Music, Music, Music

Fountains in Washington Park across from the Music Hall on a summer evening
©2014 Johannes Bjorner

Though the weather turned suddenly cold last week, it was technically still summer when we made our first 2014 trip to Cincinnati's venerable Music Hall. We drove into the city guided by Gladys Philips Smith, found parking easily right beside Music Hall and across from Washington Park, and walked down 14th Street to Race to find a bite to eat before the 8:00 PM performance. We were attracted to the outdoor seating at a place called The Anchor, and we were able to snag a table on the patio and next to the sidewalk, so we could observe the other diners and the passers-by on a Friday evening. There was a large party of younger people in the center of the patio--maybe a work gathering to celebrate a special event for one of their colleagues, an upcoming wedding perhaps. Another couple nearer our age were within my view, and they were enjoying a full dinner and sure seemed as though they would be heading back over to Music Hall after they finished the bottle of wine that accompanied their meal. We settled for a single glass of wine, coffee, a snack of hard cooked egg with salmon caviar and an appetizer of cold salmon (gravad laks, though it wasn't termed that on the menu), and then a giant pecan pie ice cream sundae for dessert. Sated but not stuffed, we ambled back toward Music Hall through Washington Park, a delightful and lively small park filling the space of two city squares in the OTR (Over-the-Rhine) area. There were people everywhere--walking, sitting on the benches, biking through the park and around the colored water jets spouting up in the center of the park. When we got around to the other side we read a poster telling us that you can select music on the internet, and the various jets will react to the music.

The performance that night was grand; we were introduced to a fantastic clarinetist, Martin Fröst, who was featured in Mozart's Concerto in A Major for Clarinet and Orchestra, K. 622. You can hear and see him play it yourself in three movements on YouTube and discover why we were so enthralled.

Then the following week, through the generosity of a new acquaintance who has retired from playing in the CSO, we were at another performance. This one was at 11:00 Friday morning, which is the earliest I have ever been to a professional concert (and about twelve hours earlier than they normally begin in Spain!). It turned out to be a great time to listen to music. Emanuel Ax was the piano soloist for Chopin's Concerto No. 2 in F Minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 21. The remainder of this performance had a nautical theme:

Ravel. Une barque sur l'océan (A Boat on the Ocean)
Mendelssohn. The Hebrides ("Fingal's Cave") Overture, Op. 26
Debussy. La mer
     From Dawn to Noon on the Sea
     Games of the Waves
     Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea

Following the performance we went out for a bite to eat for lunch at Salazar, another chef-owned bistro down the street, where we split a giant burger and plate of scrumptious Mediterranean sea salt fries. But there was no music at the park afterwards, and no colored lights. After a longer-than-expected tour of OTR that confused even Gladys Philips Smith, we found our way home and still had part of the afternoon and all evening to revel in the music we had heard.