Pepe Romero at Severance

For those of us who don’t care to make the trek to Blossom Music Centre, the Cleveland Orchestra’s Summers@Severance series, with short concerts at 7pm Friday’s followed by an outdoor mixer, is a blessing.  Fortuitously, Severance Hall was one of the first concert halls built with central air conditioning, much appreciated during this heat wave.

Originally, last night’s concert was supposed to feature guest conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, but he had to cancel due to illness and was replaced by Thierry Fischer.  This also resulted in a change of program, as Iberia from Debussy’s Images was replaced by La Mer, and Bizet’s Carmen Suite was added.  This had the practical effect of increasing the concert’s length, to which I certainly had no objection. 

The Carmen Suite (version No. 2) was a picture of orchestral splendor with vibrant primary colors and bracing rhythms, with the poetic phrasing in the Nocturne. 

Pepe Romero then came onstage, guitar in hand, for Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez.  The concerto is hardly a new work, composed in 1939 (the American premiere was given in Cleveland two decades later), although it’s entirely traditional in harmony and structure.  Romero’s playing was highly distinctive, and neither time nor age (he’s 75) have dimmed his technique or enthusiasm – I never knew a guitar could be played with such variety of colors and attacks.  The performance was warmly received and Romero graced the audience with an encore, which was composed by his father. 

Fischer’s interpretation of Debussy’s La Mer was none too subtle.  Tempos were largely within the norm, but balance choices were bizarre: percussion and woodwinds were often brought to the fore, and the sheen of color one expects to hear in this work was largely absent.  There were moments of excitement, and Peter Otto’s violin solos were gorgeous, but the overall effect was of an orchestral showpiece lacking in the picturesque qualities one expects.