The Cleveland Orchestra 100th Anniversary Gala

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA

An Exceptional Celebration and Concert Evening to Benefit The Cleveland Orchestra’s Education Programs and Community Initiatives throughout Northeast Ohio

THANK YOU T HE

CLEVELAND ORC HE STR A FRANZ WELSER-MÖST

September 29, 2018 This evening we celebrate a landmark milestone, the 100th Anniversary of the founding of a hometown orchestra by a remarkable community. What has always made The Cleveland Orchestra great is the vision, dedication, generosity, and care of the people who created it for the benefit of everyone, near and far.

Music has the power to inspire all of us — and to make the world a better place every day. In its first century, this Orchestra has touched the lives of tens of millions, including introducing over 4 million children to classical music.

In giving thanks for tonight's festive gathering, let me begin by extending the gratitude of everyone here to gala chairs Norma Lerner, Beth Mooney, Nancy McCann, and Richard Smucker. Their efforts have helped shape and create a magnificent evening of shared music, fellowship, and caring. Thank you!

Tonight’s success has brought together a record level of support — raising more than a million dollars for the fifth year in a row. This is a collective effort, with special thanks to the generous sponsors, patrons, and dedicated members of The Cleveland Orchestra’s Board of Trustees. Such overwhelming support and passion is, as always, the cumulative effort of many — from volunteers to staff members, all working toward a common goal.

I must also voice heartfelt and humble gratitude to the musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra, together with our acclaimed music director, Franz Welser-Möst.

As a collaborative partnership, the extraordinary artistry of these musicians reaches heights beyond words. Joining them onstage this evening is internationallyacclaimed pianist Lang Lang.

I know we are are all excited to be sharing tonight’s concert — and showcasing Cleveland’s artistry and accomplishment — with the world. Tonight’s gala performance is being recorded for delayed telecast in January 2019 as part of PBS’s Great Performances series, and I extend special gratitude to our producing partners: Thirteen for WNET and ideastream, and to Herbert Kloiber and Clasart Classical.

Thank you for joining us tonight, and enjoy the concert.

André Gremillet Executive Director

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From the Executive Director

WELCOME

Dear Friends, Welcome to tonight’s very special 100th Anniversary Gala. Throughout the past year, we have witnessed, experienced, and celebrated The Cleveland Orchestra’s Centennial Season. Tonight, we come together once again, to enjoy the remarkable artistry of this great orchestra, led by our friend and visionary leader, Franz Welser-Möst. Just as the New York Times has said, we have long known that Cleveland’s Orchestra is “America’s finest.”

The record-setting proceeds from this evening will support The Cleveland Orchestra’s many education and community programs, which each year inspire tens of thousands of young people across Northeast Ohio. Thank you to everyone who has made tonight possible. With your support, the Orchestra continues to serve our community as a source of great pride. Our education programs are stronger than ever before — and making a difference.

We are excited to welcome this evening’s distinguished guest soloist, Lang Lang, whose advocacy for music education captivates and inspires students every day, everywhere. Franz Welser-Möst’s vision to engage every child in Greater Cleveland through the power of music is the kind of visionary thinking that created The Cleveland Orchestra a century ago. That dream continues through the generosity of everyone here tonight. The Cleveland Orchestra is changing lives each and every day — by sharing the power and passion of music, by showcasing the value of excellence, by celebrating community, and by inspiring future generations. Enjoy!

Best wishes always,

Norma Lerner Nancy W. McCann

Gala Chair Co-Chair

Beth Mooney Corporate Co-Chair

Richard K. Smucker Corporate Co-Chair

From the Gala Chairs

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THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA D IAM O N D S P O NSO RS The Lerner Foundation KeyBank Richard and Emily Smucker Dee and Jimmy Haslam Eric and Jane Nord Family Audrey and Albert Ratner G O LD S P O NSO RS Yuval Brisker Sally and Sandy Cutler S I LVE R S P O NSO RS BakerHostetler Richard J. Bogomolny and Patricia M. Kozerefski Case Western Reserve University Cleveland Clinic Foundation Cleveland State University Forest City Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. Virginia M. and Jon A. Lindseth Milton and Tamar Maltz Nancy W. McCann Medical Mutual Dr. Russell A. Trusso Ginger Warner

