By Burt Saidel
The Cleveland Orchestra, Severance Hall - these are the very building blocks of my personal musical experience. More than fifty years ago, I made my first stop in the parking lot of Severance Hall. I had just arrived in Cleveland to start Dental School at Western Reserve University.
Leaving all of my earthly belongings in a convertible with the top down, I dashed in to purchase a season ticket. Proudly owning a seat in the next to the last row of the balcony – 24 concerts for $29 – I proceeded to find a rooming house to be my home for the next four years. My priorities concerning the arts were well fixed at a tender age.
In those years, nearly every Thursday was spent at Severance Hall hearing one of the great orchestras of the world under the baton of Maestro George Szell. The depth of the musical experience and exposure to others who loved great music transformed my tastes and appreciation. It has added immeasurably to my life.
We are not infrequent visitors to Cleveland and the orchestra. I have often shared my observations with you, my readers. For years, I had facility envy. Hearing the Cleveland Orchestra in the Art-Deco palace which is Severance Hall emphasized the acoustic differences from our Memorial Hall. Now, I can say with pride, and objectivity, that Severance Hall and our Schuster Center are co-equal in wondrous sounds.
I also do not apologize for our Dayton Philharmonic. In concert after concert, the Philharmonic provides thrilling music, well played, conducted and programmed. There is, however, still the magic of the Cleveland Orchestra.
The day after Thanksgiving is one of our typical Cleveland Orchestra dates. This year, my musical curiosity was piqued by the program. Master pianist Mitsuko Uchida is a great interpreter of Mozart’s piano concerti. I have heard her play several of them in the past. For this concert, one of the many dedicated to the Wunderkind’s 250th birthday, she was both soloist and conductor.
Conducting from the keyboard in not unique to Ms. Uchida. Maestro Szell did it many times during my early years as an orchestral “groupie.” It seems that Mozart piano concerti, crystalline piano passages and orchestral responses, are firmly in the hands of the pianist – so why not name her the conductor, as well.
All of the three works were unique musical expressions. The two piano concerti were separated, in composition, by only ten years, 1776-86. These years were equal to half a century of development of a lesser musician.
The opening piece, Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major, is a short work played with an expanded string quartet plus oboes, horns and double basses. Ms. Uchida conducted from the piano bench as if she was playing the orchestra as she plays the piano.
With expressive hand and body gestures she marked expression rather than time. The orchestra responded as if it was an instrument under her fingers. The beautiful exchanges and developments were clear and integrated and yet full of subtle expressions.
The preparation for the next work puzzled the audience. Stage hands removed the piano and all of the musicians’ chairs. Suddenly, 30 or more string players were standing, conductorless, on the stage. Concertmaster Preucil bowed a measure and the hall was filled with the most wondrous sounds. The three movements were full of varied themes and brilliant effects. The applause at the conclusion recalled the entire orchestra to the stage three times.
The final concerto, the familiar Concerto No. 24 in C minor, took the concert into musical stratosphere. Although familiar, Uchido’s piano mastery and her interpretive conducting of the orchestra made the hearing unique and thrilling.
The concerto is musically dark and serious. The themes recall passages from Don Giovanni’s foreboding quasi-tragedy. What made the concerto fresh and alive with feeling was the almost solo quality of the woodwinds and horns along with the masterful expression of the strings.
Ms. Uchida’s cadenzas distilled the piano-orchestral exchanges into lucid restatements. The exchanges with the woodwinds, particularly a trio of flute, oboes and bassoons led by principal flautist Joshua Smith, created phrases sounding like spiced honey – if that delicious concoction had sound.
The final movement’s simple theme, six notes subtly varied, was based no doubt on some lost German song. It was so engaging, so full of musical magic, that its many repeats nearly hypnotized the listener.
Don’t rush out to purchase the CD. No recording can duplicate, even approach, the effect of Severance Hall’s great ambiance and acoustics. Nothing can recreate the oneness of master pianist and master orchestra, melded into one pulsating body full of musical enchantment.
On Sunday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m., the Bach Society of Dayton will present a concert entitled, “Sweet Sounds of the Holidays.” The program will feature modern as well as traditional holiday music. Special guest artists will be the Kettering Children’s Choir and the Kettering Advent Ringers. Local residents who are members of the Bach Society of Dayton include Margaret Karns; Dave Grupe; Faye Seifrit; Marc Georgin; accompanist, R. Alan Kimbrough; and music director, John Neely.
