REVIEW: Cleveland Orchestra @ Public Square 9/11/11
We came; it rained; we stayed.
Weather had everyone talking Sunday. The Cleveland Orchestra’s 9/11 Commemoration Concert in Public Square did take place, despite the best efforts of area thunderstorms to spoil things. Rain, and the storm threat (“that scaffolding could act like a lightning rod” someone said, explaining why folks who came for the 2:30 p.m. start and set up front-row lawn chairs for the festivities were ordered away). Part of the program (poetry and pictures) was cancelled. On the plus side, the 5 p.m. concert did take place, only about 20 minutes late. And, as a plus plus, people who otherwise would have sat outside came inside and saw the Tower City Western Reserve Fire Museum display in tribute to firefighters who lost their lives on 9-11.
The concert, led by the effervescent Loras John Schissel, included a patriotic fare usually heard at the 4th of July concert, minus the “1812 Overture” (no booming cannons this time). Standouts included Michael Sachs’ trumpet solo in John Williams’ “Born on the Fourth of July” and a tender and moving arrangement of “God Bless America” played by the orchestra. Another standout was the Cleveland Firefighters Memorial Pipes and Drums performance of “Amazing Grace.”
The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus sang valiantly from the back of the stage, but they were under-miked (they looked beautiful on the jumbotron anyway). Carmen Dragon’s “I Am An American,” despite being read with authority by Robert Conrad, perhaps should be retired because the 1950s contest-winner sounds (both words and score) too stereotypical and cutesy to resonate today.
Yes, the crowd was much smaller than for the July 4th concerts (blame the rain). However, to gather in public to honor the fallen and to show that terrorists had not made us fearful of assembling in public, seemed a good and appropriate response.
Side note: Even though some events were cancelled, there seemed plenty going on in downtown Cleveland. While we waited to see if the concert would take place, we enjoyed a bit of patio dining (OK, just beers and a snack) and excellent people watching on 4th Street. Around the corner, teens (and a few long-suffering parents) waiting to score House of Blues tickets to a Jonas brother (just one of them) concert chatted and ran around. And just getting downtown on the RTA was a trip itself — some of the graffiti along the way was first-class (but some of it needs to be scrubbed) — and there were plenty of people to chat with as the “rapid” made its way.
[Photo by Roger Mastrioanni]
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.