Okay, I admit it, when I booked this Cleveland trip, I deliberately chose dates which would include my birthday, which was yesterday. So in a way, this whole trip has been a birthday present to myself! I was able to book a cheap flight from Honolulu to Burbank to see my family, then I booked a free flight from Burbank to Cleveland on my United miles.
My concert at Amsted Chapel at the United Church of Christ headquarters was scheduled at 12 noon, and Joan Ishibashi picked me up about 10:00 am. It is a stunning space located on the ground floor of a high-rise building in downtown Cleveland.
The Bedient organ had not been played in two years because there was no one apparently to play it (We organists are few and far between!). What I was happy to discover, however, was that the instrument was in perfect working order and I needn’t have worried about pushing a piston and having the organ cancel on me as had happened yesterday in Akron!
I had already started playing the first page of the opening Kyrie of the Bach Clavierübung when Janet Ross, the pastor of Amsted Chapel, arrived. She was so happy to hear that the organ being played in that short segment that she actually had tears of joy when she met me!
After taking these photos of the building, I pulled out the 8’ Principal on the Great division and immediately exclaimed, “Whoa!” as it was quite an aggressive sound. As it turned out, I had to register the solo on the Great and the accompaniment on the Swell for the opening Kyrie —completely opposite of the usual way I play it with the manuals reversed.
Because this was going to be a 45-minute program rather than my previous 30-minute recitals, I had to choose some additional pieces to play. I originally had planned to play Gerald Near’s entire “Suite for Organ,” but there simply was not enough variation in the stops available for the opening Chaconne. So my program ended up like this:
Three settings (large) of the Kyrie (Clavierübung) [Bach]
Suite for Organ: Sarabande, Final [Gerald Near]
Prelude, Fugue et Variation [César Franck]
Three chorale preludes on gospel hymns [Dale Wood]
What a friend we have in Jesus
Savior, like a shepherd lead us
When I can read my title clear (Pisgah)
There was a small but very appreciative audience, and a reception followed, giving me an opportunity to meet everyone.
Joan and I went back to the Cleveland Museum of Art for the afternoon, then picked up Michael Ruffing from Lakewood. We all drove to Severance Hall where we had dinner in a fabulously elegant, full-service restaurant right on the ground floor. The food was absolutely delicious (I had a caesar salad with fresh grilled salmon added), and because it was my birthday, ordered the fresh berries for dessert. (By the way, I completely gave up on my diet this entire week but just tried to watch what I ate. I’ll resume logging all my meals when I get home.)
The pièce de résistance of the evening, of course, was a concert by the world-famous Cleveland Orchestra, and I immediately characterized their sound as “rich and robust,” much like you might describe a good cup of coffee or a glass of fine wine?! (Even though I am neither a coffee drinker nor a wine connoisseur, LOL!) Not only is the orchestra exceptional, but the design and architecture of Severance Hall greatly enhances the acoustics and overall sound of the ensemble. I had to pinch myself to believe that I was here in this famous building, listening to this famous orchestra!
The program opened with Rachmaninoff’s “Isle of the Dead,” then Marc-André Hamelin played Liszt’s “Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major,” and the second half was Carl Nielsen’s “Symphony No. 5.”. The conductor was Dimas Slobodeniouk. Only the Liszt was familiar to me, but I truly enjoyed hearing the Carl Nielsen piece, which had much more consonance and less dissonance that I expected.
We met Sae Shiragami and Takako Masame, Joan’s violinist friends, after the concert and I have to say that this Cleveland trip has been fantastic for two reasons: hearing world-class music from Apollo’s Fire and the Cleveland Orchestra, but most important of all, meeting all of Joan’s dear, dear friends — Noha, Sae, Takako and her husband Jack, Michael, Kim, Dave and Mary Ellen, Dan and Ray — warm, friendly, engaging —what a great bunch of people! And it was so wonderful to see David Lawrence, whom I met in Greece; April Smith, formerly of the Lutheran Church of Honolulu; and to meet new friends, Florence Mustric and Todd Wilson.
What a way to spend my birthday!