When Everything Clicks- May 3.2012

Ton Koopman (Photo by Jaap van de Klomp

                                             
Every once in a while, I've been privileged to be in a concert hall or opera house on an evening when everything just works so perfectly that you don't want to leave when the event ends. The last time I experienced that was in November of 2010 during a performance of Le nozze di Figaro in Paris, and then again, in Severance Hall on the first Thursday in May of this year.

The Dutch conductor, Ton Koopman is Artist-in-Residence with the Cleveland Orchestra, and leads concerts here for two weeks each year. A Baroque music specialist, his passion for the music is infectious, traveling through the orchestra and extending out into the house. He resembles nothing so much as a genial elf, complete with white hair and beard; his hands, sans baton, mold and shape the music into something that reaches into the soul of the listener. He also likes to bring works that haven't been heard here, which makes for an enlightening program, educating without effort!

Opening the program was Introduzione teatrale, Opus 4, No.4, written in 1731 by Pietro Locatelli, is a short series of six works for string orchestra.  Jung-Min Amy Lee served as concertmaster for the abbreviated ensemble, playing the solo line with a bright tone.

Mark Kosower (Photo by Roger Mastroianni)

The undeniable highlight of the program was Boccherini's Cello Concerto in D major, G479, with Mark Kosower, principal cellist, as the soloist. He was very simply, amazing. The composer placed the opening Allegro in the upper registers of the instrument with brutally hard fingerings, while the the Adagio showcased Kosower's exquisite singing tones. Amazingly, he tossed in cadenzas on all three movements, and it was delightful to see smiles on the faces of his fellow orchestra members as they listened!

Closing out the first half of the program was Symphony No.20 in B-flat major, by J.C.F.Bach. A surprisingly good piece, this enlarged the number of instruments by the addition of some woodwinds and horns.The work called for a lot from the flute and Joshua Smith did not disappoint, playing solo and weaving and dancing with the clarinets, bassoon and horns.The latter, as usual, played as a seamless whole and sounded wonderful.

Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the Serenade No. 13 in G major hasn't been performed as part of a regular subscription season here in 34 years. We all feel like we know this piece so it's hard to make it feel new, but Maestro Koopman succeeded in every way. The Allegro and Romanze were light and and fun, the Minuetto  picked up the tempo even more sliding into the Rondo at breakneck pace. The instrumentalists never held back and didn't falter, keeping it swift and clean.

Sticking with Mozart, the fanfare laden Symphony No, 31, the Paris, composed when he was only 22, was scored for much larger orchestra than was usual, and was his first to utilize clarinets. In the first movement, the Allegro assai, we heard the trumpets making a strong, solid arc. The flutes, clarinets and horns factored into the remaining two movements, while the timpani was ably played, as always, by Paul Yancich.

The entire program could have been played within a museum setting, but we were fortunate to have it in Severance Hall. Seats were almost full and it was a pleasure to see so many youngsters present. They were all very well behaved, and the audience, for the most part confined its collective coughing to the breaks between movements. A cell phone located somewhere in center orchestra, row, 10-12 vibrated loudly during the pause between the second and third movements of the Paris, and its owner made no attempt to shut it off. A woman in Row H, seat 201 of the orchestra felt so comfortable that she must have thought she was in her living room; slipping off her shoes, she slapped her bare feet on the floor in time to the music while swigging water from a bottle she kept under her seat. Her companion slid over into an adjacent seat and proceeded to make use of her own water bottle while texting on her phone. One can hope that she was telling her friends about the great performance she was enjoying!