Fire and Water at Severance Hall

This weekend Guest conductor Tan Dun led the Cleveland Orchestra in a compelling program of 20^th and 21^st Century music – including two compositions by the conductor himself.

Igor Stravinsky was one of the most eclectic of Classical composers.  Take, for example, his 1908 composition Fireworks.  It was composed as a wedding present for the daughter of his early supporter and advocate, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – and almost sounds as if it could have been composed by Stravinsky’s elder compatriot.  Brilliantly orchestrated, there are sections which are reminiscent of Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  Tan Dun kept the tempo relatively measured and fussiness to a minimum in his no-nonsense presentation of the work. 

Then the conductor led the orchestra in his own Water Concerto, featuring percussionist Mark Damoulakis, assisted by Thomas Sherwood and Tanner Tanyeri.  Tan Dun’s compositions are of the type that my old music professor would have sneeringly called “sonority music,” meaning the focus was not on thematic development and structure but rather on sound itself.  The work began strikingly, with Damoulakis making his entrance from the back of the hall, while playing a waterphone.  As the composer’s imaginative orchestral accompaniment – which included sounds reminiscent of whale song – proceeded, the percussive trio’s instrumentation was expanded to include water basins, water drums, water gongs and tubes, and a sieve.  The water basins were lit from below, which created intoxicating shimmering effects along the sides and ceiling of the stage.  Whatever my professor would have thought, the audience was raptly attentive and highly enthusiastic.

Applause following the Water Concerto;

Lowering of the state extension.

Following intermission, the concert continued with Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes.  While the opera these derive from isn’t performed as often as those of Mozart, Wagner, or Verdi, the Sea Interludes, composed to cover scene changes, turn up on concert programs with some regularity.  The opening Dawn interlude was darkly atmospheric, but the Sunday Morning interlude was marred by some rough playing from the brass and balances that didn’t sound right from my seat in Row H.  Things settled down in the Moonlight interlude, before the Storm interlude which sounded appropriately chaotic even though the playing was anything but.   

The evening’s final work was Tan Dun’s Concerto for Orchestra, preceded by remarks from the conductor.  When one thinks of a Concerto for Orchestra, Bela Bartok’s masterpiece comes to mind – in which particular instruments or groups thereof are highlighted.  Tan Dun’s Concerto reminds us that the original meaning of “concert” was to plan together; devise; arrange; to act in harmony.  As with the Water Concerto, the composer’s orchestration pushed the concept of symphonic music to the limit as the Concerto evoked an Eastern Bazaar, Indian raga, and China’s Forbidden city.  A most interesting work that bears further hearing.