Cleveland Orchestra @ Severance Hall 11/12/09


It’s not every audience that receives a commendation from the conductor, mid-concert! But then, not every audience was as attentive as we obviously were for Thursday evening’s Cleveland Orchestra concert.

American-born guest conductor David Robertson and nearly last-minute substitute guest pianist Markus Groh had just completed a dashing second movement of Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto. It was the sort of propulsive ending that has been known to induce spontaneous applause on the part of an audience. In spite of the temptation, we resisted the urge, apparently to the surprise of the conductor and soloist, who exchanged smiles. Then, Mr. Robertson turned to face us and said, “You showed remarkable self-control!” At first, we were quite taken aback, but then we chuckled a bit, and the program continued on to the end, at which time we lost our restraint, and clapped and cheered and carried on in traditional fashion.

But it was an outstanding performance, to be sure, albeit with a bit of not-quite-togetherness at the very beginning. That passed quickly, however, as Mr. Groh demonstrated his affinity for this huge work. Indeed, one could believe he was demonstrating the ‘iron hands within velvet gloves’ concept. He had strength to spare, drawing huge sounds from the piano, but yet was also capable of gentle lyricism when necessary. The end of the first movement was truly gorgeous – a monumental chord by everyone on stage, I think, that produced the sound of a mighty organ, (which was not in use.)

The andante third movement was beyond beautiful as the soloist engaged in elegaic dialogue, first with acting principal cellist Richard Weiss, and later with principal clarinetist Franklin Cohen. Mr. Weiss is this year celebrating his 35th year with the orchestra, nearly all of them as Assistant Principal of the section. (First he was beside or behind Stephen Geber, and latterly, Desmond Hoebig.) Although Mr. Weiss has twice played the principal’s solo role in this work at Blossom, this was the first time ever at Severance Hall, and his colleagues gave him an extra warm accolade at the end of the work. Mr. Cohen also received a solo bow for his part.

The allegretto grazioso final movement was effervescent Brahms, in total contrast to the Brahms of the Tragic Overture that opened the program. There was nothing particularly tragic that inspired the naming of the work; rather, it was in contrast to the Academic Festival Overture that was composed at nearly the same time. According to the composer, ‘one overture laughs and one overture weeps.’ The performance here was crisp and well-done.

The remaining piece on the program (which was heard live for the first time in this part of the world) was Doctor Atomic Symphony by John Adams. Conductor Robertson was, to some degree, responsible for the creation of this ‘symphony’, drawn from the opera of the same name, (Doctor Atomic) which premiered in 2005, and tells the story behind the creation of the atomic bomb.

Off-tempo and discordant at the beginning, what better way could there be to portray the cataclysmic events of the early 1940s in America—events that led to the invention of the bomb? That section ‘The Laboratory’ is brief and leads directly to the longer middle portion ‘Panic’ and features a marvelously written electrical storm, complete with thunder sheet and heavy rains portrayed by Joella Jones on celesta. The panic arises become electrical storms are not at all compatible with scientific tests, and nature caused no end of havoc in New Mexico. Strident and brassy trombones portray the military brass criticizing the scientists who have great respect for nature, while principal horn Richard King plays gorgeous descending arpeggios.

Principal trumpet Michael Sachs plays the role of the opera’s main character Robert Oppenheimer in the finale section – ‘Trinity’. Mr. Adams can certainly write beautiful melodic lines as well as the more frequent chugging, repetitive sounds which generally identify his works. Mr. Sachs was an eloquent spokesman for the composer and the opera.

This week at Severance Hall, the orchestra provides two concert experiences: along with guest conductor Jonathan Nott, cellist Alisa Weilerstein returns for the Dvořák Cello Concerto in subscription concerts on Thursday and Saturday at 8 pm. In between, they appear on the second Fridays@7 event which will feature percussionist Jamey Haddad in the post-concert concert in the grand foyer.

To purchase tickets or more information, 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.