It’s been three years and two months (give or take a few days) since Christoph von Dohnanyi conducted the Cleveland Orchestra. Dohnanyi, served as Music Director of the Orchestra from 1984 to 2002.
On this April 1st evening of his return as guest conductor, the Severance Hall garage was closed to all but pre-paid parkers by 7:30 p.m.. Cars driven by the unwary circled, seeking a parking spot; early birds sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful spring evening.
When the concert began, the packed hall (and lots of applause throughout the evening) showed how welcome the former conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra was. Opening the evening, Beethoven’s colorful and agitated Overture to “The Creatures of Prometheus” matched the celebratory mood of the audience. A brisk (and charming) Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola, K. 364, followed.
At times Dohnanyi bent so close to the nimble and simpatico soloists William Preucil, violin, and Robert Vernon, viola, that he seemed to be ready to step in and play if necessary (but it wasn’t). In this account the viola no longer played “the plain sister” to the more glam violin as the conductor urged its low-voiced beauty to shine. The program ended with a lyric, romantic (and, yes, gorgeously sexy) performance of Brahms’s Symphony No. 1.
Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra brought these works to glowing life and gave sonic evidence that there’s a very good reason classics are still around: no matter how many times they are played (if played well) they seem brand new (and never make people sleepy).
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.
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