CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio — There were plenty of midsummer smiles at The Cleveland Orchestra’s Blossom Music Center concert on Saturday, as Mendelssohn’s fairies cavorted, Veronique Gens’ lovely voice wafted forth, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony danced everyone to their feet. To begin, guest conductor Antonello Manacorda led a glittering performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream — so vivid and atmospheric you could swear that you spotted elves prancing on the lawn. The opening woodwind chords that ushered us into Shakespeare’s magical world were well balanced and pure, largely thanks to the flute and clarinet playing of Jessica Sindell and Daniel McKelway.
Violins scurrying at a fast but prudent tempo — and an impossibly soft but effective dynamic — summoned the fairies. Throughout, Manacorda’s gestures were expressive and economical. Les nuits d’été, Berlioz’s songs on death and lost love, perfectly suit Veronique Gens’ rich-toned soprano.
Much of the music lies in mezzo range, a register Gens, who cut her teeth in Baroque opera, is perfectly comfortable with. Her evenness of tone from top to bottom and seamless legato were evident throughout, as was her careful attention to diction. Clarity and sensitivity to her native French language heightened the sentiments of the poetry.
Berlioz chose to set six poems from the volume La comédie de la mort (The comedy of death) by his close friend, the poet Théophile Gaut.