With guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (who usually resides in San Francisco) in charge, the music was, by turns, tranquil and bucolic with occasional forays into the robust. It is music that could have been written by no one other than Copland. The same impression is given by the second Copland piece on the program—another first-timer!
Symphonic Ode was written almost a decade earlier in response to a contest announced by RCA Victor for a symphonic work which would then be recorded. Copland did not win the first prize—that went to Robert Russell Bennett—but Copland’s piece was a finalist. A scheduled performance in Boston fared rather poorly, as the piece was considered too difficult to play well. Copland revised it, but performances were few and far between.
Musical training is much more ferocious and efficient now, and the syncopation and rhythm changes which caused so much difficulty 75 years ago are tossed off with aplomb these days. There is no program to the piece, but parts of it might well be ‘life in the big city’. If you listen closely, you hear sounds of construction, as well as the motor energy of the piece chugging along. There’s jazzy syncopation, and even, in the composer’s own words, “reflections of a Jewish heritage, remnants of Paris…influences of Mahler and Stravinsky.” It all came to an end in a terrific crescendo. Loud, in other words. But joyous.
Mr. Tilson Thomas has a personable way of explaining music, much as did his friend and musical cohort, Leonard Bernstein. Whether he communicates his wishes to an orchestra in the same fashion is not known by this reviewer, but he certainly gets great results, however he does it. With his own orchestra (San Francisco) MTT has garnered a reputation for transcendant Mahler performances. Now he’s embracing Beethoven, and the outcome on Thursday evening was spectacular. A much smaller orchestra was used for the Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”, providing a level of transparency not often heard in the odd-numbered Beethoven symphonies. Tempos were generally brisk throughout.
The second movement, or funeral march, began with sturdy playing from the basses, and featured stately rhythms intertwined with varying degrees of mournful melodies from the winds. Principal oboeist Frank Rosenwein produced a beautiful, singing tone whether by himself or joined with the other principal winds: flutist Joshua Smith, bassoonist John Clouser and clarinetist Franklin Cohen. As in the first movement, hornist Michael Mayhew played heroically and sensitively. The strings were light and delicate in their sorrowful and poignant portions. At times, they played so softly that coughing in the audience was louder than the sounds emanting from the stage
Fortunately, the scherzo third movement is shorter than the preceeding ones, as the fast and furious pace that demonstrates the composer’s exuberance might well leave a few stragglers behind in a lesser orchestra. Again the horns were magnificent: Michael Mayhew, David Brockett and Hans Clebsch could not have been bettered anywhere. Alan DeMattia was the able assistant.
The fourth and final movement was not only muscular, but provided new meaning to the word ‘brisk’. Concertmaster William Pruecil and Stephen Rose, principal second violin essayed some extremely fancy fiddling.
Mr. Tilson Thomas ignored the score on the music stand, intuitively feeling every note in this work as he coaxed and urged the musicians to give him what he wanted. He was then most generous in sharing the accolades with them, singling out everyone who had performed in a solo capacity. It was an extraordinary performance, one that will be remembered for years to come.
Music Director Franz Welser-Möst returns on March 16, for a progam featuring Schubert and Strauss. 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:)