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Sponsors and Patrons

B RO N Z E S P O NSO RS The Belkin and Markowitz Families Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP Robert Conrad Dollar Bank Huntington National Bank ideastream Jones Day David and Inez Myers Foundation Rosanne and Gary Oatey

Parker Hannifin Corp The Payne Fund Quality Electrodynamics Barbara S. Robinson The Ralph and Luci Schey Foundation Thompson Hine LLP University Hospitals Paul and Suzanne Westlake

BOAR D S U PP O R T S P O NSO RS H IPS Jeanette G. and Glenn R. Brown Irad and Rebecca Carmi Paul and Jill Clark Richard and Ann Gridley Jean and Walt Kalberer Mr. and Mrs. Douglas A. Kern John D. and Giuliana C. Koch

Dennis and Camille LaBarre Alex and Carol Machaskee Ambassador and Mrs. John D. Ong Julia and Larry Pollock Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin, Sr. James and Donna Reid

DISTI N G U IS H ED PATRO N S Dean and Elizabeth Barry Frank and Leslie Buck Barbara Ann Davis Thomas S. and Jane R. Davis Dr. and Mrs. Avrum I. Froimson Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Gillespie Mr. James Graham and Mr. David Dusek Drs. Erik and Ellen Gregorie Robert N. and Nicki N. Gudbranson Iris and Tom Harvie Dr. Robert T. Heath and Dr. Elizabeth L. Buchanan Dianne and David Hunt Andrew and Katherine Kartalis Nancy and Joe Keithley Janet L. Kramer Lawrence and Christine Levey

Drs. Todd and Susan Locke Loretta J. Mester and George J. Mailath Bert and Marjorie Moyar Susan B. Murphy Mr. and Mrs. John Olejko William J. and Katherine T. O’Neill Brad Pohlman and Julie Callsen Michael and Zoya Reyzis Ronald and Helen Ross Steve and Ellen Ross Mrs. David Seidenfeld Sandra and Richey Smith H. Reid and Susan Smucker Wagstaff Meredith and Michael Weil Tony and Diane Wynshaw-Boris listings as of September 18, 2018

Prior to this evening’s concert, a quartet of musicians is performing in the Bogomolny-Kozerefski Grand Foyer.

Representing the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra Advanced Performance Seminar, three COYO members (Moonhee Kim, Alex Zhu, and Katarina Davies) perform with Sonja Braaten Molloy, COYO coach and member of The Cleveland Orchestra.

Sponsors and Patrons

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THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA

Serving Community, Inspiring Generations The Cleveland Orchestra’s commitment to education and community service was central to the Orchestra’s establishment in 1918, and has never been more important. Throughout its history, The Cleveland Orchestra has promoted and pioneered music education with programs for children and adults — firmly believing in the value of music to enhance learning and understanding. Our efforts continue today through the generosity of many foundations, corporations, and individuals.

As we embark on our Second Century, we are testing and adding new programs, to reach young people in Cleveland and from across Northeast Ohio, working with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and others to provide increased impact.

As we look to the future, we strive to become Cleveland’s Orchestra, uniting our diverse city — and all of Northeast Ohio — by building community through music, removing barriers to access and participation, leveraging the academic and health benefits of music, and nurturing the next generation of musicians and audience members through education programming and new initiatives developed to create even deeper impact.

As we embark on our Second Century, key goals for our education programs and community initiatives include: 1. Expand access — so that every child in the Cleveland area, regardless of race or socioeconomic background, can experience The Cleveland Orchestra, touching every child through the power of music.

2. Enable more children to play music — to reap the life-long cognitive, academic, and social-emotional benefits that quality music-study provides, especially for children from disadvantaged circumstances.

3. Advocate and promote why music matters — using our brand to raise awareness of the well-documented benefits of music education and music-making, and to advocate on the local, state, and national level for policies that make music part of a well-rounded education for every child, helping to develop creative and critical thinkers and engaged citizens.

4. Unite our diverse community through music — by connecting citizens of all ages to each other and to The Cleveland Orchestra.

Education and Community

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THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA

Expanding Access to Music Education In addition to our ongoing Cleveland Orchestra Family Concerts, Education Concerts, and outstanding Youth Orchestra and Youth Chorus programs, in the 2018-19 season we are expanding access for students to The Cleveland Orchestra by introducing:

A Concert for Every Child — Free Tickets to Cleveland Orchestra Education Concerts for Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) and other schools in need, and new Bus Subsidies, will help ensure that children of all backgrounds can experience The Cleveland Orchestra at historic Severance Hall.

