by Stephanie Manning
This article was originally published on Cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Works by pianist-composers Frédéric Chopin and Sergei Rachmaninoff offered some dazzling displays of virtuosity on The Cleveland Orchestra’s final Summers at Severance concert on August 21 at Severance Music Center.
Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto gave soloist Nobuyuki Tsujii multiple opportunities to shine, and Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony provided guest conductor Dima Slobodeniouk with a rich palette of orchestral colors to paint with, even without a soloist at the Steinway.
Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 was first performed in Cleveland by the Boston Symphony in 1911 and first played by The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Nikolai Sokoloff in March of 1920 as part of the newly formed ensemble’s second season.
