Highs and lows - the Cleveland Orchestra experience

My initial plan was to write a simple review of last night’s Cleveland Orchestra concert at Severance Hall, but a litany of issues which have recurred with the concert planning and concertgoing experience over the last several months have led me to conclude that there are issues with the organization which must be addressed. 

First, the concert: Daniel and I attended last night’s Summers at Severance concert with a special guest, Daniel’s younger sibling Asareel.  This was Asareel’s first experience with a Classical music concert and it's always a thrill for me to introduce a young person to a more elevated cultural experience.  The concert featured guest conductor Petr Popelka and solo violinist James Ehnes.  The proceedings began about 15 minutes late due to a medical issue with a patron on the main floor.  Of course, such unfortunate events take place and once the EMT’s arrived, the patron was brought out on a stretcher and the concert began.  For an unknown reason, the EMT’s did not take the patron into the main foyer, but remained in the area behind the main floor where their work and chatter were plainly audible.  As a result, I was unable to gain much from Cesar Franck’s Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Hunstman) – a symphonic poem which was unfamiliar to me. 

After a quick stage change, the concert continued with Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto, Op. 35.  I only know this work through the Heifetz recording.  Although it incorporates several themes that Korngold used in his film scores, it deserves to be heard more often.  There are fewer violin concertos in the active repertoire than there are of, say, piano concertos.  So why not include a 20^th century concerto with such memorable tunes and virtuosic writing?  Ehnes’s performance was resplendent with soaring lyricism and musical virtuosity, receiving a deserved standing ovation.  Ehnes generously performed two encores, including a slow movement from a Bach Sonata. 

Following intermission, the concert concluded with the Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 69 by Antonín Dvorak – and here is where the real trouble began.  There were three unruly audience members in the center section of the last row on the main floor – right near our party.  (I did not see them during the opening half of the program.)  During the opening movement, they were chatting and giggling as they looked at videos on one person’s cell phone.  At one point, an usher intervened, whereupon they got up and went to the standing area behind the seats.  By the second movement, they were back in their seats and up to their hijinks again.  Once more, an usher appeared and they left – this time for good, I thought.  Then I saw one member of their party making her way to another seat in the far left near the front.  I was only able to marginally enjoy the remainder of the Symphony, including the Scherzo which is one of Dvořák’s most memorable movements.  As we left the concert, an astonished Asareel asked “what was up with those people?  How rude!”  There you have it: an 18-year-old who had never been to a Classical music concert knew more about appropriate behavior than the offending parties, who appeared to be in their 30s. 

Most of the ushers seen last night were unfamiliar to me.  Perhaps the regular ushers were on summer break.  I could plainly hear two of the ushers conversing during the Korngold Concerto.  Certainly, they should be advised by whoever trains them that sounds carry at Severance. 

Further, there is the orchestra's website.  It’s slow.  It times out – so that pages do not load or payments are not processed.  This happens about half the time I try to buy tickets online.  When it occurs, I receive a popup advising me to call the box office, during which I navigate through their 1990s style phone tree, and am invariably routed to a voicemail.  Eventually, I am called back and, if I’m not busy doing something else, can finally get my tickets.  Otherwise, we end up playing phone tag.  Cleveland is hardly short on IT resources who would be happy to assist the orchestra in improving the website performance (which is probably a question of server capacity) in exchange for some free tickets. 

 

The orchestra received a $50 million dollar donation from the Mandel family a few years ago.  Has it occurred to them to use some of that money to, say, fix the website, train the ushers (or replace them if necessary), and reopen the restaurant – which has been closed since COVID? 

 

It is incidents such as those above which leave me giving serious consideration to cancelling my Cleveland Orchestra subscription.  Anyone who knows me can affirm that one of the main reasons I stay in Ohio is due to the cultural amenities Cleveland has to offer – our orchestra is first among those amenities.  I certainly don’t stay in Ohio for the weather or the state’s backward politics.  I happen to work from home and could relocate to anywhere within the United States.  Daniel’s job means he is in great demand (he’s constantly being contacted by recruiters) and there are states where we be paid to move due to the demand for Daniel's skill set.  Over the last season, incidents such as those described above have led me to reevaluate whether it’s worth the time and expense to see live concerts or if I should just content myself with broadcasts and recordings – the latter of which I have plenty.  We still plan on attending numerous concerts in the upcoming season – but if the concertgoing experience does not improve, it may well be our last season doing so. 

Project 2025 – a disaster for American preparedness

The bulk of this post was written before the assassination attempt on former President Trump.  However, the events of July 13^th have no bearing on the content of this post.

By now you’ve heard about Project 2025, MAGA Republicans’ and the Heritage Foundation’s plans for a “reform” of the Federal government if Donald Trump is elected in November.

Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, saying that he doesn’t know anyone involved with it. In fact, his own Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is working for P2025.  One of the architects of P2025 is John McEntee, Trump’s Director of White House Personnel when he was in office.  A board member, Russell Vought, was named policy director of the Republican National Committee this past May.  Further, Trump’s own Agenda 47 bears a striking resemblance to P2025.

You’ve no doubt read some of the major items of P2025, but here’s a quick refresher:

Social issues and Reproductive Rights:

• End marriage equality
• Complete abortion ban - without exceptions
• Restrictions on contraceptives
• Use taxpayer money for religious schools and include Christian beliefs in public school curricula
• Pack the Supreme Court with Justices who will ban all DEI initiatives and enable the above

Medicare and Social Security:

• Raise the retirement age
• Cut Social Security benefits
• Cut Medicare
• Repeal the Affordable Care Act
• End price controls on medications, such as the Biden-era price cap on Insulin

Environment:

• Defund the EPA
• Deregulate Fossil Fuel production
• Increase Artic drilling

National Security:

• Defund the FBI and Homeland Security
• Use the military to break up domestic protests
• Retire senior military personnel and stack the upper-ranks with Trump supporters.

 

Let’s talk some more about the military items, which are not getting the publicity much of the rest of P2025 is receiving.

Buried among the nooks and crannies of P2025 are items detailing benefit cuts for veterans and active-duty military personnel.  Part of that is to move part of the VA to the private sector.  Part includes benefit cuts to disabled veterans.  What an outrageous slap in the face to those who have been harmed defending our nation.

Do we really want our active duty and retired military to have to jump through more hoops?  Particularly those who are disabled or need mental health care? 

Our nation’s defenders are not especially well paid.  You may have heard “they get free room, board, and food on Uncle Sam’s dime.”  That’s not exactly true.  Military personnel receive a modest salary, from which certain things are deducted, along with some supplements. 

Live on base or on a ship?   That’s $380 per month deducted from your pay since the food is provided.  And if you only serve part time on the ship, and get food elsewhere some days?  Too bad, they take the whole $380 anyway.  It doesn’t help matters that most base galleys have limited hours which often do not fit well with the realities of military scheduling.  Low ranking personnel, such as Army and Marine Privates, Navy Recruits, Sailors and 3^rd Class Petty Officers (E1-E4), live in barracks.  This is exactly what happened with a young Sailor friend of mine when he was at his post-boot camp technical school and after he had been assigned to his ship.  

There are also supplemental allowances added to base salary, such as a uniform allowance.  An enlisted Sailor’s wardrobe includes Dress Blues, Dress Whites, Service uniforms, camo-style Type III Working uniforms, and, if on a ship, Coveralls.  Sailors are expected to have at least one of each Dress uniform, two Service uniforms, three Type III uniforms, and three Coveralls.  There are also accoutrements to the various uniforms, from the proper footwear to straps to hold dress shirts in place to rank and rating patches – all of which the Sailor must pay for.  Being American made, uniforms are expensive; and service members are expected to keep them well maintained – dry cleaning is recommended for Service uniforms.  Plus, one must remember many of those entering the military are teenagers who are still growing and will need replacement uniforms.  If the Sailor keeps in good shape and maintains his uniforms, they won’t have to be replaced as often and he can keep the unspent allowance.  This encourages military personnel to be thrifty and healthy by taking good care of their clothes and their bodies.

Once promoted to E-5 (Sergeant or Petty Officer 2^nd Class), they are moved out of the barracks and provided with a housing allowance.  That’s what happened with my dad when he was promoted to PO2 in the 1950s, and that’s what happened to my young sailor friend.  The housing allowance varies based on the cost of living where the sailor is stationed, and my young friend happens to be stationed in one of the most expensive locations in the US.  It’s certainly not his fault that the Navy decided to build one of its largest bases there.   Thus, his housing allowance is relatively high.  The apartment building where he lives is on base and part of a private/military cooperative effort.  In exchange for the convenience of living on base, they take his entire housing allowance.  He’s currently looking for a less expensive apartment off base, which will allow him to pocket any leftover housing allowance and use that money to get a used car.  (My dad rented a room above a woman’s garage.)  If you think that means he’s ripping off the taxpayers, then remember: once he moves off base, his on-base dwelling becomes available to another newly promoted Sailor.   

P2025 proposes to “reform” these types of allowances by making military personnel return any unspent allowance.  This is a false economy because active-duty personnel will not be incentivized to maintain their uniforms and find less expensive housing.  They will simply neglect their uniforms and find the nicest place their allowance will cover.  P2025 also proposes to penalize married military couples who live together by making them share the same housing allowance, even though families require more space than single people.

