The Cleveland Orchestra: Alan Gilbert & Augustin Hadelich - Bartok

The Cleveland Orchestra: Alan Gilbert & Augustin Hadelich - Bartok at Severance Music Center

One violin against an orchestra can feel like a dare. Bartók wrote a concerto full of them.

Augustin Hadelich performs Bartók's Second Violin Concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra under Alan Gilbert at Severance Music Center on December 4. The score's folk-inspired rhythms and constantly shifting colors ask the soloist for technical brilliance and emotional nerve. Debussy's Images and Dalit Warshaw's Responses add contrasting musical perspectives, making the program far more than a one-work showcase.

What makes this worth hearing live is the tension between individual and ensemble. Hadelich can drive a phrase forward, the orchestra can pull the music in another direction, and the audience feels the change as it happens. Debussy then offers an entirely different palette, full of atmosphere and orchestral shimmer. Severance's concert-hall setting gives those details the space they need. If you want to hear virtuosity as something thrilling rather than merely impressive, this is the kind of program that makes the case.

Take your seat for a concerto that refuses to sit still. Find The Cleveland Orchestra: Alan Gilbert & Augustin Hadelich - Bartok tickets for Severance Music Center.