Cleveland Orchestra

“Cleveland Orchestra fans who hopped on guest conductor Klaus Mäkelä’s magic carpet at Severance Music Center on Thursday evening were swept away to the streets of Lima to hear Peruvian street vendors hawking their goods, then to England for a ramble through the Malvern Hills, and finally to ancient Iraq to quaff wine with the king of Babylon and a thousand of his idol-worshiping lords.” 

Cleveland.com, Daniel Hathaway, 12 April 2024


“The exciting discovery of the night was the relatively recent work by Jimmy López Ballido, a composer from Peru. This piece was no throwaway opener: it was a challenging and thrilling danse macabre, only the darkness was not hokey scares but rather the implied weight of tragedy and history. It feels something like a cross between Ravel’s spiraling La valse with African and indigenous South American folk music.”

Seen and Heard International, Mark S Jordan, 15 April 2024

“ … The real discovery came in William Walton’s lavish oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast scored for double chorus, baritone soloist and a large orchestra that embraced piano, organ, alto saxophone and offstage brass … A central bacchanal was wildly raucous, rallying boisterous brass bands from the wings of the stage. The final minutes were a stunning display of orchestral and choral virtuosity – and heaven for the ears.”

Bachtrack.com, Sam Jacobson, 14 April 2024

Programme:
Jimmy López Bellido: Perú negro
Edward Elgar: Cello Concerto
William Walton: Belshazzar’s Feast
Soloists: Sol Gabetta (cello), Thomas Hampson (baritone)