2. The Cleveland Orchestra

Saturday's trip to the Cleveland Orchestra guest-starred -- and was courtesy of -- the Official Parents of The Cleveland Project.  I was limited to my point-and-shoot camera because of the venue, but it was still a great evening out with family and a fantastic performance to a full house.

The night's program.  

I'm now convinced there are no bad seats in Severance -- we were pretty far up the balcony, but still had a nice view and great sound balance.

Detail of the ceiling in the hall above our seats -- Severance has its own entry later (#10), so I limited the architectural shots I took, but what would a TCP entry be without a shot up the side of a building?

The timpanist warming up.  I have loved the timpani ever since I was small, when my dad pointed out that a timpanist looks like he's whispering to the drums when he tunes them.   They also strike me as a more refined version of the "RAMMING SPEED!" guy in Ben Hur, which is always fun.

The horn section warming up.  I can't quite put into words how awesome Richard King's performance in the Mozart horn concerto was -- it was obviously on the program as filler, and he has probably played it dozens of times over the years -- but he played with a sweetness and quiet confidence that I've never heard in that piece before. 

The entire orchestra warming up, just before the concertmaster stands to tune them.  I don't have any pictures from the performance itself, as photography wasn't allowed during the concert.  


The evening's first piece, Con Brio, featured a lot of different sound textures from the various instruments -- clarinets slapping their palms on the end of their bells; brass instruments blowing through their horns without producing notes; flutes producing what I can only describe as tonal air, something halfway between a note and just blowing through the instrument; and so on.  It was chaotic and just plain fun.


The Mozart was delightful, as I discussed above, and the Tchaikovsky was so, so, so incredible.  Dohnyani was brilliant -- he conducted the entire piece without a score, and was clearly actively shaping the performance throughout.  The sound was rich and nuanced, and it felt like I was holding my breath for all 45 minutes. 


In related news, Groupon Cleveland's deal (good until tomorrow night) is for this Friday's Cleveland Orchestra performance.  You should go.