This past Thursday Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Austrian Composer HK Gruber performed the US Premiere of his work Dancing in the Dark. The program included Orchestral Suite No. 4 by Hanns Eisler, Little Threepenny Music by Kurt Weil and Gottfried von Einem's Concerto for Orchestra, Op.4

The main program followed right after an informal and captivating conversation that took place at the Reinberger Chamber (just below the music hall), between the composer and Peter Laki, program annotator for the Cleveland Orchestra. The audience was most certainly enthused by the composers captivating narrative, a mix of English with an accent and often Austrian thrown casually, intermingled with a most a'la Mediterraneo openness and flair. This could not be your typical Austrian -never mind composer!

The discussion set a tone and proved a useful insight for the following performance. Gruber's mentioned early fascination with structure and the Fibonacci series struck chords and so did his statement for despite an interest in theoretical discourse throughout his career, he craved his work to be understood by the general public. His often personal and anecdotal referrals to Eisler, Weil and especially Gottfried Von Einem served well to describe his own roots and influences and make the necessary links to the uninitiated.

Program opens with Suite no.4 by Hanns Eisler and is essentially the music score for an early 1930's communist propaganda film entitled Komsomol (Komsomol was the name of the Soviet communist youth organization). The composer traveled to Russia and stayed in the town of Magnitogorsk, a young city at the time of 2 &1/2 years yet with 275,000 inhabitants, whose work concentrated in erecting a gigantic steel factory. The comradeship of the workers as well as the 7 days of working recordings of factory noises formed the backbone for Eisler's vibrant composition.

Following was Gruber's own "Dancing in the Dark", truly an unusual performance. Gruber himself described it as the first ever "funeral fox trot". Presenting us with an eclectic blend of influences, spanning from traditional Austrian musical themes to contemporary jazz the composer's often cynical ingenuity captured rather stoutly the audiences expectations if not to let them hover gracefully in several moments of charged anticipation. The evocative yet somber performance of the percussionist slamming his two twig brushes on the very end of the first half and the strings in "high unison" at the end of the second movement were the epitome of the numerous delectable contrapositions.

The program continued with the performance of "Little Threepenny Music" by Kurt Weil. A suite extracted from "The Threepenny Opera" which was in turn an adaptation of The Beggar's Opera of 1728, by John Gay and John Christopher Pepusch. The lyrics of the modern adaptation were by Bertold Brecht. Beyond what would be catchy and absurdist tunes, lies deep irony and satire designed to evoke the audience to the social themes of the original Opera. It was interestingly performed right after Gruber's piece as if to really impose a critical juxtaposition - making Dancing in the Dark seem all the more a refined and eclectic departure.

Concerto for Orchestra, Op.4 by Gottfried von Einem was justifiably the epilogue of the evening. A friend and influence to Gruber, Von Einem wrote his Concerto for orchestra in 1943, on commission from Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin State Orchestra. According to Gruber, Gottfried referred to Karajan as " the Pope in Saltsburg". The composer subsequently revised the score to its current state. In the words of Peter Laki the composition reveals " many of the stylistic characteristics that would make Einem a prominent figure on the musical scene of the postwar years: Powerful rhythmic drive, strong tonal orientation and a dramatic intensity which predestined him for a career as an opera composer."

Severance Hall and Cleveland Orchestra are a unique venue in our city and to answer one of the comments and feedback recently received, one does not necessarily need to dress up for such "high culture". Times have changed I guess yet somehow people will still make a slow start. It took me 3 &1/2 years, a coincidental meeting and Mr. Cool Cleveland's generous offer of a spare ticket to take up such an exciting and challenging experience. Some say: "better late than never"!

Many thanks to Mr. Peter Laki, program annotator, for the illuminating and insightful program without which I could not have engaged adequately to such ingenious work. From Cool Cleveland contributor Niko Angelis http://www.studioandelis.com

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