by Daniel Hathaway
Most live performances this fall have quickly turned into lovefests, so eager have audiences been to re-engage with musicians face to face.
The Cleveland Orchestra’s second performance of the new season on Sunday afternoon, October 17 at the newly renamed Mandel Hall at Severance Music Center was just such an occasion. If the ensemble’s return to public concerts under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst wasn’t enough reason to light a bonfire, the Cleveland debut of a new work written for one of the Orchestra’s most popular soloists, and the swan song of one of its longest-serving members added extra fuel to the celebration. [Read more…]
There are a few reasons why this week’s program from Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra is particularly special. One, it marks the first time that the ensemble will return in full force to Severance Music Center since March 2020.
Since The Cleveland Orchestra’s In Focus programs run about an hour each, it seems odd to label Alisa Weilerstein’s program of J.S. Bach’s six solo cello suites — three hours’ worth of music and commentary — merely as a “bonus” episode. Whatever the packaging, her recordings from Severance Hall that debuted on the Adella platform on February 18 add yet another distinguished set of performances to the many we’ve been able to enjoy over the years — and especially during the early days of COVID-19, when streaming performances of the Suites became something of a cottage industry among quarantining cellists. 
The Elgar concerto was on the agenda for Cleveland native and international cello heroine Alisa Weilerstein’s most recent homecoming. On Thursday evening at Severance Hall, Weilerstein put her individual stamp on that iconic work in a penetrating and daring performance with The Cleveland Orchestra and Giancarlo Guerrero. 
“I’m so happy to be coming back to my hometown. I’m quite excited about it,” cellist Alisa Weilerstein said during a telephone call from Belfast, Northern Ireland. On Thursday, November 6 at 7:30 pm in Severance Hall, Weilerstein will join The Cleveland Orchestra and conductor Giancarlo Guerrero in a performance of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
In this day and age it’s not unusual for classically-trained musicians to experiment with and perform music of seemingly unrelated genres. And it’s always interesting to hear how they go about incorporating their classical sensibilities into the works of bands like the Beatles or into bluegrass tunes like “Orange Blossom Special”. 