Norman, Debussy, Ravel, and a last-minute substitution at Severance

As last night’s concert at Severance Hall was about to begin, Cleveland Orchestra manager André Gremillet walked onstage and announced that guest conductor Klaus Mäkelä was unable to conduct due to illness and that Assistant Conductor Daniel Reith would substitute.  Though there were murmurs of disappointment from the audience Reith was warmly greeted when he strode onstage to begin the concert. 

Reith’s steady command of the orchestra and music was firmly established in the opening bars of Andrew Norman’s 2018 composition Sustain, receiving its Cleveland premiere this weekend.  The work began slowly, with high, descending slow notes from the strings, joined by the brass, giving me the impression of slowly walking in a dark room while passing through suspended veils.  Then the piece gained momentum and descended into what another patron called “pots and pans” music.  I couldn’t entirely disagree with her remark.  Yet there were numerous unique sonorities to be heard, not least from two pianos, tuned a quarter-tone apart, and Sustain bears further listening. 

 Unfortunately, my concentration was disrupted: first by a man behind the audience speaking quite audibly; then, by a woman’s personal alarm sounding and continuing as she left the auditorium.  The concert was filmed for future streaming on the Adella app, but I suspect Sustain will have to be left out or patched due to the off-stage noises.  One characteristic of the main auditorium at Severance is that the faintest sounds carry to all parts within the hall.

Unfortunately, at least one person's

electronic device was not silenced.

Following intermission, the concert continued with a complete performance of Debussy’s Images.  It seems odd to note that the orchestra didn’t present the complete work, completed in 1912, until 1951 when Pierre Monteux led it here.  Debussy’s music has become generally popular, yet of the work, only the Iberia portion is frequently performed.   Gigues opened with a sense of mystery as the high-notes in the winds sounded and the strings insinuated themselves, then the piece picked up tempo as it quoted the then-popular tune Let’s Dance the Jig by Charles Bordes.  From England, we were transported to Spain for the work’s second part – in three sections.  Here, Reith demonstrated his master of orchestra balance, particularly in The Fragrances of the Night, but the final Spanish part, The Morning of a Festival Day, lacked the vibrancy usually heard in this work.  But the rousing nature of the piece brought a burst of spontaneous applause from the audience (no doubt, some applauders thought the work was over).  After things settled down, the orchestra continued with the work’s conclusion, Spring Rounds.  

In some ways Ravel’s ever popular Boléro is like an extended, slow-motion Rossini crescendo: to be properly brought off, the tempo has to be strictly maintained and the orchestra sections perfectly balanced as they increase in volume.  Reith established a slow tempo in Boléro’s opening bars, very much like that heard on Ravel’s own 1930 recording.  Each repetition of the binary theme brought a bit more volume and excitement until, as the piece suddenly switched from C major to E major, I noticed an expression of joyful surprise on a young person’s face.  Naturally the work's conclusion brought down the house.

Whether because Bolero was on the program or people feeling more comfortable with attending live events, the hall was filled to at least 80% capacity, the most I’ve seen since before the pandemic began – three long years ago.