Boulez, Stravinsky, and Saint-Saëns at Severance

A sparse audience greeted guest conductor Thierry Fischer when he strode on stage at Severance last night.  As Daniel and I generally attend orchestra concerts on Saturday evenings, I can’t authoritatively comment on whether the lack of attendance was due to the day of the week or the program – but was likely a combination of both. 

The concert began with Pierre Boulez’s Notations, begun as solo piano pieces in the 1940s, then orchestrated decades later.  Boulez was known for his long association with the Cleveland Orchestra.  Beginning at the invitation of George Szell in 1965, he served as principal guest conductor and musical advisor in the years following Szell’s death in 1970.  He made numerous recordings with the orchestra, most of very high quality, over the course of 40 years.  But, as Arthur Rubinstein said of Rachmaninoff the pianist versus Rachmaninoff the composer, I value Boulez’s work as conductor more than his compositions.  Not one of his works have entered the standard repertoire and, nearly seven years after his death, that fact shows no signs of changing.  Notations was 15 minutes of loony tunes cartoon music from Hell, with entirely predictable dissonance for the sake of same – immaculately performed, of course. 

The next work was Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto, lavishly played by Leila Josefowicz (substituting for Vilde Frang, who was unable to appear due to “travel complications”).  For those who pay attention to such things, she was dressed in a flowing gown which, deliberately or coincidentally, resembled the colors of the flag of Ukraine.  Unlike Boulez, Stravinsky’s works enjoyed popular success by the time he was middle-aged.  Some works, including ballets like Rite of Spring and Firebird, are now repertoire staples.  Others, including the Symphony in Three Movements and the Violin Concerto, hover on the outer edges of the standard repertoire.  But they are highly listenable, and the Violin Concerto in particular is meticulously constructed.  Josefowicz brought a solid technique, burnished tone, and tasteful expressivity with discreet vibrato to the performance.  She was recalled to the stage several times but there was no encore. 

Following intermission was the evening’s most popular work, Saint-Saëns’ so-called “Organ Symphony.”  This was my first time hearing the work in performance, although I have several recordings including the legendary Boston Symphony/Munch version.  The work is popular not merely because it’s a “sonic spectacular”, but because it dovetails symphonic construction with tunefulness and craftsman-like orchestration.  Fischer and organist Todd Wilson brought a sense of musicality to the piece which is often lacking, and I was reminded just how well composed this symphony is.  Yet the performance was not lacking in excitement – with the audience leaping to its feet after the performance – and a loud ovation that belied the audience’s small numbers.

We in Cleveland are doubly lucky that Christoph von Dohnányi (music director from 1984–2002) shepherded the turn of the century renovation of Severance Hall which included the restoration of the hall’s Skinner Organ – otherwise a convincing performance of this work would not have been possible here.