Severance Hall
I have been visiting friends in Cleveland this week. Friday morning we spent quite a lot of time in the Acute Care Center. When I de-planed and walked the four miles to the Baggage turnstile, I had a lot of pain in my right heel. On Friday morning, my hosts decided that I should see someone about it and took me to the Acute Care Center, an amazing facility. There, it was determined, after an examination and an X-Ray, that I have a heel spur and fasciitis. I was given Prednisone and Tylenol and told to go to a nearby CVS to use the Dr. Scholl's Foot Machine to get measured for orthotics. An exciting start to my time in Cleveland.
Today, Sunday, we attended a concert at Severance Hall by the Cleveland Orchestra. This is a marvelous organization. I have never heard them live before, and in the acoustic of this hall they are amazing! Built in 1931 with a million dollar gift from Mr. Severance, the interior has elements of Art Deco, Modernism, Egyptian Revival and Modernism. In short, it knocks your eye out! It glitters in silver and gold gilding.
Today's program began with Kodaly's Galántai Tánkoc (Dances of Galáta). This is a delightful work with hints of Prince Igor.
In the solo cadenza her playing was exquisite, poignant, and beautiful. I don't know if the problem in the first and last movements was her playing or the 'cello, or just a lack of communication with the conductor. He did not see to be able to get out of her way.
Interestingly enough, he is a 'cellist himself. Hmmm. Her intonation is perfection itself, which is not always the case with 'cellists. I have been wondering if Yoyo Ma or Zara Nelsova would have been drowned out by the orchestra. Zara had a home in Sandisfield with her late husband, the great pianist, Grant Johaneson some years ago. I knew them both slightly and heard both of them play many times with pleasure. She had a BIG sound.
I have contacted my two 'cellists, Julian Müller and Melissa Morgan, to get their opinion of her playing. Melissa is the 'cellist with The Elektra Ensemble, and Julian is finishing his first year at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana. Both are under the aegis of the Ferris Burtis Music Foundation. Julian will perform in our Benefit Concert on June 10th at 4:00 p.m., at the Sandisfield Arts Center. For more information on this concert see: http://ferrisburtisfoundation.blogspot.com
After the intermission we heard a lovely rendition of Albert Roussel's Le Festin se araigné (The Spider's Feast). This sweet, but rather innocuous work premiered in Paris just weeks before the final work of today's program: Stravinsky's L'oiseau de feu (The Firebird). This is a work of such genius that I feel inadequate to say anything about it other than if you never get to heaven, This is next closest thing!
It is obviously THE piece for this conductor and in the incredible acoustics of this hall was mind-bending in its presentation. After this, there is nothing else to say.
When I first entered the hall it seemed to me that the proportions of the stage were unusual. It is very deep compared to its width. Avery Fisher Hall should eat its heart out!
As we left the hall, I said to my friends, Stravinsky and Britten will be the two composers remembered from the twentieth century.
It was a wonderful concert!
