Spanish Audiences Embrace CSO, López-Cobos
(first published in The Cincinnati Post Feb. 5, 2001)
MADRID. Midway through their European tour with music director Jesús Lopez-Cobos, members of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra have sampled Spanish treats, branched
out in art appreciation and enjoyed a warm reception in three concerts.
Now it's on to Germany for three more performances, then a stop in Poland before heading home Sunday.
Rain followed the CSO to Spain for the first leg of the tour.
Bilbao, where the orchestra landed after a changeover in Frankfurt Jan. 28, was cold and rainy, putting a damper on
the group's "free day" last Monday. Undeterred, some ventured north to coastal San Sebastian for a winter walk on the beach,
while others rented cars for a drive into the surrounding Basque country.
A car bombing Sunday in San Sebastian and demonstrations outside one of the Bilbao tour hotels Tuesday and Wednesday
were reminders of continuing unrest by Basque separatists, who seek autonomy from Spain.
Clouds lifted briefly Tuesday for a post-rehearsal visit to architect Frank Gehry's celebrated Guggenheim Museum, which
sits like an enormous glittering life form on the Ria de Bilbao. After paying respects to Jeff Koons' "colossal topiary" puppy
sitting serenely at the entrance, CSO players, staff and guests wandered through the building's vast convoluted spaces, awed
(and often perplexed) by the minimalist installations, which included several mazes, an arrangement of harnesses (one neon)
and a black fiberglass dome suggesting nothing so much as a huge fuzzy dot.
It was back to work Tuesday evening with the CSO's first concert - in Bilbao's new Palacio de Congresos y de la Musica
Euskalduna Juregia, a contemporary-style neighbor of the Guggenheim opened last year. Lit outside by bundles of "light sticks,"
the ship-shaped hall features a wood-clad interior with triangular light fixtures, a pinpoint-lit ceiling and promenades paved
in white tile with blue fish inlaid mosaic-style.
Lack of aggressive promotion - an interview with López-Cobos done weeks ahead ran only the
day before the concert, and no placards could be seen around town - made for empty seats in the 2,200-seat hall (Barcelona
and Madrid later in the week sold out). Likewise, the audience had to wait for intermission to receive their programs, but
the 1,600 or so in attendance showed great enthusiasm for their countryman and his American orchestra.
The program, Samuel Barber's "School for Scandal" Overture, Haydn's Cello Concerto in C Major and Shostakovich's Fifth
Symphony, drew sustained "bravos" and four encores: one for cello soloist Ham-Na Chang (Saint-Saens' "The Swan") and three
for the CSO, including the Spanish Dance from Manual de Fallas's "La Vida Breve" and Ruperto Chapi's Prelude to "La Revoltsa,"
both of which elicited cries of delight and a final standing ovation.
After the concert, players and staff adjourned to local restaurants for tapas," a Spanish treat consisting of several
small courses accompanied by wine.
A noonday flight Wednesday brought the orchestra to Barcelona, where it spent two days. Wednesday's concert was in the
Palua de la Musica Catalana, a 1908 Modernista landmark adorned with stained glass. López-Cobos entertained the orchestra
with a party featuring flamenco dancing afterward.
After a free day Thursday, the orchestra traveled to Madrid for its climactic concert at the Auditorio Nacional de Musica.
The performance was a sentimental one for López-Cobos, who after overseeing the construction of the hall in 1988, conducted
the first concert there in 1988. Heightening the drama of the occasion, the National Orchestra of Spain, which López-Cobos
served as music director from 1984-88, performed immediately before the CSO.
Remaining itinerary:
Today: Concert, Munich.
Tuesday: Concert, Rosenheim, Germany.
Wednesday: Concert, Mannheim, Germany.
Thursday: Concert, Berlin.
Saturday: Concert, Warsaw, Poland.
Sunday: Return to Cincinnati.