the ensemble undertook and successfully performed its first Bruckner symphony, the mammoth Symphony No. 4. That's not all. On the same jaw-dropping program, in November, the group also carried off the world premiere of "Fountain of Youth," an evocative and remarkably apt work by Roger Briggs, Mitchell's former teacher.

To read the complete article, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra provides wonderful time with 'It's a Wonderful Life' film concert"

Brett Mitchell led two performances of Dmitri Tiomkin's score for ‘It's a Wonderful Life’ with The Cleveland Orchestra on Dec. 8 and 9 at Severance Hall.

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of The Cleveland Orchestra's performances of It's a Wonderful Life:

Associate conductor Brett Mitchell led a massive orchestra, augmented by what seemed like close to a hundred angelic voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, in Dmitri Tiomkin's original score for the movie....

It hardly needs to be said that the Cleveland Orchestra sounded fantastic in this context. The youthful purity of the voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus, however, added an exquisite note to the presentation -- much more heavenly than any of the Hollywood choruses available in the 1940s.

One felicitous touch was CineConcerts' decision to add subtitles to the movie, which meant that Mitchell and his forces were free to unleash waves of full fortissimo sound when called for, so that while dialogue was occasionally obscured, the sense of the story was never lost....

[Tiomkin] also called for a number of popular dance-band sequences, and it was a delight to hear the Cleveland Orchestra fit itself quite naturally into that mode. Their rendering of the Charleston in the graduation party sequence was as authentic as one could want.

The last segment of the film, the harrowing, Dickens-inspired sequence when angel Clarence vividly demonstrates how crucial George Bailey's life was to Bedford Falls and the well-being of its inhabitants, features the score's most dramatic passages, and Mitchell unleashed the orchestra's full force to devastating effect.

The happy ending was a glorious confection of musical holiday cheer, with the orchestra at its most sparkly and the ethereal voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus going a long way to elicit a surge of emotion in the audience, which burst into sustained applause before the final credits had begun to roll.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Christmas Concert heads down merry pops path in 2016"

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Choruses in their 2016 Christmas Concerts. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of The Cleveland Orchestra's 2016 Christmas Concerts, led by associate conductor Brett Mitchell: 

Gone away, for now, are certain old traditions. Here to stay, this season, are a few new ones.

Yes, the Cleveland Orchestra's 2016 Christmas Concerts stand apart from those of yore. With associate conductor Brett Mitchell on the podium in lieu of choral director Robert Porco, the program now running exudes a decidedly jaunty, lighthearted air....

Mitchell, for certain, proves an able and amusing host. Between numbers he offers not only interesting musical trivia but also a ready supply of jokes. He also engages Santa in witty banter and presides over the solo singings of "Five Gold Rings" with Porco-like aplomb, being kind to children but slaying an adult rendition with "That's terrible!"

No qualms about the professional singing or playing. At last Saturday's matinee concert, the combined Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and University of Akron Chamber Choir sounded lovely, especially in a poignant performance of "Oh, Holy Night" and the encore singing of "Silent Night." The orchestra, too, was in fine form throughout, hitting its stride right off the bat in James Beckel's sparkling "A Christmas Fanfare." ...

Perhaps the nicest twist was the involvement of Santa in concert. After teasing Mitchell about his youth and delivering a few zingers about the Browns and the election, the actor turned around Saturday and narrated "Twas the Night Before Christmas," joining the orchestra in a welcome and animated telling of his own story.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra sublime..."

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet in ‘The Nutcracker’ on Wednesday, Nov. 30. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

Broadway World has published a review of The Nutcracker, presented by The Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of associate conductor Brett Mitchell with the Pennsylvania Ballet:

One thing [previous productions led by former Cleveland Ballet artistic director Dennis Nahat] didn't have was the Cleveland Orchestra, under the direction of Brett Mitchell, playing Tchaikovsky's glorious, pulse-increasing music. The Pennsylvania Ballet was blessed with the sound of the world-class musicians, normally housed in Severance Hall or taking much-praised journeys to Miami Beach and Europe. Nahat also didn't have the angelic voices of the Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus, to create the vocal segments of the score. Yes, the musical segments of the evening were sublime, gorgeous.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "'The Nutcracker' returns to life in vibrant Cleveland Orchestra, PA Ballet production"

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus, and Pennsylvania Ballet in ‘The Nutcracker’ on Wednesday, Nov. 30. The run of seven performances extends through Sunday, Dec. 4. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) has published a review of The Nutcracker, presented by The Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of associate conductor Brett Mitchell with the Pennsylvania Ballet:

Like its title character after he's been brought to life, Pennsylvania Ballet's production of Balanchine's "The Nutcracker" with the Cleveland Orchestra has a heart. A real, warm, beating heart.

No pall here of routine, of anyone going through the motions. Beyond the splendorous sets, costumes, and staging effects, from the top of the cast to the bottom, their account of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece exudes sincerity, the sense of artists enjoying themselves and actively striving to put on a good show.

And a good show it is. Whether one attends "The Nutcracker" for the dancing, the music, or simply the spectacle, this production, unveiled Wednesday night in the State Theatre at Playhouse Square, is almost certain to satisfy, to renew one's respect and love for the ballet....

