Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus Cheer on Cavs!@ Severance Hall 5/6/10
Well! All last week, WCLV ran commercial spots for the weekend’s concerts by the Cleveland Orchestra. That’s not new, or news. What made these different, however, was Bill O’Connell’s sonorous voice urging listeners to ‘support your Cavs by attending this concert.’ That’s new. Although, in 1980 and 81, when the Browns were perilously near the playoffs, brown and orange ribbons decorated the railing of the podium for Christmas Concerts! And in the late 90s when the Indians were in the World Series, there was a mini-scoreboard in the upper foyer on which the game scores were marked between musical selections, at intermission and the conclusion of the concert, so that folks knew what was happening. (This was before everyone had a cell phone in their ear all the time! There were, however, mini radios with earbuds, and every now and then you could hear a loud cheer through someone else’s ears.)
I’m pretty sure the Cavs weren’t listening to the concert on Friday night, but they certainly exhibited a lot of the exuberance found in Carl Orff’s cheerfully noisy ode to spring and love–Carmina Burana. (The Cavs trounced Boston 124-95; their greatest playoff victory ever!) I didn’t hear Friday night’s performance either, although I was at Severance Hall for Thursday’s sonic spectacular. It was the very best Carmina I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard more than a few.
Director of choruses Robert Porco conducted a stageful of musicians—the Orchestra, Chorus, Children’s Chorus and soloists—in two divergent works, rendering up what must surely have been millions of notes. Another new tack was having the words projected overhead on a screen, similar to opera librettos, rather than printing the words in the program book. I think I could get used to this and like it quite well, although it’s also nice to have the words handy for later reading, if one wished.
Leading off was Prologue in the Heavens from Arrigo Boito’s opera Mefistofele. In five sections, the soloist here was home-grown basso Raymond Aceto, who has the voice and the insouciant manner to portray a devil that most anyone would like to follow. An eight-voice brass choir played offstage during the beginning of the first section and then assembled in the balcony for the finale, which also include the Norton Memorial organ, with Joella Jones at the keyboard. In between these two portions there were the children’s chorus imitating bees or other insects (?) and a delightful orchestral scherzo, plus the adult chorus. Something for everyone.
The big booms were reserved for Carmina Burana, which has been referred to as Orff’s Bolero, in other words a lot of noise without much music there. I disagree, although many of the musicians who play it over and over disagree with me. But, that’s okay, too. Carmina is also in five sections: Prologue and Epilogue which are basically the same words and music—a treatise to Fortuna, Empress of the World; and parts one, two and three in between. Here is where it gets interesting. One is Springtime; two is In the Tavern and three is Court of Love. Medieval times, when these poems were written were not overly bashful; these poems are frequently downright bawdy. But fun.
Baritone Ljubomir Puŝkarić had the largest of the vocal roles, being active in all three parts. In part two, he sang after the tenor, and in three, he was joined by soprano Lisette Oropesa, although they didn’t sing any duets. Both had lovely voices which carried easily over the orchestra. Mr. Puskaric especially, displayed terrific vocal emotion in the love poems in the Springtime section. Ms. Oropesa had no difficulty with the treacherously high notes, maintaining the same sleek silvery quality throughout.
Tenor Christopher Pfund seemed almost to enjoy (perversely, I’m sure!) his role as a swan being roasted on the tavern’s spit. It’s really a terrific vocal description of such an action, and he was thoroughly convincing! As he left the stage at the end of his scene, he waved disgustedly at the audience (and musicians) and who could blame him? It drew an appreciative chuckle from the full house.
The choruses were marvelous. The children were intent and sang sweetly when needed, while the adult chorus is really awesome. Like the orchestra, they excel in singing so softly one has to strain to hear them, even though you can easily see they are all singing. But when required, they can indeed make ‘a joyful noise’. Furthermore, they look like they’re all having great fun while doing so!
There are two more Cavs/Celtics games before this review is printed. We can but hope for the same result from our local men in wine and gold. (Please?)
If you want to see the orchestra and chorus cheering on the Cavs, here’s a direct link: http://www.clevelandorchestrablog.com/2010/05/viral-video-cleveland-orchestra-and.html
This week’s concerts will be conducted by assistant conductor Tito Muñoz with principal clarinetist Franklin Cohen as soloist. For tickets or information, visit the website: http://www.clevelandorchestra.com or call the ticket office at 216.231.1111. ‘
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz, who writes: My most recently published book is Ardenwycke Unveiled (e-book and trade paper). Cerridwen has another contemporary romance from me, But Not For Love, currently available only as an e-book, but perhaps will be in print later this year. I hope to soon get around to completing some of the 30+ incomplete books in my computer!By the way, Cerridwen has also accepted two of my short stories in their Scintillating Samples (complimentary reads) area: Song of the Swan and Unexpected Comfort. I love photography as well, as you can see here. Occasionally I teach writing workshops and sometimes do editing or ghostwriting on a free-lance basis. But over and above everything else, there’s always been the writing. I can’t imagine my life without it.
And now, after more than a few requests, I’ve started a blog about writing. You can find it http://bookmechanic.wordpress.com/ here.