Saturday night’s concert (the last of this season—already!) was titled Image/Sound/Image and featured film images which inspired music, and then the process was reversed as music inspired the images. Mr. Sheffer wrote the score to a movie ‘you’ve never seen’ (as he stated, in a self-deprecating way) On Valentine’s Day made for PBS in 1987. It’s a homespun type piece of Americana set in Texas during WWI, mostly on Christmas Day (in spite of the title.) Three clips were shown, followed by the music written for them.
Unfortunately, the sound quality of the spoken dialogue was not the best, making it hard to understand what was being said, but the music that followed was expressive in setting the time and the scene. It was lyrical in an old-fashioned bucolic sort of way, but with enough dissonance to brand it as a modern American composition. The first section, which accompanied a proposal of marriage was romantic in nature, and the addition of recorders in the slightly larger orchestra than usual added a sweet touch.
The second section uses a good bit of percussion, but in subtle ways to emphasize the strife that is happening on screen. Sandra Simon sang one chorus of After the Ball is Over in a non-emotional way that yet added emotion to the overall effect. The music here was slightly skewed, like a merry-go-round that’s just a little out of round.
The final film section was a humorous collage/parody of ‘Merry Christmas’ as spoken by everyone in the cast, and then some, it seemed. The music here deserves a wider, longer life, as part of an orchestral Christmas program, perhaps with words added here and there. It was a wonderful mélange of Christmas music, sleighbells and other percussion, with occasional Ivesian touches, and an all-encompassing happy aura. It’s too bad the concept of instant encores has gone out of style, because this segment could have been heard—and enjoyed—a second time.
The Red Violin won an Oscar for composer John Corigliano, and is one of those very rare pieces of art that takes on a new life other than the original one for which it was created. He was in on the creative process from the very beginning—a privilege not common for composers—but the collaboration seems almost a necessary thing, given the technical requirements for the music and the performer.
Shortly after the film was released, Mr. Corigliano (with the assistance of Mr. Sheffer) produced a suite of the more demanding portions for violin and string orchestra, which is the format used in the film. (Later, he produced a full scale concerto with large orchestra accompaniment.)
The suite is virtuosic in every sense of the word. The scene was set for this performance by a showing of the ‘trailer’ for the film, in which the sound worked perfectly, and led up to a magnificent performance by Diana Cohen, who was the concertmaster of Red in its first season. It’s a stand-alone piece worthy of any concert hall anywhere.
A graduate of CIM, Ms. Cohen has all the skills and sensitivity necessary for a solo artist career. Appropriately, she wore a blazing red gown that swirled around her as she tore into the music with passion and tenderness. The music is mysterious, brooding, cheerful and occasionally Eastern in nature; whichever, Ms. Cohen had the notes in her head and her fingers and created fireworks as she played, drawing a big sound from her (not-red) violin.
The very large audience—which included Mr. Corigliano—responded enthusiastically, as did her father, Cleveland Orchestra Principal Clarinetist Franklin Cohen, who greeted her with a hug and flowers. Her brother, Alex, is a percussionist with Red.
To turn things around a bit, and have the music influence the visual, Mr. Sheffer imported video artist Leo Villareal from New York to provide computer images for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. Mr. Sheffer was very determined that each listener should bring his or her own sensibility to the experience, which he likened to ‘synesthesia’ a condition commonly referred to as ‘colored hearing’.
One could watch and listen, or just listen. I did both, but I was not overly impressed by the visuals, which seemed repetitive (until the fourth and final movement of the symphony) and not really connected to the music. For the most part, it was pink and silver stars or bubbles floating through space, with an occasional electronic worm (that greatly resembled Tinkerbelle) which wound around the screen. At times, there was an effect much like that produced by my lava lamp, with the ever-undulating surface just beneath (and perhaps behind) the electronic flashes in the front.
The fourth movement, however, was vastly different, being swirls of bright yellow and orange electronically morphing into geometric shapes. There was what looked like an old multi-balconied arcade or opera house as seen through a fish-eye lens in the background.
But—the musical performance was incredible! This was vibrant, muscular, electric Beethoven with brisk tempos and flawless playing by the orchestra. Intonation, articulation. commitment—these are what make Red {an orchestra} special, but never so much as in this performance. The wind players had to scramble a bit sometimes to keep up, but they did. It was an incredibly satisfying musical experience of a two-hundred year-old work by a young, contemporary orchestra with its face—and that of its conductor—facing firmly toward the future.
Red {an orchestra} has announced the programs for Season Five, and subscriptions are now available. For tickets or other information, visit http://www.redanorchestra.org or call (440) 519-1733.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz hidden-email:negfjevgre@nqrycuvn.arg?
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