I am always pleasantly surprised when I attend a Cleveland Orchestra concert for the featured piece and discover another piece to love even more. This evening, both the Watersprite by Dvorak and Samuel Barber’s Cello Concerto were far more interesting than Symphony No. 8. I almost feel the need to look up the score for the Watersprite since conductor Alan Gilbert seemed to have trouble keeping woodwinds and strings together on some phrases. While I find it hard to believe such great musicians would mess this up, the resulting sound did not fit within the context of the piece so it is equally hard to believe that Dvorak meant for that interpretation. I do have to mention that during the Watersprite, Dvorak clearly had a fever and the only prescription was more triangle. The cello soloist, Alisa Weilerstein, was impressive as expected from musicians featured with the orchestra. Program
Stephen Rush 