Sorrell and Babayan unite for Mozart celebration at Severance Hall

Last winter, Jeannette Sorrell, founder and director of Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, conducted an all-Mozart concert at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The soloist that evening with the student orchestra was acclaimed pianist and faculty member Sergei Babayan. When Apollo’s Fire decided to return to Severance Hall for its upcoming concert titled “A Mozart Celebration” on March 13, Sorrell knew she wanted Babayan as the piano soloist. 

No stranger to Mozart, Babayan has been acclaimed for the immediacy, sensitivity and depth of his interpretations, particularly in the repertoire of Bach and Mozart. He has served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music since 1995, having caught the attention of Cleveland audiences as first-prize winner in the 1989 Robert Casadesus International Piano Competition. With top prizes from three other international competitions as well, he has performed in major halls on six continents. His New York recitals at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, and performances with such ensembles as The Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony and Detroit Symphony have been met with huge critical acclaim.

Though Sorrell has conducted Mozart with several modern-instrument orchestras, she does not often get to do her “absolute favorite thing,” which is to conduct Mozart with her period- instrument ensemble Apollo’s Fire. “When we do Mozart in Apollo’s Fire, it’s a special event,” the conductor says. “We only do Mozart about once every two or three years, because it involves assembling 35 period instrumentalists from all over the country.  It’s an expensive project, but incredibly exciting for all of us involved.”

Babayan says he is “excited and humbled” to make his period-instrument debut with Apollo’s Fire. He will perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in c minor, K. 491 on a historic 19th-century piano. The 1877 Blüthner piano was selected by Babayan from among the 20 period instruments at the Frederick Historic Piano Collection in Massachusetts. This unique collection of historic pianos has been featured in the New York Times. Normally loathe to let their pianos be moved, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Frederick were so impressed upon meeting Babayan and hearing him play that they agreed to make an exception. 

The program includes the “Haffner” Symphony, as well as the rarely performed ballet music from Mozart’s opera Idomeneo, with period dancers Carlos Fittante and Robin Gilbert Campos. They will interpret this music, which has often been overlooked by orchestras because it was intended for ballet. “This is Mozart in his baroque mode – festive and dancing off the page,” Sorrell says, “and it’s one of our favorite things to play.”

The Ballet Music, along with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in g minor, is featured on a new CD recording scheduled to be released concurrently with this concert.

Saturday, March 13, 8:00 p.m., at Severance Hall; and Sunday, March 14, 4:00 p.m., at Finney Chapel, Oberlin. Pre-concert lecture one hour before the Cleveland performance. Tickets are $25–$85; discounts for seniors and under-30s; student tickets free in Akron. Visit www.apollosfire.org or call 216-320-0012.

Robin Gilbert Campos and Carlos Fittante
Photo by Steve Wagner.

Margi Griebling-Haigh is a freelance composer, oboist, and artist residing in Cleveland Heights.