Word: soloist
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Offstage, Jaime Laredo acted much like any other 14-year-old, friendly, natural, a little shy with strangers. But when he appeared as violin soloist in Cleveland's Severance Hall, his chubby face was transformed with the artist's intensity, and he played with enough virtuoso technique to excite his listeners. More important musically was the emotional force with which he performed everything from Mozart to Bloch. Said Cleveland's noted Violinist Giorgio Ciompi: "His outstanding quality is that he puts his mind, his emotions, his bow together and gives himself completely," Said Conductor George Szell...
...actively unppleasant, they just make no impression whatsoever. After the performance ends, it is quite impossible to remember more than about eight notes, and the effort involved even then seems hardly worthwhile. Director Marshall Jamison's clumsy efforts to emphasize the music by sending everybody but the soloist offstage during the important numbers hardly help to make the songs more memorable...
Greenebaum's skill as a conductor was most apparent in Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in E flat. He kept a careful series of balances between orchestral sections, while giving a firm and yet compliant accompaniment to the soloist. Trumpeter Jane Rogers played the difficult concerto with great skill. Beyond merely getting the notes correctly, a task in itself, she displayed a shimmering tone. At forte, her tone was never strident, and she also was able to play marvelously softly. It was a rare example of great musicianship on the trumpet, whose practitioners are usually content to dazzle their audiences with...
Living up to its name, the orchestra also played two Bach cantatas. The first was a solo cantata for baritone, strings, oboe, and continue, Ich hab genug (No. 82.). The orchestra was beautifully conducted by Greenebaum, but soloist Gary Gaines was clearly unequal to the taxing vocal line. His voice lacked support, volume, and depth; and his breath control was insufficient to sustain the phrases. The other cantata, Wachet auf (No. 140), fared better. The chorus, numbering only twelve, was well trained by Edward Lloyd, and bass soloist Thomas Beveridge sang with feeling. The soprano soloist was Sara-Jane Smith...
Philadelphia Orchestra (Sat. 10:05 p.m., CBS). Conductor: Eugene Ormandy. Soloist: Pianist Rudolf Serkin...