My review of Artur Rodziński & The Cleveland Orchestra - The Complete Columbia Album Collection has been published. The 13CD set provides much musical food for thought for those interested in the history of The Cleveland Orchestra. Click here to read the complete review.
This weekend’s Cleveland Orchestra concerts at Severance Hall combined a US premiere, a local premiere, and a repertoire favorite for a most satisfying program. The guest conductor was Semyon Bychkov.
The US
Premiere was the Symphony No. 2, titled “Prague Panoramas,” by British composer Julian
Anderson. The work was not so much
inspired by the city itself, which the composer didn’t visit until after the symphony
was completed, but by a series of panoramic photographs taken by Josef
Sudek. The photos are of remarkable
clarity, and so is Anderson’s comprehensive orchestration, which featured
extensive percussion including a tuned Thai gong, ocean drum, vibraphone, marimba,
and numerous types of bells – the latter a poignant reminder that during their occupation of
Prague, the Nazis stripped the city of every bell they could find and sent
them to Germany to be melted down for ammunition. The work is more a series of textures and sonorities
than a development of themes, and the composer’s approach is too cosmopolitan
to confine the work’s inspiration to one city or nation. It bears further hearing, particularly the
central movement in which a desolate sensuality pervaded. Bychkov, who premiered the symphony in London
last year, led an assured, polished performance. I've never seen Bychkov conduct before; it was a pleasure to observe how he conducted the orchestra and not the audience.
Following
intermission, conductor and orchestra were joined by duo pianists Katia and
Marielle Labèque – the latter of whom is Bychkov’s wife – for Martinů’s Concerto
for Two Pianos. The work is dissimilar
to other works in the genre. Instead of
contrasting passagework, the opening movement features the pianists doubling
each other – a considerable challenge in coordination. The central movement begins with some
arresting runs on the pianos before settling into a narcoleptic spell – the sense
of disorientation is enhanced by the fact that much of the piano part is
written without bar lines. The finale
has an upbeat appeal, and the performance elicited an enthusiastic audience
response. The pianists offered an encore:
a new rag-like work by Phillip Glass.
What struck this listener most about Bychkov’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture Fantasy was its musicality. The conductor paid unusual attention to the lower levels of dynamics at the beginning – the little crescendos and decrescendos that bring music to life. This was doubly effective as the fortissimos further into the piece seemed truly shocking. Juliet’s theme was given an expansive, yet non-schmaltzy treatment. Tchaikovsky revised the work over a decade’s time until he was satisfied with it. It was a rare pleasure to hear the work played not as a well-worn warhorse, but as music worthy of respect.
My review of Deutsche Grammophon's new issue, a previously unpublished recording of Rudolf Serkin playing Beethoven's Waldstein and Appassionata Sonatas, has been posted. Click here to read it.
Saturday evening’s concert at Severance featured guest conductor Pietari Inkinen making his Cleveland Orchestra debut, along with returning violinist Augustin Hadelich.
The concert
opened with Dvořák’s Othello Overture, Op. 93. It’s not one of the composer’s well-known
works, despite the familiar subject matter of Shakespeare’s play. Composed in 1892,
it wasn’t performed in Cleveland until a century later – a noteworthy omission
for an orchestra that has long championed the unfamiliar. The chief problem is an overabundance of
ideas, intended to depict specific scenarios within the plot, which are
presented but not developed. I was left
with no desire to investigate this music more fully.
Tchaikovsky’s
Violin Concerto, Op. 35 is, of course, another matter. It’s a work which combines Tchaikovsky’s
knack for memorable tunes, great passion, a dramatic through-line, secure
architecture, and idiomatic writing which tests the limits of instrument and
instrumentalist. The composer was
assisted by his probable lover Iosif Kotek, a gifted violinist who advised the
composer on aspects of the violin part.
