Thu 9/20
The Cleveland Orchestra celebrated the opening of its 101st season September 20 with a mix of “new” new music, older new music, and one classic (that wasn’t such a big hit the first time out). In the pre-concert talk, music director Franz Welser-Möst, the conductor for the evening’s program, noted that “tradition” for the Cleveland Orchestra meant programming new works as well as continuing to refine and play older works. “Music,” he said, “should be fun.”
And fun it was. The first piece, Pantheon (2017-2018), by TCO oboist Jeffrey Rathbun, was (as the program notes), a “ concerto for the orchestra.” The evocative piece drew on the talents of individual soloists in brief or extended solo spots; it was easy to imagine a favorite place, a sunrise, birds. Melody dominated.
This was not the case in the next piece, Left, alone (2014-2015) by Hans Abrahamsen. Abrahamsen’s concerto for piano and orchestra sounded designed to emphasize personality (his). The soloist, Alexandre Tharaud, used only his left hand. The result seemed awkward and distracting to watch. Tharaud clenched his right hand firmly by his side. (I kept thinking it wanted to help, but he wouldn’t let it.) The resulting piece featured largely percussive solo snippets, especially for the piano, that played effectively upon silence between notes.
After intermission, we were served a lush, nuanced and spirited performance by the full orchestra of the suite from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake (premiered in 1877). The orchestra made it seem fresh and new, with even the most familiar parts (such as the funny bouncy little cygnet passages featuring oboes and bassoons). The harp (played by Trina Struble) sounded like rippling waves on a lake that swans might like. One wished for dancers, but it was easy to imagine them. It was a beautiful rendition of a classic and showed, once again, why Swan Lake still thrills listeners. The audience demanded, and got, an encore of another Tchaikovsky work, Marche slave, Op 31.
It promises to be a great season. Next up for this reviewer, a favorite, programmed for October 4-6, is Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, often known as the “Resurrection” symphony. It features the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, soprano Joélle Harvey, Sasha Cooke, and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106