Mindful Music Moments — An innovative musical tool for social/emotional well-being, this program provides a four-minute daily dose of classical music coupled with mindfulness exercises delivered via schools’ morning announcements, five days per week throughout the school year.

Each Mindful Music Moment module creates a focused, calm start to the school day — reducing anxiety, creating a positive learning environment, and nurturing positive associations with classical music. The play­lists — curated by The Cleveland Orchestra and paired with mindfulness exercises by our partner, City Silence — are easy to use, electronically delivered, and provide an innovative tool for social/emotional well-being.

Music Explorers — Our new series of live presentations and videos for preschoolers. The launch of this series represents a retooling and rebranding of our popular Musical Rainbow series, harnessing new child development understandings and new technology to introduce young children to the instruments of the orchestra (one instrument at a time), and build music literacy and listening skills. New this year: Music Explorers five-minute videos — starring Major Scale and Ranger Rhythm — give students and teachers, kids and families, a fun-filled preview prior to attending each concert, using technology to expand reach and engagement.

For more information about our education programs and community initiatives, or to help support our ongoing work to reach out and engage people of all ages through the power of music and to help support new programs we are developing for the future, please contact Joan Katz, Senior Director, Education and Community Programs, 216-231-7348.

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Education and Community

PHOTOS BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

THE

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA FRANZ WELSER-MÖST

M U S I C D I R E C TO R

Severance Hall Saturday, September 29, 2018, at 7:00 p.m.

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

wolfgang amadè mozart

(1756-1791)

Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K491

1. Allegro 2. Larghetto 3. Allegretto

LANG LANG, piano

richard strauss

(1864-1949)

johann strauss jr.

maurice ravel

(1825-1899)

(1875-1937)

Symphonic Fantasy, Opus 65a from Die Frau ohne Schatten [The Woman Without a Shadow] Waltz: Wiener Blut, Opus 354 [Viennese Spirit] La Valse [The Waltz]

1 9 18 -2 O1 8

Y E A R S

Gala Concert Program

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T H E

C L E V E L A N D

Franz Welser-Möst M U S I C D I R E C TO R

CELLOS Mark Kosower*

Kelvin Smith Family Chair

SECOND VIOLINS Stephen Rose * FIRST VIOLINS William Preucil

Charles Bernard 2

James and Donna Reid Chair

Bryan Dumm

Patricia M. Kozerefski and Richard J. Bogomolny Chair

Tanya Ell

Emilio Llinás 2

Jung-Min Amy Lee

Eli Matthews 1

ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER

Gretchen D. and Ward Smith Chair

Peter Otto

FIRST ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER

Virginia M. Lindseth, PhD, Chair

Jessica Lee

ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER

Clara G. and George P. Bickford Chair

Stephen Tavani

ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER

Takako Masame

Paul and Lucille Jones Chair

Wei-Fang Gu

Drs. Paul M. and Renate H. Duchesneau Chair

Kim Gomez

Sonja Braaten Molloy Carolyn Gadiel Warner Elayna Duitman Ioana Missits Jeffrey Zehngut Vladimir Deninzon Sae Shiragami Scott Weber Kathleen Collins Beth Woodside Emma Shook

Dr. Jeanette Grasselli Brown and Dr. Glenn R. Brown Chair

Yun-Ting Lee Jiah Chung Chapdelaine

Elizabeth and Leslie Kondorossy Chair

Chul-In Park

VIOLAS Wesley Collins*

Harriet T. and David L. Simon Chair

Miho Hashizume

Theodore Rautenberg Chair

Chaillé H. and Richard B. Tullis Chair

Isabel Trautwein

Trevor and Jennie Jones Chair

Mark Dumm

Arthur Klima Richard Waugh Lisa Boyko

Richard and Nancy Sneed Chair

Lembi Veskimets

Gladys B. Goetz Chair

Katherine Bormann Analisé Denise Kukelhan Zhan Shu

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Ralph Curry Brian Thornton

William P. Blair III Chair

David Alan Harrell Martha Baldwin Dane Johansen Paul Kushious BASSES Maximilian Dimoff *

