The Cleveland Orchestra and Fridays@7 – 12/7/12
Reviewed by Laura Kennelly
Bela Fleck and the Cleveland Orchestra may seem an unlikely pair, but don’t tell that to the huge crowd that came early and stayed late for this month’s Fridays@7 concert. The music-packed evening began at 6 p.m. with spirited (and often hauntingly lovely) pre-concert Eastern European folk songs sung and played by Harmonia. Next came the Cleveland Orchestra’s concert of works (short ones) by John Adams, George Gershwin, and Fleck himself.
But it was the after-party that brought out the happy musical beast in all of us. Everyone gathered above and below the foyer to hear the New Orleans style jazz trio that finished off this extraordinary musical evening. Trombone (Mark Mullins), guitar (Roland Guerin), and drums (Johnny Vidacovich) brought a feisty taste of bump and grind, celebrate and cry Big Easy sound to Cleveland. And, to make the end of the evening even more special, Fleck joined the trio for most of the gig and so we got to watch them have fun and negotiate what to play and who was to play it. Actually, it seems as if the Severance Hall Grand Foyer may need to expand a bit because every available bit of floor space was jammed with cheerful (and sometimes, dancing) listeners.
The original impetus for this concert trip was to hear how on earth Fleck would incorporate a banjo into a concerto to be played with The Cleveland Orchestra. Well, Fleck showed one could, but for the most part, the banjo seemed thin in contrast to the lush sounds of the other strings. The result for these ears? No angst, no big drama, just a contented little banjo rocking along. The packed house called for encores and there Fleck really shone with “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen” and the theme from TV’s “Beverly Hillbillies.”
I may say this every time (because it’s true), but there’s no place like home (Cleveland, of course) for amazing music of every sort. That night, Severance Hall was THE place to be.
The Cleveland Orchestra has its traditional series of Holiday Concerts through Dec. 23. For more information or tickets go to http://clevelandorchestra.com or call 216-231-1111.
Laura Kennelly is a freelance arts journalist, a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, and an associate editor of BACH, a scholarly journal devoted to J. S. Bach and his circle.Listening to and learning more about music has been a life-long passion. She knows there’s no better place to do that than the Cleveland area.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106