The concert will take place at the Kettering Seventh-day Adventist Church, 3939 Stonebridge Road. Tickets ($12 adults, $7 students, children 12 and under free) will be available at the door or may be purchased in advance by calling (937) 294-BACH or by writing to: The Bach Society of Dayton, 1563 East Dorothy Lane, Suite 300, Dayton, OH 45429.
Soirees Musicales International Piano Series will be presenting Kemal Gekic, Pianist at Shiloh Church, North Main St. at Philadelphia Dr., Harrison Twp. On Saturday, Dec. 3 at 8 p.m.
Flamboyant, daring, provocative, exciting, seductive and sensitive are some of the words used to describe one of today’s most formidable pianists, Kemal Gekic, whose playing has been acclaimed worldwide by public and critics alike.
Included in the program will be works from Ludwig van Beethoven, Gabriel Faure, Claude Debussy, J.S. Bach and Franz Liszt.
Tickets are Adults $20, Senior $18, Student (age 19-22) $12; age 18 & Under FREE. For more information call Don Hageman at 228-5802.
On Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. The Dayton Mandolin Orchestra will perform at A Hometown Holiday at Carillon Park in the Kettering Family Education Center.
Artists working in the literary and performing arts and living in Montgomery County are encouraged to apply for the 2007 Individual Artist Fellowship grant program funded by the Montgomery County Arts & Cultural District (MCACD).
The Individual Artist Fellowship grant program provides grants through a competitive process in support of the artistic development of Montgomery County artists. To be eligible, artists must be a resident of Montgomery County for at least one year before the deadline, and not be a recipient of a 2005 Artist Fellowship Award.
Free workshops covering the application process will be held at the following sites across Montgomery County:
Wednesday, December 7, 6-7:30 p.m.Dayton Metro Library, 2nd Floor Auditorium 215 E. Third Street, Downtown Dayton
Saturday, December 10, 10-11: 30 a.m. Metropolitan Arts Center - Burnell Roberts Conference Room, 126 N. Main St., DowntownDayton
Thursday, January 5, 6-7:30 p.m.
Dayton Metro Library, 2nd Floor Auditorium. 215 E. Third Street, Downtown Dayton
Deadlines – There is a two-step application process for this competitive grant: Intent to apply postcard, due February 21, 2006, Full application and support materials, due March 13, 2006.
By Lance Winkler
One of life’s little pleasures is snagging a table on a Saturday morning at the Wind’s Café in Yellow Springs. It’s the best cuisine-noshing/people-watching perch one can find. Two weeks ago Wifey and I did just that and settled down to take in the ambiance of cerebral conversations between Antioch professors, breakfast between young couples lingering over last night, and homespun backchat from the over-50 set.
Another singular aspect of the Winds is that while one develops a list of culinary favorites over the years, it is the unique that entices more than the tried and true. In the case of one of their new artisanal five-cheese sampler, caution must be thrown to the winds (literally and figuratively) as this offering is a real treat for cheese lovers.
The cheeses are brought out in a large presentation basket that one is tempted to slip the server a $100 bill to just leave the basket and walk away from the table… but it would cost more than that. A large dollop of quince preserves is placed at 12 o’clock on the plate followed clockwise by five separate cheeses handcut at your table by the server: first there is Great Hill Bleu from Massachusetts, a rich, fragrant blue cheese made from raw cow’s milk; next is Bucheron, a rustic-but-mild goat cheese from France; Carr Valley Mobay from Wisconsin is a heady combination of two cheeses - one a goat cheese, the other made from sheep’s milk, then divided by ash and pressed together to make one cheese; Romao from Spain was my favorite – a sheep’s milk cheese that is rolled in fresh rosemary and should be served with a chisel instead of a knife. Finally, or should I say finale, there is Colorouge from Colorado, a Camembert-style cheese rubbed with annatto seed to give it a reddish hue.
Also accompanying the sampler is a generous basket of Winds bread and a dish of dried dates to sweeten the deal.
According to the server, this little fromage a le monde sampler is served only at dinner and on Saturday mornings. Cost is $7 per person. I heartily recommend it. Bon apetit!
