The Music Returns

It's been a long time since I have been to a concert of the Cleveland Orchestra.  Their season was cancelled through most of 2020 and into 2021 due to the pandemic.  At long last the orchestra is playing at its summer home, the Blossom Music Center.  Last night, along with a couple of my friends, I went to one of the concerts.

The Blossom Music Center is located in the forests of the Cuyahoga Valley in between the cities of Cleveland and Akron.  The lawn was crowded with spectators, but the in the pavilion, where we had tickets, social distancing was observed, and tickets were sold for only every other seat.  Of course, people from the same household sat next to each other, but my friends and I found that being spaced apart was a blessing on that hot, humid summer night.

The guest conductor of the evening was Rafael Payere, a Venezuelan-born musician and conductor who next year will be assuming the position of principal conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

(image taken from the web)

The concert began with Prokofiev's Violin Concerto #2.  The guest soloist was Stefan Jackiw, a young American violinist of Ukranian and Korean descent.

(image taken from the web)

Jackiw played superbly, but, to be honest, I did not find the concerto that interesting.

The second piece on the program was one of my favorite symphonies, Dvorak's Symphony #9, commonly known as the "New World Symphony".   This work was written in 1893 during the Czech composer's stay in the United States as the director of the National Conservatory of Music.  It premiered that year at Carnegie Hall to thunderous applause.  It has since become one of the most popular symphonies in the entire classical repertoire.  Dvorak was very interested in American music, and the symphony is said have been influenced by spirituals and Native American dances. The composer wrote that he was considering using some of the themes from the symphony for an opera based on "Hiawatha", a work that he never wrote.

No matter how many times I hear the "New World Symphony", it is always a pleasurable  experience, and it was wonderful to hear our great orchestra live once again!