Ohio’s Cuyahoa Falls Conductor Jonathan Heyward, who is the music director of the Baltimore Symphony and the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center, made a thrilling debut with the Cleveland Orchestra on July 26 at Blossom Music Center. With pieces by Dvo k and Beethoven, as well as a recent concerto by London-born composer Anna Clyne, who currently resides in the United States, his program ought to have enthralled even the most remote lawn sitters.
Clyne’s Glasslands, an eerie, kaleidoscopic concerto for soprano saxophone, was the evening’s focal point. It was composed for 27-year-old British saxophonist Jess Gillam, who debuted it with the Detroit Symphony in 2023 and played it with grace and command on Saturday.
The banshee is a keening female spirit that foretells a family member’s death in Irish tradition. The creepy, dramatic arc of the three-movement piece is shaped by a variety of effects, ranging from breathy whispers and rapid-fire dashes to screeching caterwauls and smokey purrs. The haunting atmosphere of the work is further enhanced by the orchestration, which is full of spectral color and tension, particularly in the winds and brass.
Heyward was her watchful companion, and Gillam was a confident, captivating presence. Collectively, they conveyed Clyne’s score with remarkable clarity. The strong reception from the audience prompted Gillam to perform Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood,” a seductive encore that fit the weather.
Heyward’s combination of great intensity and control brought life to Dvo k’s Carnival Overture, which started the concert. While the strings drove the music forward, winds and percussion glistened, giving festive color and rhythmic bite. Heyward handled the abrupt changes in mood in the overture with calm assurance.
Before the full orchestral exuberance returned, a brief period of poetic calm was provided by the contrasting middle section, which included a delicate duet between solo violin and woodwinds.
Onstage, Heyward exudes confidence and warmth. Conducting primarily without a baton, he draws clear articulations and emotive subtleties from the ensemble while using his wrists alone to convey the piece’s long arc and local intricacies.
Finally, the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra performers had the chance to perform with their mentors from the Cleveland Orchestra in Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony. The performance was radiant, encapsulating the symphony’s undercurrents of drama as well as its rustic appeal. This section wasn’t just programmatic because of a previous storm at Blossom.
The musical journey was seamless and satisfying for all passengers, and Heyward’s lyrical yet quick tempo gave hints of his remarkable genius.
The Kent Blossom Music Festival participants studied chamber music for a few weeks before focusing on orchestral repertoire. Additionally, on Saturday at 6:00 p.m., the Kent Blossom Chamber Orchestra, led by Daniel Reith, gave a prelude concert with incredibly delightful renditions of Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta and Mendelssohn’s Concert Overture Die sch ne Melusine.
Kevin McLaughlin was the Cleveland Institute of Music’s previous library director. He is a freelance writer and editor, and his weekly early jazz podcast, At the Jazz Band Ball, is available on several podcast platforms.
