Last week’s concerts by the Cleveland Orchestra with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst on the podium consisted of just two works, the first of which provided vocal music and the latter everything else.
Igor Stravinsky was a titan of the 20th century musical world, having reached his maturity early in the 1900s and living until 1971. Requiem Canticles—a work for orchestra and chorus plus alto and bass soloists—was his last major work, completed in 1966. Strange, then, that the Cleveland Orchestra had never before performed the somewhat brief work. Nine movements, three of them entirely for orchestra, comprise the Requiem, which moves rather briskly through selected sections of the Catholic Mass of the Dead. It is notable primarily for being composed in the serial—or twelve-tone—format. Stravinsky was ever one to go against the tide, as by the time this was composed, even newer musical structures were being employed.
The soloists, Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano, and Todd Boyce, baritone, sang their brief solos with beautiful tone and appropriate sentiment. The chorus—prepared by Robert Porco and perhaps at half-strength for this occasion—seemed a tad hesitant at times on Thursday evening.
Turangalîla which means, sort of, time and life and love, all together in one unit, has also been called a ‘symphony of love and joy in rhythm and color’. This makes sense as Messaien was a synesthetic—he saw colors when hearing music, each note having a different hue. In addition to being influenced by birdsong, Messaien also appreciated exotic instruments other than the ones utilized here, most notably, the effect of the gamelan. (An Indonesian orchestra consisting of percussion.) Not surprisingly, the percussion section for Turangalîla requires some sixteen individual percussion instruments.
In many ways, the work is very like a concerto for the solo pianist, who seems to play continuously throughout, and the ethereal-sounding ondes martenot. Just as in the previous performance here in 2002, we were fortunate to have the two foremost instrumental soloists in existence (for this work) participating in these performances. Cynthia Millar effortlessly produces myriad sounds and tonal colors from her eccentric-looking instrument, while Pierre-Laurent Aimard displays his formidable talent at the concert grand piano, playing the entire 75 minute work from memory.
There are ten movements in all, dividing into three categories: Hymn of Love I (2) and II (4), Garden of Love’s Sleep (6) and Development of Love (8), obviously pertaining to that theme, perhaps being the tribute sections devoted to the legend of Tristan und Isolde. The Turangalîla I (3), II (7) and III (9) portray the darker side of life, utilizing the gamelon effect, while the Introduction (1) and Final (10) are neither one nor the other.
It is section 5 or Joy to the Blood of the Stars that defies easy description, being alternately clangorous and frenetic before dissolving into broad and massively regal sounds. The Garden of Love’s Sleep is pure beauty, however, with muted strings, flutes and soft birdsong from the piano, which with the ondes transport the listener to a quiet bower in a jungle somewhere, and the rain falls softly on the metal roof overhead.
The cacophony of the 5th section is echoed in the final section, and on Thursday night, even after the orchestra had stopped playing, the sound continued. Oh. It was the loud roars of approval from the nearly full house. Excellent!
For tickets or information about upcoming concerts, call (216) 231-1111, or visit the orchestra’s web-site: http://www.clevelandorchestra.com
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net (:divend:)