Beethoven & Mendelssohn with Blomstedt at Severance

Herbert Blomstedt returned to Severance Hall to conduct the Cleveland Orchestra this weekend.  Everything that was missing from the previous weekend’s concerts under Harry Bicket (which I did not bother to review), was gloriously present.  The program neatly paired two works focused on nature: Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony.

Beethoven in the country. 

The scores for both Symphonies were present on the conductor’s podium.  But Blomstedt, now a sprightly 91, never opened either of them and conducted both works from memory and without baton.  The opening movement of Beethoven’s Pastoral featured brisk tempi that never sounded rushed, with each passage growing organically into the next – a portrait of a Beethoven who was eager to return to his beloved countryside.  The scene by the brook was a beautiful study in subtle dynamics and transparent texturing, with the woodwind birdcalls were beautifully proportioned rather than garishly highlighted.  The gathering of country folk featured a dance that was colorful in its rusticity, contrasted by a storm that never sacrificed balance in favor of volume.  The symphony concluded with a Shepherd’s Song that was more than beautifully conveyed – it was heartfelt.  On a personal note, after a difficult few days, my soul felt refreshed and cleansed.    

The program for Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony is less explicit and more implied than Beethoven’s.  After the work’s Andante introduction, Blomstedt launched into the agitated movement proper, emphasizing the work’s conflict.  The second movement, which is reminiscent of a Scottish folk dance, moved along lithely with various sections tossing the primary theme back and forth - which Blomstedt made sure never got lost in the action.  Despite being labeled as an Adagio, the symphony really has no slow movement - with plucking strings ensuring a sense of motion.  This proceeded directly into the sturm & drang of the finale which, apologies to Otto Klemperer, featured a coda that was just fine as written. 

Leonard Pennario - Complete RCA Album Collection

Sony Classical has recently reissued pianist Leonard Pennario's complete recordings for RCA Red Seal.  Click here to read my review. 

Haydn and Busoni with Gilbert and Ohlsson at Severance

Last night’s concert at Severance Hall was, for me at least, the concert of the season thus far.  It featured both the familiar and the exotic, with a guest conductor and pianist who’ve validated their credentials at Severance time and again.  Daniel was working, so I brought my co-worker Michael for his first visit to Severance Hall.

The familiar began when guest conductor Alan Gilbert took to the stage to lead Haydn’s Symphony No. 100 in G major.  Working with a reduced string section, Gilbert kept the music moving and the textures lithe, particularly in the work’s second movement: an allegretto which some conductors tend to drag.  Never rushing, Gilbert left room for moments of whimsy and demonstrations of Haydn’s earthy humor.   

The title page of Busoni’s Concerto

Thirty years ago, while living in Boston, I heard Garrick Ohlsson play Busoni’s monumental Piano Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra under Cristoph von Dohnányi at that city’s Symphony Hall.  To say that my 21-year-old self was astonished by both composition and performance would be stating the bare minimum.  Naturally, I bought Ohlsson’s recording of the work, made around the same time with the same collaborators at Masonic Auditorium for the Telarc label – and it has been my go-to recording of the piece (there aren’t that many) ever since.

When comparing performances 30 years apart (and not having a recording of the earlier event) one is relying on a memory of a memory.  Now 51, I’ve come to accept my memory is not as reliable as it once was.  So I will contrast last night’s performance with the recording, which I listened to again a few weeks ago.  The overall conception is similar, with no drastic changes in overall tempo.  The differences mainly lay in the greater discipline with which the pianist employed rhetorical devices.  At the same time, Ohlsson played with greater freedom, a broader tonal palette, and more use of inner voices in the work’s quieter moments – with no loss of virtuosity in the Concerto’s more extroverted sections.  Ohlsson, a big bear of a man who looks younger than his 70 years, is one of the most natural of pianists active today and a pleasure to watch as well as hear.  He always seems entirely at ease at the keyboard, even while hurling octaves, chords, and keyboard leaps in every direction.  The only hint of strain was when he momentarily pulled out a handkerchief to deal with some perspiration.  Ohlsson, unlike many of his colleagues, is content to play the piano (he used the Hamburg Steinway) and not the audience.  (What a pity this concert wasn’t given the video treatment Lang Lang’s recent appearance here received.)  Gilbert kept the work’s sprawling orchestration under magnificent control while still pushing things to the limits – particularly in the mad tarantella of the fourth movement, which was a textbook accelerando.   This was a performance to refresh the memory and re-astonish at the same time – and pianist, conductor, and chorus director Lisa Wong (yes, the work includes a chorus), were brought out for numerous curtain calls.   

A well-deserved ovation