CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio – Never before has the phrase “Blossom Music Festival” rung so true. On this occasion, there was indeed something to celebrate.
Not only was Saturday the eve of Independence Day and the pyrotechnic opening of the Cleveland Orchestra’s 2021 season at Blossom Music Center.
It was the orchestra’s first full gathering before a live audience since March 2020 and its first appearance at its beloved summer home in almost two years.
“Tonight is a special night,” said orchestra president and chief executive Andre Gremillet, in an address before the concert that included a thank-you to health care workers and orchestra patrons. “We feel really good about this.”
The atmosphere, certainly, was festive. Well over an hour before the orchestra gathered in its familiar, not socially distant formation, the middle of the lawn – uncommonly lush and thick after a year off – and all surrounding areas were nearly full and virtually impenetrable by pedestrians.
On an ideal evening that was sunny but temperate and never got chilly, guests arrived early – in some cases, very early – to claim prime spots on the lawn, pose for pictures, dine at the Blossom Grille, or patronize one of the many concession stands seeing brisk business.
Some, perhaps, also reviewed virtual program notes on their smartphones or reviewed their digital holdings in the orchestra’s new Ticket Wallet app.
While individual musicians, still getting accustomed again to Blossom, warmed up on stage, the growing audience strolled the grounds, played Frisbee, and watched as children frolicked on the hillside. The sense of post-pandemic release was palpable, and the first sounds of the full orchestra surely brought a lump to many a throat.
By night’s end, before a fireworks display, the official attendance was an estimated 11,600. Most were on the lawn. Capacity in the pavilion was limited to ensure spacing between groups.
The music reflected the festive mood, in a novel way. Even as it marked the nation’s 245th birthday, the program, which kicked off with a snappy account of Bernstein’s “Candide” Overture and included works by three African-Americans, also reflected society more broadly and inclusively than most Cleveland Orchestra concerts. This was a celebration of America and its music as they are, not as one group of people once imagined them to be.
The earth-shaking cannons that augmented Tchaikovsky’s “1812” Overture certainly got their point across, and there’s no beating Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” but to this listener, the most effective work of the night was “Soul of Remembrance,” a 1993 work by Mary Watkins steeped in the historically resilient African-American spirit.
Brett Mitchell, the orchestra’s former associate conductor, preceded the lyrical, slow-burning work with a moment of silence for the victims of COVID-19 before leading a tender but powerfully emotional reading in which the harp was a vital presence.
Another welcome piece of non-standard fare was the 1934 Concerto in One Movement by another African-American, Florence Price. Cleveland-trained pianist Michelle Cann, a champion of Price’s music, handled the recently rediscovered score with panache, treating its three sections to animated, compelling performances.
A third African-American composer, Adolphus Hailstork, kicked off the second half with “An American Fanfare,” a solemn, brass-intensive work strongly reminiscent of Copland, whose Suite from “Appalachian Spring” followed on its heels. No doubt parts of the often-delicate Suite were lost on the lawn, but in the pavilion, every measure of this well-known score, up to and including “Simple Gifts,” sparkled as if the orchestra and the audience were encountering it for the first time.
Truly, it was an Independence Day concert like no other by the Cleveland Orchestra. There were fireworks, funnel cakes, and patriotic classics, but there was also real emotion, musical depth, and the introduction of new possibilities. The Cleveland Orchestra is back and in some respects may be better than ever.
REVIEW
Cleveland Orchestra
What: “An American Celebration” (with fireworks)
When: 8 p.m. Sunday, July 4
Where: Blossom Music Center, 1145 W. Steels Corners Rd., Cuyahoga Falls
Tickets: $25-$121. Go to clevelandorchestra.com or call 216-231-1111.
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July 04, 2021 at 05:03PM
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Cleveland Orchestra gathers again at Blossom for specially meaningful ‘American Celebration’ - cleveland.com
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