I recently spoke with my Sailor friend about some of these points.  This person is politically moderate and not partisan.  But when I advised him of these proposals, his reaction was what you’d expect of a Salty Sailor: “[Unprintable quote redacted.]”

Here’s a fact that Putin enablers among the GOP and lefty-loonies like Jill Stein would like you to forget: America has enemies – two of which pose an existential threat to our nation.  The first of these is Russia.  Putin's stated goal is to reestablish the de-facto empire that existed under the USSR.  True, initially Putin played nice with us after 9/11, but the government over which he seems to have an iron grip has become increasingly hostile since George Bush took us to war with Iraq in 2003.  Trump and his enablers seem content to appease Putin on everything from his brutal invasion of Ukraine to his open interference in our nation’s elections and politics.  Joe Biden is the only President who has strongly stood up to Putin – not Bush 43, not Obama, and certainly not Trump - over whom Putin seems to hold some unspoken power.  As for China, though they are not exactly an enemy, they do not wish us well and mainly have exploited us for their own economic benefit.  Trump makes a big noise about China, but his businesses have benefited from Chinese (and Russian) investment.  Under Joe Biden, China has dropped from America’s number one importer to third place – behind Canada and Mexico. 

We have enemies aside from Russia and China, such as North Korea and Iran, but only Russia and China have the military potential to engage in a war with us which would be catastrophic for the planet.  China’s bullying of Taiwan is surpassed only by Russia’s bullying of Ukraine.  History has taught us the dangers of appeasing bullies.  Prior to 1939, the European powers declined to enforce the Versailles treaty and stood by while Hitler’s Germany rearmed.  Following Kristallnacht, not one European leader spoke out about what happened – only U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt issued a rather tame rebuke.  When Hitler invaded Austria, the world did nothing.  He continued to build his military, ranted about how ethnic Germans were being treated by the Czechoslovakian government (just as Putin would use the supposed treatment of ethnic Russians by the Ukrainian government 80 years later) and then was given tacit approval to invade the Sudetenland by Neville Chamberlain. 

Thus, we must maintain the world’s strongest defense as a deterrent to Russian and Chinese military aggression.  Trump and his P2025 supporters are content to throw uncountable money at the military-industrial complex to fill defense contractors' pockets.  But when it comes to the well-being of military personnel, they could not care less.

All branches of the US military are already dealing with shortfalls in recruiting and retention.  With unemployment at historic lows, fewer and fewer want to take on an arduous, potentially hazardous job with low pay.  As the nation moves slowly toward cannabis legalization, few want to subject themselves to periodic urinalysis tests which, if positive, could result in a dishonorable discharge and a blot on their resume.  That’s exactly why President Biden has pushed so hard to raise military pay and improve benefits. 

When I read of P2025’s plans for the military, knowing how they will affect recruitment and retention once implemented, I can’t help but wonder: Who stands to benefit if our military is less prepared; if the ranks are thinned from cratering recruitment and retention; if service members’ morale is low?

America’s enemies, that’s who.   And it would be very interesting to know where the backers of Project 2025, including the Heritage Foundation, are getting their money.  Is there a Russian connection?  Is there a Chinese connection?

1/2 a Summer concert at Severance

The Cleveland Orchestra presented the first of three 2024 Summers at Severance concerts with guest conductor Oksana Lyniv and pianist Inon Barnatan last night.  

Our new dog, Brownie was neutered and microchipped yesterday.  Dan & I brought him home to recover – during which he has to be supervised and must wear the dreaded “cone of shame.”  Daniel had to work early this morning,  so I was only able to attend the first half of the concert.

The concert began just a few minutes after 7:00pm with selections from Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen.  The Cleveland Orchestra presented the full opera, inventively staged, in 2014.  It was so well received that it was revived three years later.  Conductor Sir Charles Mackerras compiled selections from Act I into an orchestral suite, and the music holds up well sans singers and staging.  Lyniv obtained exceptionally clear playing from the strings and the performance as a whole was well paced.  The audience, which was rather noisy at first, settled down within a few minutes (except for two people who annoyingly perused their cell phones) and the music was well received. 

 

This was followed by Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which was mostly competently played by Bartanan.  There was little of the elegance heard on the composer’s own recording, nor any of the jazzy sizzle one heard from William Kapell.  The main standout from this performance was from within the orchestra, with string pizzicatos played with uncommon clarity and the brass parts brought off with panache. 

 

After returning home, I settled down for a quiet evening with Brownie, as we both slept on the family room floor.  He’s slowly learning to navigate stairs while wearing his cone and patiently taking his post-surgery medications.  He’s a good boy.