He was the initial dedicatee of the work until Tchaikovsky, cautious about his personal
reputation, switched the dedication to Leopold Auer – who was initially
uninterested in the piece. Eduard
Hanslick’s notoriously hostile review, in which he ranted that the music “stinks
to the ear” and that “the violin was not played but beaten black and blue” has
gone down as one of the most wrong-headed musical criticisms of all time. Soloist Hadelich is no stranger to
Cleveland. He
turned in a memorable performance of Dvořák’s Violin Concerto six years ago. Hadelich has everything needed for
Tchaikovsky: an immaculately superlative technique, a vocal – almost throaty –
tone, plenty of temperament, and the inherent taste to know just how much to
stretch a melody or push the dynamics. All
these gifts were put into the service of musical virtuosity and a bona-fide
masterpiece – no doubt the finest of Tchaikovsky’s four concertos. Hadelich was ably assisted by Inkinen and the
orchestra, but one felt this was mostly the soloist’s conception. A rousing ovation followed, and Hadelich
gifted the audience with an encore – the name of the work was not announced, but
it sounded like it was composed by Fritz Kreisler.
Still, the
concert was worth attending for the Tchaikovsky.
Yesterday, Ohio’s voters handed a decisive victory to
those who believe that individual humans should have the right to control their
own bodies.
Both Issue 1 (guaranteeing reproductive rights) and Issue 2 (legalizing Cannabis) passed with 57% voting in the affirmative. Doubtless most who voted “Yes” on Issue 1 voted the same on Issue 2; and there were some who split their vote. But the issues both passed by a substantial margin, in the face of misleading claims from the opposition that bordered on hysteria.
The anti-Issue 1 group even resorted to illegal tactics,
including placing their signs on polling center property, as shown in this
video I captured Tuesday morning.
Ohio Republicans from Governor Mike DeWine to Secretary
of State Frank LaRose (likely a candidate for Senate next year) to scandal-beleaguered
Lake County commissioner John Plecnik beat the drums against these issues. They lost.
Ohio’s Democratic and unaffiliated voters must now band
together to free Ohio from the iron-grip Republicans have inflicted upon our
state. DeWine is term-limited out. We must not allow LaRose to defeat Senator
Sherrod Brown in November. LaRose would
try to implement the same policies nationally as he was trying to do in
Ohio.
We can celebrate our victory for now. But the fight is not over, and it never will be.
Daniel and I have prioritized our travel to explore places we’ve never been before. Our latest trip was to New Mexico, which neither of us had ever visited. Friends have been telling me about Santa Fe for years. I originally planned to visit in the summer of 2021, but the Delta variant reared its ugly head and I decided to forego that trip. We finally got around to visiting New Mexico this month, partly for leisure, partly to investigate a possible winter home.
If flying,
the most efficient way to get into New Mexico is to fly to Albuquerque
(ABQ). Santa Fe has an airport, but it’s
very small and we found if we were to fly there, the price would have been higher,
and our layover would have gone on forever.
So, we flew into ABQ via Denver.
Upon landing in Denver, we had to wait 20 minutes before our gate was
ready, then had to rush to the other terminal for our connection – only to
discover that that flight was also delayed.
No worries, we arrived at ABQ’s
charmingly westernized airport only slightly late, got our rental car, and
enjoyed a leisurely drive to Santa Fe.
By the time
we got into Santa Fe, we were hungry, so we headed to Santa Fe Plaza, near the Palace of the Governors and parked our rental. We selected Coyote
Cantina, where
I enjoyed some fine drinks, and I sampled my first ever Frito Pie. Delicious!
That
evening, we took a break from our sightseeing to take in the new Exorcist
film. It was totally unmemorable.
Sunday morning,
we packed up and headed to Albuquerque for the last two days of our trip. Instead of taking I-25, we took state route 14.
This proved to be interesting as it took us through the tiny town of Madrid, once a mining town, later a filming
location for Wild Hogs, now mostly an artists’ colony. Continuing our journey south, we took a
detour and drove to the top of Sandia Crest, then back down again. By the time we got into Albuquerque, our
appetite needed to be satisfied and we stopped at the 66
diner. The experience was more notable for its vintage
Route 66 décor than for the ordinary Chicken Fried Steak I ate.
Albuquerque
is quite a bit larger than Santa Fe – its population is greater than municipal
Cleveland, yet it retains a small-town feel.
