Easter 7 Friday - Cleveland Rocks!

Today I want to offer a reflection in praise of Cleveland, Ohio. That’s right, you heard it correctly, I said, “Cleveland, Ohio” because this city on the shores of Lake Erie is a world class cultural center; home to the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the second largest performing arts center in the United States, Playhouse Square. With the opening of the refurbished Hanna Theater, with its hydraulic thrust stage, Playhouse Square now additionally features one of the best venues in the nation for the staging of classic plays.

In addition, let’s not forget the Cleveland Institute of Music which produces some of the finest young musicians in the country who go on to major professional careers. And what about the annual Tri-C Jazz Festival sponsored by a Community College that brings to Northeast Ohio some of the greatest names in business (Diana Krall and Aretha Franklin this spring alone). Baldwin Wallace College's Bach Festival is one of the finest musical offerings anywhere in the country. Did I mention that Cleveland is home to the fabulous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum?



southfloridaclassicalreview.com



The reason that I am so enamored with the cultural life in Cleveland is that this week I experienced a musical event that was, simply put, mesmerizing! To conclude their 2011/12 season, the Cleveland Orchestra, under the baton of their music director Franz Welser-Most, presented Richard Strauss’ history-making Salome with a star-studded international cast. I have heard the opera in New York, London, and Charlotte, multiple times, but never in concert with the orchestra sharing the stage with the singers. In the majestic setting of Severance Hall, “a temple to music”, colors in the score shimmered as never before.

Richard Strauss composed his third opera, Salome, between the years 1903 and 105, fashioning his own libretto by working directly from the German translation by Hedwig Lachmann of the original French text of Oscar Wilde’s play Salome. The opera was first presented in December of 1905 at the Dresden Hopftheater with Marie Wittich in the title role.

Richard Strauss

Strauss was not the first composer to tackle Salome. Jules Massenet had already produced his interpretation of the story in an opera entitled Herodiade. The Russian composer Glazunov also composed an opera focusing on Herodiade as the central character. Strauss’ concept for this naughty teenager was that she should be played as a “chaste virgin, an oriental princess with the simplest, most dignified gestures.” The composer would paint the licentious side of Salome with his music. Strauss did it so well that the opera with its terrifying debauched content and thrashing devilish music received thirty-eight curtain calls at its premiere.

This “thrashing devilish music” was all in evidence on Saturday night at the first of two performances given here in Cleveland and on May 24 at Carnegie Hall in New York. At Severance Hall, the orchestra, some 100+ strong, dominated the stage with the singers making their entrance from the rear onto a platform raised high above the stage floor. At first I did not believe that this arrangement would be beneficial to the singers. I was seated in the Dress Circle and the balance and blend of sound between the singers and orchestra, even in the declamatory passages, was excellent.

Nina Stemme

Swedish soprano Nina Stemme was making her Cleveland Orchestra debut with these performances of Salome. At the age of 49, Stemme is widely considered the world’s reigning dramatic soprano. This designation is hard to refute for the voice easily soared over the great spectrum of sound at the end of the opera and was fierce in those exposed moments when Salome defiantly declines the advances of her lecherous step-father, Herod. Stemme is the real deal with a warmth and lyricism that reminded this listener of heroines like Sieglinde in Die Walkure, Eva in Tannhauser, and Puccini’s Tosca. I hope she will be invited back to Cleveland sooner rather than later.

Jochanaan (John the Baptist) is an interesting and “otherworldy” role. Bass-baritone, Eric Owens, sang well but was no vocal match to Ms. Stemme. The part of Herod was splendidly sung by tenor Rudolf Schasching, again making a Cleveland Orchestra debut. He was thoroughly engaging and brought much needed comic relief in his scenes with Herodias and the Jewish leaders. The American mezzo-soprano Jane Henschel sang the role of Herodias eagerly agreeing and delighted with Salome’s request for the Baptist’s head.

 

The real star of the night was the Cleveland Orchestra, not only for its weight and power, but for the variety of tone color that such a large and diverse collection of instruments and talented musicians could provide. Welser-Most was in complete control of his forces. In fact, with the exception of James Levine and Antonio Pappano, is there another operatic conductor currently living that brings such a wealth of ability to the podium? He is a singer’s conductor, which is a rare thing these days, who exhibits a natural instinct for knowing when to take over and where he is needed as support to the vocalists.

The massed string section is the backbone of any Straussian orchestra, and the sound of so many instruments brought thrilling results at the climax of Salome’s depraved slobbering over Jochanaan’s head, resplendent in the exotic key of C sharp minor. (I would return to the last performance simply for that moment alone!) In contrast, a single violin is used for a special moment of tenderness such as when the Baptist describes Jesus’ preaching to his disciples.

To add exotic and Middle Eastern flavor to the famous Dance of the Seven Veils, Strauss uses a large variety of percussion instruments such as a triangle, tambourine, castanets, xylophone, and an extra high timpani. The percussionist who was assigned to the xylophone on Saturday delivered an exceptional performance not only for the ear but also for the eye. It was remarkable to see how fast he could play his part and make his runs up and down the xylophone to near perfection. One final orchestral effect occurs when the composer directs the large gong or tam-tam to be rubbed by a small metal triangle beater to musically describe Herod’s madness.



The Old Metropolitan Opera House
Metropolitan Opera Archives



With the “Clevelanders” heading to Carnegie Hall this week, I am reminded of a story about the scandalous New York premiere of Salome in January of 1907. The management of the Metropolitan Opera at the time made the mistake of scheduling the final dress rehearsal, to which members of the MET’s board were invited to attend, for 11 o’clock on a Sunday morning. J. Pierpont Morgan and his friends, coming from church, no less, were ill prepared for such a spectacle. Following the rehearsal, they expressed themselves as being “revolted” by such an experience. This of course, caught the attention of the New York press, and easily helped to sell out the house for the public premiere. But the outcries from various sources following the premiere such as pulpits (can you imagine?) and press led to the opera being pulled from the repertory after only five performances. It took another twenty-seven years before Salome was presented again at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

Luckily for all of us, we do not have to wait so long to hear this impressive work. If your Saturday night this coming weekend is free, RUN, do not walk, to the Severance Box Office and secure your ticket for this brilliant performance. How blessed we are to have such an internationally acclaimed musical ensemble in our own back yard. Bravo, Welser-Most! Bravo, Cleveland Orchestra! Bravo, Nina Stemme and her fellow singers!

Cleveland Rocks!!!

Love One Another - Brian