A two-and-one-half hour train ride through the Spanish countryside brought the Cleveland Orchestra to Valencia this afternoon. It's an attractive city, made more so by its many orange trees. Yes, they grow in the city. They're even planted inside the Palau de la Musica de Valencia, where the orchestra played their concert tonight.

Several orchestra members tried to see The Cathedral, a moderate walk from the hotel. It houses the Santo Caliz, believed to be the Holy Grail. But they were disappointed -- it was closed for renovation. One veteran shopper ventured across town to a Lladro shop and returned with a striking decorative mask.

The Palau de la Musica de Valencia is a modern theatre in the typical rectangular box style, with a twist: arena style seating. The audience is seated on lower and balcony levels, all around the orchestra. The concept is intriguing, but I'm not so sure it works with a 19th century orchestra layout which, after all, was designed for conventional concert halls. The hall's organ is also planted in the usual location, which places the pipe ranks squarely in the center of audience seating.

I didn't sit there, so I can't be sure how the orchestra sounded from behind in this hall. However, I've sung in choirs behind orchestras, and I can tell you that the instrumental balances set by a conductor in front don't usually hold up from behind.

From where I sat, on house right near the front, the sound was quite good. The hall is fairly bright, but not so bright as to muddy up musical textures. Still, sight lines were a problem. Most of the orchestra level seating is well below the stage. That hampered the sound's projection, particularly on the sides, and it affected the balance. It also made it difficult to see much of the orchestra.

For all that, though, the hall did justice to the Cleveland Orchestra, which was in good form tonight. In fact, this may be the best the orchestra has sounded on the tour. Frank Peter Zimmermann's violin positively soared in the Beethoven concerto; Stravinsky's Rite of Spring was tight and well controlled.  The encores -- Dvorak's Slavonic Dance Opus 46 No. 8, and the finale to Prokofiev's Classical Symphony -- were well received.

Tomorrow the orchestra has a day off to enjoy Valencia's comfortably-medium-sized-European-city trappings, then it's on to a really big European city, Paris.

David Roden
WKSU Assistant Program Director