Severance
Hall
March
28
A packed house onstage and in the audience. |
One
of hallmarks of Cleveland’s cultural institutions is outreach. Far
from the stereotype of refined music or precious art kept high in
ivory towers for a privileged few, the doors are thrown open here to
the broadest possible audience. One need look no further than
Severance Hall for examples like the Cleveland Orchestra’s annual
Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Concert, or the free community
concert the orchestra is giving on April 18.
On
Friday night, the Cleveland Institute of Music took inclusion a step
further by bringing community members on stage with the CIM Orchestra
for a rousing performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
Severance has certainly seen
better performances of the piece, but few with as much heart.
Joining
the student orchestra were four professional vocalists, student
singers from CIM, instrumentalists and singers from Cleveland
School of the Arts, the Singer’s Club of Cleveland, and members of
the Antioch Baptist Church Sanctuary Choir. That totaled about 260
people packed wall-to-wall on the stage, which looked more like a
convention than a concert.
In
opening remarks, CIM President Joel Smirnoff noted the diversity of
the performers and how it reflected the themes of idealism and
brotherhood in Beethoven’s crowning work. “Take a good look
around you tonight,” he encouraged an equally jam-packed audience.
“Try to savor these moments as our community gathers
together to find meaning at the end of a work day in a symphony based
on life’s culture, life’s tragedy and life’s joy.”
Before
he took the helm at CIM, Smirnoff was a longtime member of the
Juilliard String Quartet and an active conductor. He still picks up
the baton occasionally, as he did at this concert, ducking into the
wings after his speech and then reemerging to lead a sharp,
authoritative start on the symphony.
The
CIM Orchestra is noted for the professional caliber of its sound and
fearlessness in taking on difficult pieces, qualities that were
quickly evident. The music had depth and a crisp edge, with some
notable bite in the brass. The second movement rolled out like
thunder with powerful rhythmic intensity, and the third opened with
wonderful silken violins, one of the trademark characteristics of the
Cleveland Orchestra sound. By osmosis or design, the student players
did a great job emulating it.
A
smart dialogue between the horns and low strings opened the fourth
movement, followed by the famous theme stated first by the cellos and
bass in tones as rich and well-drawn as one would hear from a
professional ensemble. As the theme blossomed and the voices joined
in, the four soloists added color, though not much in the way of
standout vocals. The choral groups were almost staggering in their
power, a great burst of sound exploding from the back of the stage
that captured the radiant spirit and exuberance of the finale.
Were
one to apply strict critical standards to the performance, there
would be much to dissect. The playing was wildly uneven, particularly
in the woodwinds, which veered from sounding brilliant to nearly
falling apart. Big, bold sections fared better than subtleties, and
Smirnoff could never get the balance quite right, with the horns
sitting on top of the strings for most of the night rather than
complementing them. And for all its power and energy, the giant
chorus sounded like mush by the end of the performance, a tidal wave
of sound without any definition.
But
it would be churlish to apply professional criteria to a community
celebration, particularly one that so richly embodied the ideas of
not just a piece of music, but a seminal work of Western art. The
outsized gathering of disparate races, voices and skill levels on a
single stage was itself an inspirational statement. That they could
all come together in an emotionally rewarding experience for both the
players and audience was a measure of how far enthusiasm and noble
aspirations can carry a performance.
For
more on the CIM Orchestra: https://www.cim.edu/promos/severance/
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