Beethoven Rocks Young and Old at Music Hall

John Nelson

It was not your grandfather’s audience at Friday morning's Cincinnati Symphony concert at Music Hall.
   If he had been there -- CSO Friday matinees are a popular choice for retirees -- he would have been outnumbered by the younger set, specifically the entire student body of the School for Creative and Performing Arts.
   There were cell phones (dutifully silenced during the concert), bubble gum and a crush at the "refreshment" stand at intermission, i.e. the popular concession run by Divine's Chocolates.  It took a while to get everyone nestled back in their seats after intermission, when the younger grades joined the middle and high schoolers who attended the first half.

Imogen Cooper

It was a welcoming program -- for any age -- with three works by Ludwig van Beethoven, a suite from his music for the ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus," the Piano Concerto No. 3 with guest artist Imogen Cooper, and the Symphony No. 7, one of the popular composer’s most popular works.
   There were no speeches, introductions, program notes from the stage, pre-concert video or anything like that to engage the young audience, just "the man" (Beethoven), who spoke directly and with plenty of energy for all within hearing.   
   Guest conductor was American conductor John Nelson, 68, whose usual description as "distinguished," hardly gave him justice, as animated and fun to watch as he was.
   Former music director of the Indianapolis Symphony (1976-1987), Nelson left the Midwest for Europe (ultimately), where he headed the French chamber orchestra Ensemble Orchestral de Paris for 10 years (1998-2008).
   (In a somewhat similar trajectory, CSO music director Paavo Järvi, who completes his CSO tenure in 2011, becomes music director of the L’Orchestre de Paris in September, 2010.)
   Nelson has enjoyed an important career as an opera conductor, too, having headed the Opera Theater of St. Louis from 1985-88 and conducted opera extensively in the U.S. and Europe.   Born in Costa Rica, the son of missionaries, he is now focused on choral music, having founded Soli Deo Gloria, a non-profit organization that commissions and sponsors new sacred choral works (partly to redeem the 20th-century, Nelson says).
   British-born Cooper, 60, is one of the finest pianists out there today and her performance of the Third Piano Concerto was matchless for its elegance and musical sensitivity.
   Nelson prepared it with a precise, engaging exposition which when followed by Cooper’s grand entrance, added up to a most impressive beginning.  Her played was characterized by crisp, bright articulation and considerable nuance, with a remarkably satin tone in softer passages.  The first movement cadenza was virtuosic without being showy, followed by an almost ethereal coda.
   The second movement was sweetly romantic and almost confidential (that softie Beethoven) and she moved right into the quirky finale with naturalness and ease.  She and the CSO were aligned beautifully throughout the concerto, thanks to Nelson’s attentive leadership.  There was a magical moment when he dovetailed the orchestra neatly from a big solo ending by Cooper into a soft fugato (imitative portion) by the strings.  It was like turning a key softly in a lock.
   The Concerto came to a great affirmative ending as she thundered down the keyboard to the delight (and cheers) of the crowd.
   They say that one problem young people have with classical music is that it has no “beat,” i.e. the steady iteration typical of rock music.  This cannot be said of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, which Richard Wagner famously called “the apotheosis of the dance.”  No doubt many in the crowd snapped to attention when it began (after intermission).
   Nelson, who conducts without a baton, had his work cut out for him, tossing cues right and left and shaping phrases with his bare hands.  And not just with his hands, but with his whole body, shoulder blades and all, adding considerable visual interest to the concert.  This did not always connect precisely with the CSO, whose ensemble was sometimes less than pristine, but the feeling was certainly there.
   He led a reduced but not chamber-sized CSO, with one less stand of strings in each section.  He also aligned them with the second violins opposite the firsts (as is often done for greater balance among the voices) with the cellos next to the first violins and the double basses behind them.
   Nelson’s reading partook of “authentic performance practice,” the recent movement toward performing music as it would have been in the composer’s time, but mostly in terms of brisker tempos.  There was spirit, but none of the transparency that Järvi achieves, not only in Beethoven, but in everything he does with the CSO. 
   The Allegretto second movement moved right along without a touch of lugubriousness and the Presto scherzo had plenty of momentum.  It was the finale which woke whatever snoozers there were in the hall (inevitable with youngsters).  Nelson began with hardly a break from the scherzo -- there were some lightening fast page turns in the orchestra to keep up -- and he reveled in its rhythmic display, having to mop sweat from his brow a couple of times.  He leaned on Beethoven’s famous “dissonances” and had the French horns soaring into the hall.
   It made for a splendid conclusion to the concert.  The kids “got” it – Nelson gave those in the first few rows a friendly wave -- and they joined their elders in an enthusiastic ovation.
   The concert opened with selections from “The Creatures of Prometheus,” an early work indebted to Mozart. (This is a typically horrendous Greek myth about the demi-god Prometheus, who steals fire from the gods and gives it to humans, ultimately suffering retribution in the form an eagle perpetually eating his liver.  This 1801 ballet ends with the humans being taught the arts on Mount Parnassus, before Zeus' wrath takes hold.)
   Heard were the Overture and Introduction, plus three movements, including two that featured blithe, charming solos by associate principal oboist Lon Bussell and bass clarinetist Ron Aufmann.  Aufmann performed on the basset horn, a lower-voiced relative of the clarinet.  The two stood, giving a touch of theater to the concert.
   Repeat is 8 p.m. tonight at Music Hall.  Tickets begin at $10.  Call (513) 381-3300, or order online at www.cincinnatisymphony.org.