Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Poor machine maintenance blamed for fire at Akron business
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Indians add 7 players to 40-man roster
Body with gunshot wounds found in Canton Township creek
Blogs:
Pets:
Sick Pets Get High-tech Health Care
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
The proposed new LeBron mural doesn't do it for me
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Hey, somebody's gotta stick up for the Browns
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
All Da King's Men:
Headed For Disaster
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Muslim McCarthyism & Death Prayers
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Norma asks if Barkitecture is still at Stan Hywet.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Thomas Hall performance of 'Daphnis and Chloe' shines in the fashion intended by France's Ravel
By Elaine Guregian
Beacon Journal arts and culture critic
Published on Monday, Mar 17, 2008
If you'd like to hear the sun rise, ask the Cleveland Orchestra. Given the music from Maurice Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, they'll give you a Technicolor wonder.
Sunday afternoon, presented by Tuesday Musical in its annual Akron concert, the orchestra closed its performance with suites No. 1 and 2 from Ravel's ballet score. This orchestral writing trembled and rippled in fabulously detailed style. When it finally burst out into sumptuous, riotous color, the effect was splendid.
In an earlier interview, the guest conductor, Ilan Volkov, had spoken of the beauties of Ravel's writing, and how this French repertoire is enhanced by a bright, resonant hall like Symphony Hall in Boston. (Volkov previously served as assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony.) Happily, Sunday's performance defied the considerably less resonant acoustics of E.J. Thomas Hall. Ravel's trademark crescendos ripped through the hall like a sail whipping in the wind. The smooth blend of the strings, the majestic sweep of the full orchestra and the silvery arabesques of Joshua Smith's flute solos all made a gorgeous sonic impact.
Volkov, 31, made his Cleveland Orchestra debut at Severance Hall earlier in the week, leading the same program. The Israeli conductor is chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow.
It's hard to say whether Volkov was more suited to leading Daphnis or simply more attuned to the qualities of the hall by the second half of Sunday's program. The performance after intermission was characteristic of the remarkable unity of purpose usually found in the Cleveland Orchestra.
The program began with Tchaikovsky's The Tempest fantasy-overture, a piece that's closely related to the composer's Romeo and Juliet fantasy-overture. It was slow going, though, with Volkov not quite able to gauge the volume level. Effects that might sound subtle in Severance Hall were sometimes simply lost, and the orchestra didn't sound as secure as usual.
Michael Sachs, the orchestra's principal trumpet since 1988, was featured in the Estonian composer Eino Tamberg's Trumpet Concerto No. 1. This Russian-flavored work from 1972 borrows Shostakovich's rat-a-tat war pulse in the snare drum and marimba. It also takes something from Prokofiev's tense, staccato outbursts. The American Samuel Barber also came to mind during radiant, peaceful interludes, not to mention during the small stabs of daring harmonies in an otherwise Romantic setting.
Sachs has a gorgeous tone that's firm enough to support an army of musical soldiers, and he fired off the staccato writing with rock-solid steadiness. It's always good to hear one of the orchestra's own players featured, and Sachs is one of its best.
Elaine Guregian can be reached at 330-996-3574 or eguregian@thebeaconjournal.com.
If you'd like to hear the sun rise, ask the Cleveland Orchestra. Given the music from Maurice Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe, they'll give you a Technicolor wonder.
Get the full article here.
