Review Cleveland Orchestra: a distinguished evening of Beethoven (and Mendelssohn) with Fleisher and Biss (Dec. 5) by Daniel Hathaway You could imagine the joy in the musical Empyrean at what took place in Severance Hall last weekend when Leon Fleisher re- turned to the site of so many of his pianis- tic triumphs — this time as conductor — to collaborate with his protègé Jonathan Biss, in magisterial performances of Beethoven's second and third piano concertos. (Biss was called in on short notice to replace Mitsuko Uchida, who was sidelined with a minor thumb injury.) Beethoven would undoubtedly have been proud of the unbroken tradition passed down through his student Carl Czerny to Theodor Leschetizky to Artur Schnabel to Leon 0)-7,)6
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Cleveland Orchestra soloist, taking a turn on the podium. And Mendelssohn (certainly a regular at the heavenly party) would have been delighted to hear his Hebrides Overture elevated from picture postcard status to an evocative tone poem. It was a great evening both for participants and onlookers — whether ensconced in plush seats on Euclid Av- )29)
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gave performers and listeners an opportunity to reset their ears or deprived them of the opportunity to make a direct comparison between the concertos. In both works, Fleisher set up rich, colorful introductions for the solo piano and from that point, Biss took them over and possessed each of them in a singular way. )
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Fleisher had sole and complete control over the Mendelssohn overture that began the evening. Most often, the piece surges gently and uneventfully along like the waves gush- ing in and out of Fingal's Cave, but like a curious tourist with time on his hands, Fleisher found lots of details he wanted to take a closer look at, clearly demarcating sections and playing with tempos and pacing. Unusual but fascinating! Photo by Roger Mastroianni.

Published on ClevelandClassical.com December 12, 2013