With the roads largely laid out in a grid pattern, it’s easy to
navigate. (Just about every road we
encountered in New Mexico was far superior to Ohio’s counterparts.) Old
Town was quite
crowded on Sunday, with vendors and activities aplenty. Yet we found most were selling the same
things as in Santa Fe.
Monday was
our last full day in New Mexico. Dan had
been wanting to try blue corn pancakes, so we headed to the Range
café for an
early breakfast. Although I’ve been on a
low-carbohydrate diet since 2021 (and have lost almost 40 pounds), I tried the
pancakes and greatly enjoyed them. We
then headed to the Sandia Peak Tramway for a ride to the top – some 10,679 feet. Yes, our ears popped on the way up and on the
way down. Unfortunately, due to a minor
injury I wasn’t able undertake a hike to the Kiwanis cabin, built by the
Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
Still, the vistas from the peak made it one of the highlights of our
trip.
We flew
home Tuesday, connecting at George Bush Intercontinental Airport – a fine, well-run
airport. During our brief connection, I
had the need to use the restroom and walked in to hear Beethoven’s
last string quartet on the overhead speakers. One wonders what the Master would think to
have his music playing in such a place.
Daniel and I headed to Severance last night for our first concert of the Cleveland Orchestra season. Conductor Franz Welser-Möst and guest soloist Christoph Sietzen provided a program that combined the somewhat familiar with the brand new.
The news
that Welser-Möst will be receiving follow up treatment after the recent removal
of a cancerous tumor has been on my mind.
But there was no sign of ill health in either his appearance or his conducting
last night. The opening work, Mozart’s Symphony
No. 29 in A major, K. 201 was given a lithe, elegantly propulsive
performance. As is customary with Welser-Möst,
tempi leaned toward the brisk side, particularly in the second movement
Andante, which went at a pace more closely resembling an Allegretto. But no one would quibble with the superb
balance and transparency that conductor and orchestra brought to the piece.
Following a
longer than usual stage change, guest percussionist Christoph Sietzen took his
place for Staud’s
Whereas the reality trembles, receiving its world premiere performances this
weekend. The work calls for a supplement
of percussion instruments large enough that the stage extension had to be
employed. The percussion included, among
other accoutrements, a Chinese opera gong, cowbells, bongos, woodblocks, crotales,
thunder sheets, along with an oil barrel provided by Broadway Scrap Metals and
Terracotta pots courtesy of Petitti Garden Center. In essence the piece is a concerto for
percussion and orchestra, which concerns itself more with texture and
instrumental effect than thematic development.
Sietzen worked up quite the sweat as he navigated from instrument to
instrument. As this was a world
premiere, I have nothing to compare this performance with, except to state that
soloist, conductor, and orchestra were totally committed. Despite the work’s relative modernity and
atonality, the audience responded with an extended ovation. Sietzen gifted the audience with an encore –
a short, contemplative piece composed by a friend of his.
Following
intermission, Welser-Möst and the orchestra returned for Tchaikovsky’s
Symphony No. 2 in C minor, Op. 17.
For over a century, the work has been titled (courtesy of a music critic
contemporary of the composer’s) the “Little Russian,” owing
to Tchaikovsky’s use of three Ukrainian folk songs as thematic material. Some Western orchestras have now retitled the
work “Ukrainian” in a justifiable response to Vladimir Putin’s barbaric
invasion of Ukraine. (Truth be told I
resist the use of all nick-names in musical compositions unless given by the
composer himself: thus the “Heroic” Polonaise and “Revolutionary” Etude of Chopin
are titles I don’t use, but the “Pathetique” Sonata of Beethoven is one I do.) Whether titled or not, the Second Symphony is
an engaging work where the composer’s mature style begins to emerge – although it
must be pointed out the symphony was revised seven years after its premiere in
1873. As with the
performance of Dvořák’s New World Symphony last April, Welser-Möst avoided
the temptation to lay on the work’s folk themes in favor of musical
architecture – and his approach worked. The
coda, with a superbly controlled accelerating crescendo, was particularly
effective.
The
conductor will be taking some time off for his cancer treatment. We wish him a speedy recovery with a minimum
of discomfort, followed hopefully by a return to the podium.
