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Cleveland Orchestra @ Severance Hall 5/7 “If you love the sound of brass, you’ll love this concert!” That was the prediction in the pre-concert talk, and it was 100% accurate. This concert was a brass-lover’s dream come true, thanks to two fairly young musicians: Jayce Ogren, assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and principal horn Richard King.

Not one, but two horn concertos graced the program, neither of which had ever been performed at Severance Hall. Considering they were both more than 200 years old, that’s astonishing! Still, better late than never. Opening the program was a work by Mozart, most likely dating from just before his death in 1791, with orchestration finished by his copyist, Franz Süssmayr. Long known as Concerto No. 1, it was most likely the last of the four, and consists of only two movements.

Mr. King was nothing less than brilliant in both works, but this one gave him more opportunity to display his beautiful tone and slightly playful aspect. Mr. Ogren was a very attentive collaborator, hardly surprising, as his instrument (before he became a conductor) was the horn. He certainly knows the trickiness of the apparatus.

The Haydn work, (also a Concerto No. 1) which opened the second half of the program was totally different in construction and presentation. This was purely virtuosic in intent with fiendish leaps from ultra-high to ultra-low notes in sequence, plus rapid passages throughout which more closely resembled an ornamented fanfare! Yikes. Oh, there was a lovely lyrical melody in the adagio movement, with more luscious low notes, and the strings having the opportunity to play the afterbeats! (They’re usually played by the horns—more of Haydn’s notorious sense of humor at work, no doubt.) There were also three cadenzas, beautifully played.

Following the Mozart was the Symphony No. 7 in C major (Op. 105) of Jean Sibelius, the Finnish master. This work is close to the heart of the conductor, and after his brief spoken program notes, he conducted the work from memory. It is a one-movement work that is, in some respects, the composer’s view of creation. The composer’s fingerprints are all over this work, conjuring up visual images of his stark yet beautiful country. Adding a touch of verisimilitude, the Hall’s cooling system cranked up just when the violins were depicting sweeping winds swirling through the mountains. Brrrr. Principal trombonist Massimo La Rosa performed his numerous solos with shimmering beauty, leading up to the ending that featured great masses of sound.

Along with all the brass instruments, the winds moved to center stage in the Symphonic Metamorphosis after Themes by Carl Maria von Weber by Paul Hindemith. The piece started as dance music, but soon took on a different identity as concert piece. Using several piano duets by the early 19th century composer Weber, it did eventually serve as dance music, but adds greatly to orchestra concerts as well.

The allegro first movement featured Frank Rosenwein, oboe and Jonathan Sherwin, contra bassoon, before ending with a sumptuous organ-like chord. The familiar Turandot theme began with Marisela Sager’s flute singing over Richard Weiner’s chimes and Dan McElway’s clarinet, in an interesting and delicate melody. The horns and trombones did their thing as the percussion section added myriad exotic sounds. The third movement andantino featured a lovely trio by a wind trio, with John Clouser’s bassoon added to the flute and clarinet. The concluding march was brass, brass and more brass in a glorious and triumphant finale. Overall, it was a jaunty and, at times, playful performance that brought the audience to its feet, promptly, in a well-deserved ovation for all the musicians.

The next subscription concerts are the last for this season, May 28-30 when Franz Welser-Möst returns for Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. This weekend is the COYO final concert of the season, Saturday May 16 at 8 pm. There are two more concerts featuring the Cleveland Orchestra: Saturday, May 23 at 8 pm is a program of new music “Composers of Our Time”, and on Sunday, May 24 at 3 pm is Music from the Movies. For tickets or more information, call 231-1111 or visit the website at http://www.ClevelandOrchestra.com.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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