Thu 11/3-Sun 11/7
The Cleveland Orchestra’s exemplary 2021 fall season crescendoed in intensity and accomplishment over the weekend with a masterful performance by British phenom Sheku Kanneh-Mason in Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor. The cello concerto was the centerpiece of an alluring program conducted by fan favorite Jakub Hrůša.
The evening opened with a beautiful, romantic rendition of a ballad by British-born Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. This weekend marked the first time the Cleveland Orchestra performed the work.
The piece was influenced by Dvořák, and Coleridge-Taylor was mentored by Elgar at the request of Elgar’s best friend, August J. Jaeger. Fans of Elgar may remember that Jaeger was inspiration for Elgar’s Nimrod in the Enigma Variations. Coleridge-Taylor became an international sensation who was celebrated in concert halls and in the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt before his tragic death at only 37.
Conductor Jakub Hrůša is a perceptive and insightful conductor who can coax poignant and emotive tones from his orchestra and soloists as readily as he can initiate euphoric and imposing resonance. His enthusiasm rang throughout the concert hall and escalated throughout the trajectory of the concert. He and Sheku Kanneh-Mason seemed in unison with each other and the entire orchestra throughout the staggeringly impressive Elgar concerto. Appalled and tormented by the cruelty of World War I, Elgar’s composition can be boldly volatile and turbulent one moment, and lamenting and poetic the next.
Comparisons to Jacqueline du Pré’s earliest performances and recordings of the same piece are inevitable. However, Sheku Kanneh-Mason elucidates Elgar’s masterpiece in his own unique way. Kanneh-Mason is commanding, and ensconced within a musicianship that is staggering and groundbreaking. He is at the service of music — not the other way around. He possesses what Stravinsky once called “the public solitude”: he is totally immersed in the music he plays, but his generosity of spirit and openness opens the doors for his audience to join him. He seems to understand the complete structure of the music he is playing — to hold it in his mind rather than traveling along its path.
He has total mastery of his instrument, a cello made in 1700 by Matteo Goffriller, a Venetian whose instruments are regarded as the finest of classical music. Fewer than 100 of his cellos have survived. Like Du Pré, he was gifted his cello for life by an anonymous donor. Sheku and the cello are one — which allows him to play without effort and to concentrate completely on what he wants to say. The performance combined the erudition and artistry of a legendary orchestra with the sagacity of an impressive conductor added to the virtuosity of once-in-a-lifetime talent of a 22-year-old soloist. The coalescence produced a momentous and historic event. And that was just before the encore and intermission! On Thursday evening Kanneh-Mason quieted his unrestrained and innumerable ovations with an encore composed by the Chicago Klezmer Ensemble — “Mazltov Far Di Mekhutonim” (arr. Kanneh-Mason) on which he harmonized with himself by whistling the counter-melody. It was a mesmerizing and brilliant climax. (Friday and Sunday’s encores were composed by Bacharach/David a modern rendition of “Say a Little Prayer” (arr. Kanneh-Mason) and Saturday evening’s encore was a captivating original composition, “Melody,” composed by Kanneh-Mason.
Kanneh-Mason has a large and growing devoted global fanbase, thanks in no small part to his participation as a soloist at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which was watched by a television audience of nearly two billion viewers. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Kanneh-Mason and his six incredibly talented siblings live-streamed daily to millions. He’s also just released a new album with his sister, the accomplished pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, entitled Muse.
When I spoke to Kanneh-Mason by phone before the concert, he was soft-spoken but excited to perform with the renowned Cleveland Orchestra and stated that he had heard wonderful things about the quality acoustics of Severance Music Center and was delighted to be conducting a master class on Saturday afternoon with the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. He also spoke of his mother, Kadiatu Kanneh, wondering aloud how she ever found the time to write her new bestselling book about raising him and his six equally talented siblings: House of Music: Raising the Kanneh-Masons. Saturday evening’s performance was jam-packed with many Youth Orchestra members in attendance who waited excitedly after the performance outside of Reinberger Chamber Hall in the Smith Lobby for autographs and selfies with a very patient and kindhearted Kanneh-Mason.
Dvorak’s Sixth is often underestimated in favor of the three symphonies that he composed subsequently. Maestro Jakub Hrusa’s impact and influence Thursday through Sunday with the Cleveland Orchestra is set to transform and remodel that impression with an exhilarating and joyful interpretation of the composition’s uniqueness. His exuberance was contagious and the orchestra and its energized and committed audience became entranced by his jubilant vision. Under his guidance, the romantic and lyrical piece expressed itself in a lush and harmonious euphony. Recollections of an extraordinary concert from start to finish were made each and every presentation Thursday evening through Sunday’s afternoon finale.
[Written by Lisa DeBenedictis]