Cleveland Orchestra @ Severence Hall 10/2 and 10/4 It was pretty much a night for the youngsters to show their stuff at this week's Cleveland Orchestra program. The composers represented were Mozart, who was 17 when he wrote his 25th Symphony; Szymanowski the oldest composer at 45 when he began his Symphonie concertante; Richard Strauss who was 21 when he wrote Burleske, and Dvorák, whose Slavonic Dances appeared when he was 37. The conductor was Franz Welser-Möst, now 48. So that leaves the still very youthful-appearing Emanuel Ax as dazzling piano soloist, who performed not one, but two sort-of concertos.

Happy and smiling faces were everywhere in the house during and after this sparkling program. The US premiere of Karol Szymanowski's Symphony No. 4 (Symphonie concertante) was presented in this very auditorium in 1933, and it has apparently not been heard here since then. What a shame, to have so ignored such an interesting piece. It may not be the most virtuosic work in the literature, but it is certainly challenging for the orchestra musicians as well as the soloist. This would be a really neat piece to take on tour next time our band heads for Europe.

Here and there were vaguely familiar techniques: the melodic structure of Richard Strauss, the bassoon obbligato like Brahms (and wonderfully played by Barrick Stees), and undulating rhythms underneath like Dvorák, yet the piece was uniquely Szymanowski's. Several of the principals had lovely solos coordinating with the soloist in concertante style, flutist Joshua Smith and violist Robert Vernon perhaps more than the others.

The second movement's softer nature -- with the piano sounding like gentle rainfall -- dashed into the frenetic finale, with major attention from the percussion section before gradually everyone joined in for the rousing conclusion.

Mr. Ax could display more melodic and romantic tendencies in the Burleske of Richard Strauss, who was barely out of his teens when he composed this exuberant and witty piece. Again the wind section was prominent, especially the insouciant playing of Daniel McKelway, clarinet. A bit later John Clouser's bassoon, Frank Rosenwein's oboe and Marisela Sager's flute were featured as well. Paul Yancich opened and closed the work with dashing solos on the tympani.

The Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 by Mozart led off the program in a fairly straightforward rendition, with a beautiful oboe solo by Jeffrey Rathbun. Again in the third movement, he performed a lovely duet with the bassoon, again played by Mr. Stees.

The concert ended with a rousing performance of four Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 7, by Antonín Dvorák. Too many conductors and orchestras pass these off as pops pieces. Not this group, however. Each of them was treated as the serious piece of music that it is, and what a delight! No. 2 was bucolic in nature, with a lush furiante; No. 3 featured lilting melodies and a brass chorale; No. 5 took off in a speedy scherzo with Joshua Smith's flute singing obbligato and prompting Mr. Welser-Möst to do an engaging little dance step on the podium, before No. 7 brought the audience to its collective feet after listening to the joyful oboe/bassoon duet.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable concert on every level. This week's concerts will feature three well-loved works from the standard repertoire, conducted by Mr. Welser-Möst: Escales by Jacques Ibert, Beethoven's rousing Symphony No. 5, and guest artist Lang Lang in the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Frédéric Chopin. For tickets or more information, visit the website http://www.clevelandorchestra.com or call 231-1111.

Celebrating the triumphant return from an unusually long European tour was the major reason for the special event at Severance Hall on Saturday evening. Formally known as the Five City Gala, it paid tribute to the two residential and three tour cities most closely aligned to the orchestra this season: Cleveland, Miami, Milan, Vienna and New York. After a short greeting interlude, the orchestra with Mr. Welser-Möst presented a short concert, repeating one work from the Thursday evening concert: The Burleske by Richard Strauss, featuring pianist Emanuel Ax. It was thrilling to hear it again, this time from a different location in the Hall.

Opening the concert was music they'd played here and in Miami last January, and in Milan and Lucerne this summer, the Suite from Powder Her Face, drawn by the composer Thomas Adès. Consisting of three sections: Overture, Waltz and Finale, this is truly cheeky up-to-the-minute music, enlarged to full orchestra size from the original chamber score. It's cheerful and very danceable.

Concluding the concert (so we thought) was the Emperor (or Kaiser) Waltz by the other famous Strauss, Johann, Jr. There is a definite knack to getting the beat just right in these Viennese waltzes, and Mr. Welser-Möst clearly excels in this regard. As with the Slavonic Dances of Dvorák, performed earlier in the week, the conductor treats these small gems as what they are: precious jewels. This waltz was lilting, sensuous and even playful on occasion. And, also as the dances had done two nights before, it brought the audience to its feet, even those fortunate souls privileged to sit at the rear of the stage -- surrounded by the music, but without the responsibility of performing. Perhaps it was yet another nod to Vienna, where this is a fairly common occurrence.

After asserting his happiness to be home again, Mr. Welser-Möst acknowledged those supporters who made the evening possible, and then led another rousing rendition of Dvorák's Slavonic Dance, Op. 46, No. 5, complete with his joyful little dance on the podium.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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