Despite less-than-flattering acoustics in the pit, the Cleveland Orchestra under associate conductor Brett Mitchell manages to supply that special magic only live music can, all the while demonstrating supreme agility in response to the action on stage. Through Mitchell, in fact, the music lines up with the dancers exactly.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra: Bruckner and a Briggs premiere"

Music Director Brett Mitchell leads the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra in performance at Severance Hall on Friday, Nov. 18. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

ClevelandClassical has published a review of the first concert of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra's 2016-17 subscription season, led by music director Brett Mitchell:

Since taking the helm of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, Brett Mitchell has continued the long tradition of challenging the first-rate ensemble to achieve higher artistic standards with each program. On November 18 at Severance Hall, Mitchell and his young musicians took on what was arguably the most demanding program of his tenure, and the results were stellar.

The evening began with the world premiere of Roger Briggs’ Fountain of Youth....

Drawing a full, clear sound from his players, who were at the top of their game from beginning to end, Mitchell led an energetic, rhythmically secure performance of the captivating eighteen-minute tone-poem. The audience and the orchestra cheered as Roger Briggs came on stage to take a bow. It was a pleasure to be introduced to Briggs’s music and hopefully we will hear more of it in the future.

Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 (“Romantic”) is a monumental work that requires an orchestra to have a mature understanding of large ensemble playing, individual musical prowess, and — with a duration of 65 minutes — a concentration level not often required of a youth orchestra. However, Mitchell and the Orchestra proved they were more than up to the task during their impressive performance...

Mitchell’s pacing of the opening “Bewegt, nicht zu schnell,” allowed the music to breathe, and never become stagnant. The strings sounded full-bodied, never tiring during the movement’s long phrases, and the winds and brass played with a warmth that was never overpowering.

Mitchell led a nuanced Andante, and the cellos and violas produced beautiful section solos.... The Orchestra unleashed a huge sound during the Finale. Here too, Mitchell’s thoughtful pacing, combined with subtle tempo changes, kept the very long movement sounding fresh and captivating. This was a spectacular performance, and the large audience showed their appreciation with an immediate and long ovation.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Review: "Cleveland Orchestra & Pennsylvania Ballet: 'George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker'"

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra and Pennsylvania Ballet in The Nutcracker on Wednesday, Nov. 30. (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

ClevelandClassical has published a review of The Nutcracker, presented by The Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of associate conductor Brett Mitchell with the Pennsylvania Ballet:

Holding all this choreography in a warm embrace was Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s evocative score, expertly played by The Cleveland Orchestra. Conductor Brett Mitchell led a finely-paced performance... Flutes sounded wonderful in the Mirliton, horns splendid in the Waltz of the Flowers, and Tchaikovsky’s addition of a new instrument, the celesta, added the requisite sparkle to the Sugarplum Fairy, courtesy of Joela Jones. Balanchine’s own innovation, tucking in an violin solo interlude from The Sleeping Beauty into the end of the first act, slowed the flow of the show, though concertmaster William Preucil played it beautifully on Wednesday....

This excellent production by Pennsylvania Ballet and The Cleveland Orchestra is a delectable show that will brighten anybody’s holiday season. Don’t miss it.

To read the complete review, please click here.

Article: "Cleveland Orchestra performs at Arsht Center for 4,000 Miami-Dade fourth-graders"

Brett Mitchell leads The Cleveland Orchestra at Knight Concert Hall in Miami. (Photo by Catalina Briola)

The Miami Herald has published a story about Brett Mitchell's recent education concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra at Knight Concert Hall in Miami:

School bus after school bus and student after student lined up outside the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts after hearing the news: The Cleveland Orchestra was in town.

Led by associate conductor Brett Mitchell, the Cleveland Orchestra opened season 11 by performing “The Sounds of the Orchestra,” an educational concert for 4,000 Miami-Dade fourth-graders....

Cleveland Orchestra Miami launched in 2007 with the goal of inspiring music exploration in local students through its community and education programs — including the free education concerts that teach students about the sounds of brass, string, woodwind and percussion sections, and how composers put all those groups together to create diverse music.

“This experience is part of Miami-Dade’s Cultural Passport program,” said Montserrat Balseiro, managing director of Cleveland Orchestra Miami. “It’s great to be part of this initiative to provide various opportunities for students who probably wouldn’t experience this otherwise.” ...

“Students always enjoy the concerts and sometimes get to talk to musicians after,” Balseiro said. “We are looking forward to next year.”

To read the complete story, please click here.

Article: "Rotary International Centennial"

Brett Mitchell with Judy and John Germ (Rotary International president) and Lynn and Ken Schupert (Rotary trustee vice chair) at a Severance Hall reception before The Rotary Foundation's Centennial Concert. (Photo by Peggy Turbett)

Currents News (Ohio) has published an article about Brett Mitchell's concert with The Cleveland Orchestra in October celebrating The Rotary Foundation's centennial:

The exquisite tones of the renowned Cleveland Orchestra filled Severance Hall with a program of Debussy, Beethoven and Liszt, customized to honor the Rotary Foundation’s 100th anniversary. But it was the encore that brought goose bumps. As conductor Brett Mitchell drew out a simple, familiar strain, 1,200 Rotarians, tentatively at first, then with swelling strength, sang along: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it being with me.”

The centennial concert, followed by dinner honoring donors at the InterContinental Hotel, included comments by Rotary International president John F. Germ, and videos showing the group’s efforts in immunizing children, particularly in war torn areas, against the disease of polio.

To read the complete article, please click here.