A source
informed me there were only about 800 tickets sold to last night’s concert at
Severance Hall, but that did not prevent a hearty wave of applause when guest
conductor Thomas Søndergård and
violinist Stefan Jackiw walked onstage to begin the performance.
The
concert began with Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto, completed
in 1940 but not performed in Cleveland for the first time until 2014. This is significant because the Cleveland
Orchestra has long been known for championing newer music. Despite the occasional haunting melody, the
simple truth is the work has not been performed more often because it is neither
appealing nor particularly interesting – it lacks the dramatic unity of Britten’s
better works like the War Requiem, Billy Budd, Peter Grimes, or even the Young
Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. It
dates from a time when the composer and his
partner, Peter Pears - both pacifists - fled to North America as World War II
loomed on the horizon in Europe. The work’s
limitations did not prevent soloist Stefan Jackiw from turning in some
bewitching playing that featured striking nuances and vibrato.
Following
intermission Søndergård returned to the stage for a complete performance of
Stravinsky’s ballet score to The Firebird in the original orchestration. While appropriately thrilling and colorful,
the performance was largely stripped of the cheap effects one often hears in
over-engineered recordings. For example,
the violin upper-register glissandi were not highlighted but kept in sotto voce
perspective. Even the famous Infernal
dance of King Kashchei, which featured spectacular xylophone playing from
the Cleveland percussion, was kept under tight control – but was pretty exciting
for all that.
