Cleveland Orchestra

I'm taking my son and our Hong Kong exchange student to New York for some spiring break fun. We've stopped for a couple of nights in Cleveland, where one of the guys spent most of the day at a stamp show. Tonight the three of us went to hear the Cleveland Orchestra. The CO allows full-time students to buy two student-priced tickets for each student ID. So we were able to get three main-floor floor tickets for $45 (somewhat less than a rather expansive dinner for three at the Falafel House down the street).

Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements, which I'd never heard; the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, with the orchestra's principal clarinetist, Franklin Cohen (masterful); and the Dvorak Sixth Symphony, all conducted by the rising young American conductor Alan Gilbert. Both the Mozart and Dvorak received enthusiastic and deserved standing ovations. The Stravinsky was warmly applauded, and for me was the main event of the evening. What a fabulous piece!

I'd never before experienced the art-deco splendor of Severance Hall. Wow. There's a lot to be said for temples of music.