NASCAR Night at Severance Hall @ 3/20/10

Time was when the saying ‘go fast and turn left’ was the way to success for a stock car race driver. Nowadays, however, there are occasional right turns in NASCAR races, so one needs to be somewhat more versatile. Last night at Severance Hall, one might have thought the new concept was ‘play fast and play louder’ or the other way around. It was plenty of both of those qualities, a very much ‘in-your-face’ type of concert. Oh, there were maybe half a dozen measures here and there that were not at quadruple forte but they were very few and far between.

Crew chief for the week (Guest Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy) definitely had his pedal to the metal throughout. Fortunately, he had a superb Rolls-Royce at his command, and it never faltered in a spectacular program of Russian music by Prokofiev and Mussorgsky. Even the elegant piano soloist, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, stayed the course in remarkable fashion. The immediate and spontaneous standing ovation that followed the concerto was more than well-deserved! As a nearby patron remarked to me ‘I’m tired just from watching him!’ What popped into my head other than terrific admiration was this: the miracle is not so much that any one can play this piece, but that some other mortal being was able to imagine it and then write it down! (This was long before software that will do such a thing for you. Play on an electronic keyboard, push a button –or two– and the computer spits out pages of neatly printed pages with all those notes inscribed thereon.)

All three selections on the program were extremely familiar to concert-goers, if a bit off-center at times. The Suite from Sergei Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Ballet incorporated bits of the composer’s own two shorter suites from the massive work, but also included a few other selections as chosen by the conductor to make a more cohesive whole. It was certainly a very broad, very lush, very fast and very loud arrangement that actually worked better as a tone poem than a ballet scenario. Played continuously (only very brief pauses to turn pages, etc.) made it easier to imagine the story unfolding in front of you. There was lots of low brass and winds (bass clarinet, contra-bassoon and tenor sax) which I found very satisfying on a personal level. There were also moments of wit and interesting—if different—accents and interpretation. There wasn’t much by way of subtlety, however, except for a handful of measures featuring principal flute Josh Smith in a too-short lyrical moment.

Moving the piano for the soloist on-stage seemed to take a bit longer than usual, prompting me to wonder if they were giving the musicians a few extra breathing moments. One stage hand came back out to check that the piano’s wheels were firmly locked, and the reason for that was made crystal clear as soon as Mr. Efflam-Bavouzet began to play. If his first concerto (No. 1 in D-flat major, Op. 10) is any indication, Prokofiev at 20 must have been ‘hell on wheels’ in the keyboard department! This concerto is nearly a declaration of war: between soloist and piano, soloist and conductor, soloist and orchestra. Such a torrent of notes as he tossed off without ever once losing his cool! It’s nearly perpetual motion throughout.

Even Mr. Ashkenazy turned around to watch the pianist, the better to keep the intense rhythmical lines intact. A short segment of the second movement featured brief lyrical solos from the principal winds and trumpet—neat little wisps of loveliness, between all the constant bombardment of notes that surrounded them. A fun moment during the ovation that followed was when the conductor took the pianist’s hand in his, then rhythmically clapped it with his other hand. Indeed, the youngish Frenchman deserved every bit of clapping that ensued – and then some.

Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition came into being as a piano work describing works seen at an exhibit by the Russian artist/architect Viktor Hartmann—Mussorgsky’s friend, who had died suddenly at a very young age. Ten illustrations, along with a promenade, are given life in the masterpiece for piano. It is more famous, however, in the orchestration by Maurice Ravel, which is not the only orchestration in existence – none of them by the composer.

As a Russian and a pianist who has recorded the work, Mr. Ashkenazy thus brings a slightly different approach to the piece. Not surprisingly, it is very much more Russian-sounding than the Ravel version. In this performance, however, it was also more rigid and rushed, tempo-wise. At this pace, the viewer of the exhibit would capture only a glimpse of the work to be seen, before rushing off to the next and the next . . .

A good many of the promenades were almost a forced or at least very brisk march through the gallery. Gnomus highlighted low brass, winds and strings. The Old Castle (or sometimes Troubadour) was soulfully performed by the oboe d’amore (Jeff Rathbun) rather than the heftier saxophone one associates with the Ravel version. The gardens at the Tuileries were full of the chitter-chatter of children at play, while the horns were magnificent in bringing Bydlo (the ox-cart) to life. A short promenade here was given to the strings, making it more lyrical and gentle than when it’s done by the brass.

The famous Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks featured frisky chirping chicks (harp and celesta) while toward the end it sounded like the Mom Chickens joined in. Goldenberg and Schmuyle depicts two older Jewish men –one wealthy and pompous, the other not either. This music was given to the solo violin, somewhat softening the usual harsher image of the trumpet. The Market at Limoges extolled the bizarre rather than the commonplace, and moved straight into the Catacombs with major contributions from the low instruments, other than a wisp of promenade before moving along to the final two clangorous (in any version) movements.

The Hut of Baba Yaga is a witch’s hut set on chicken legs. (Of course!) It moves grotesquely about looking for human bones for the witch to consume, with appropriate music from the low instruments. With no promenade between, the design for The Great Gate of Kiev is upon us. A short interlude with the harp sets us up for a return to the obligatory bells of old Russia.

What matters if my head rang for an hour after I left the concert hall? Those persons comprising the full house on Saturday night loved every single note of whatever description. Indeed it was all splendiferous. To the MAX.

Next up for the orchestra is a one-nighter with Pink Martini as part of the new Celebrity Series. This concert (conducted by James Feddeck) is on Tuesday, March 30 at 8 pm. Two days later, Christoph von Dohnányi returns to conduct Mozart and Brahms in two concerts. For complete details, visit the website: http://www.clevelandorchestra.com or call the ticket office at 216.231.1111.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz, who writes: My most recently published book is Ardenwycke Unveiled (e-book and trade paper). Cerridwen has another contemporary romance from me, But Not For Love, currently available only as an e-book, but perhaps will be in print next year. I hope to soon get around to completing some of the 30+ incomplete books in my computer!

By the way, Cerridwen has also accepted two of my short stories in their Scintillating Samples (complimentary reads) area: Song of the Swan and Unexpected Comfort. I love photography as well, as you can see here. Occasionally I teach writing workshops and sometimes do editing or ghostwriting on a free-lance basis. But over and above everything else, there's always been the writing. I can't imagine my life without it.