This weekend’s Cleveland Orchestra concerts featured guest conductor Antonello Manacorda along with the welcome return of one of the greatest violinists of our time, Augustin Hadelich. The orchestra is fresh from its triumphant performances at Carnegie Hall, where they received rave reviews.
The concert opened with Mendelssohn’s popular Violin
Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. This is a composition that balances Classical
rigor with Romantic expression, with all three movements linked via bridge
passages. Nearly every violinist of note
has performed and recorded this concerto. Having
heard Hadelich several times, I was looking forward to
his interpretation and was not disappointed.
Violinist and orchestra delivered a performance which was intimate and
emphasized the work’s lyrical aspects.
One highlight was in the central movement where Hadelich’s soaring lyricism
held the audience’s rapt attention. The
finale eschewed all shallow virtuosity while not sacrificing brilliance – it was
swift without sounding rushed. A
standing ovation was followed by an encore, a bluesy piece that was at once
familiar and unfamiliar.
Following intermission, Manacorda returned to
lead the orchestra in Schoenberg’s Chamber
Symphony No. 2. I’m
familiar with this work only through recordings and will confess that I have
not assimilated it enough to be able to comment on the performance except that the
work was delivered with an appropriate starkness.
The closing work was Schubert’s famed Symphony No. 8 in B minor, D. 759, by Schubert – the so-called “Unfinished” Symphony. Manacorda began the work with stillness, as if it was arising from nothing, making this all too familiar work a mystery once more. As the introduction segued to the main theme, I was stuck once again by what an unconventional opening movement this is. Manacorda is one of those rare musicians who understands the importance of silence, and those moments of stillness served to make the movement’s turbulent episodes all the more dramatic – even traumatic. For those who follow such matters, Manacorda observed the repeat. The second movement featured a relatively flowing tempo, with the melody in the high violins beautifully floating over the strings. Again, Manacorda took care to keep the orchestra at a true pianissimo when the score indicated it. The concert ended in a contemplative and serene mood – far removed from our stressful era.
