A fine concert showcases students' artistic maturity

Friday, October 1, 2004

Donald Rosenberg

Plain Dealer Music Critic

The financial picture of American orchestras may be blurry these days, but there can be little doubt that their artistic futures are in clear focus. For confirmation, listen to the nation's top conservatory orchestras.

Among those ensembles is the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra, which leaves the cramped, boomy quarters of the school's Kulas Hall several times a year to bask in the spatial and acoustical glory of Severance Hall. The orchestra's concert there Wednesday under Carl Topilow was another occasion to savor music-making that abounded in corporate energy and sensitivity.

As well as individual sensitivity. Preceding a bold performance of Copland's Symphony No. 3, violinist Jinjoo Cho joined the orchestra in a vivid reading of Brahms' Violin Concerto. If any piece demands maturity of expression, it is this luminous work. Casting a 16-year-old in the solo part would not appear to be the wisest move.

But Jinjoo, a freshman at Gilmour Academy and a participant in the institute's Young Artist Program, isn't your average teenager. She is a violinist of remarkable poise and technical accomplishment, with no apparent fear of any challenge a composer may set.

Jinjoo approached the Brahms concerto as if she were facing the most warm-hearted gorilla. Her playing was direct and firm, largely on the button in terms of figurations and intonation, and she captured the score's autumnal qualities to tender effect.

The first movement had a few edgy moments, when Jinjoo placed bow too vehemently on strings, and her choice of Fritz Kreisler's showy, un-Brahmsian cadenza - instead of the original, superlative one by Joseph Joachim - was disappointing. Yet these were minor distractions from an interpretation that found a brilliantly gifted violinist probing the music's muscle and heart.

In the slow movement, Jinjoo was joined in eloquence by oboist Sarah Skuster. Topilow and the orchestra were superb colleagues who lavished Brahms with mellow cohesion.

It also was a pleasure to re-encounter the Copland symphony, a work that exemplifies the composer's finest American qualities.

How? Virgil Thomson said American music is any music composed by an American. But Copland's writing in the Third Symphony is more specifically Yankee in its openness, grandeur and folksy temperament, all of which the CIM Orchestra and Topilow conveyed with dignity and finesse.

The last movement's famous "Fanfare for the Common Man" was especially sonorous, while the score's pride and serenity were vibrantly essayed.

If the second movement's tricky rhythms and tempo changes didn't always settle, the performance had a feeling of seasoned authority. Someday, many of these musicians will play Copland and company in major ensembles (including the majestic resident at Severance Hall). Listen for splendid orchestral artistry for generations to come.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

drosenberg@plaind.com  216-999-4269