Clarence T. Reinberger Chair

Kevin Switalski 2 Scott Haigh 1

Mary E. and F. Joseph Callahan Chair

Mark Atherton Thomas Sperl Henry Peyrebrune

Charles Barr Memorial Chair

HARP Trina Struble *

Stanley Konopka 2 Mark Jackobs

Patty and John Collinson Chair

Thomas J. and Judith Fay Gruber Chair

Jean Wall Bennett Chair

Alicia Koelz Yu Yuan

Muriel and Noah Butkin Chair

Charles M. and Janet G. Kimball Chair

Lynne Ramsey

Oswald and Phyllis Lerner Gilroy Chair

Helen Weil Ross Chair

Charles Carleton Scott Dixon Derek Zadinsky

1

Jeanne Preucil Rose

Dr. Larry J.B. and Barbara S. Robinson Chair

The GAR Foundation Chair

Alfred M. and Clara T. Rankin Chair

CONCERTMASTER

Blossom-Lee Chair

Louis D. Beaumont Chair

Richard Weiss 1

The Morgan Sisters Chair

Eliesha Nelson Joanna Patterson Zakany Patrick Connolly

The Musicians

Alice Chalifoux Chair

This roster lists the fulltime members of The Cleveland Orchestra.

The number and seating of musicians onstage varies depending on the piece being performed.

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Y E A R S

O R C H E S T R A FLUTES Joshua Smith *

Elizabeth M. and William C. Treuhaft Chair

Saeran St. Christopher Mary Kay Fink

HORNS Michael Mayhew §

Knight Foundation Chair

Jesse McCormick

Robert B. Benyo Chair

PICCOLO Mary Kay Fink

Hans Clebsch Richard King Alan DeMattia

OBOES Frank Rosenwein *

TRUMPETS Michael Sachs *

Anne M. and M. Roger Clapp Chair

Edith S. Taplin Chair

Robert and Eunice Podis Weiskopf Chair

Corbin Stair Jeffrey Rathbun 2

Everett D. and Eugenia S. McCurdy Chair

Robert Walters

James P. and Dolores D. Storer Chair

Michael Miller

ENGLISH HORN Robert Walters

Samuel C. and Bernette K. Jaffe Chair

CLARINETS Afendi Yusuf *

Robert Marcellus Chair

Robert Woolfrey

Victoire G. and Alfred M. Rankin, Jr. Chair

Daniel McKelway

Jack Sutte Lyle Steelman 2

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Robert R. and Vilma L. Kohn Chair

E-FLAT CLARINET Daniel McKelway

Stanley L. and Eloise M. Morgan Chair

BASSOONS John Clouser *

Louise Harkness Ingalls Chair

Gareth Thomas Barrick Stees 2

Sandra L. Haslinger Chair

Jonathan Sherwin CONTRABASSOON Jonathan Sherwin

PERCUSSION Marc Damoulakis*

Margaret Allen Ireland Chair

Donald Miller Tom Freer Thomas Sherwood KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS Joela Jones * Rudolf Serkin Chair

Carolyn Gadiel Warner Marjory and Marc L. Swartzbaugh Chair

LIBRARIANS Robert O’Brien

Joe and Marlene Toot Chair

CORNETS Michael Sachs *

Donald Miller

Michael Miller

Austin B. and Ellen W. Chinn Chair Sidney and Doris Dworkin Chair Sunshine Chair George Szell Memorial Chair

Mary Elizabeth and G. Robert Klein Chair

TROMBONES Massimo La Rosa *

Gilbert W. and Louise I. Humphrey Chair

Richard Stout

Alexander and Marianna C. McAfee Chair

Shachar Israel 2

EUPHONIUM AND BASS TRUMPET Richard Stout TUBA Yasuhito Sugiyama* Nathalie C. Spence and Nathalie S. Boswell Chair

TIMPANI Paul Yancich *

Otto G. and Corinne T. Voss Chair

Tom Freer 2

Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Smucker Chair

The Musicians

ENDOWED CHAIRS CURRENTLY UNOCCUPIED

* Principal § Associate Principal 1 2

First Assistant Principal Assistant Principal

CONDUCTORS Christoph von Dohnányi MUSIC DIRECTOR LAUREATE

Vinay Parameswaran ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR

Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Chair

Lisa Wong

DIRECTOR OF CHORUSES

Frances P. and Chester C. Bolton Chair

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Franz Welser-Möst Franz Welser-Möst is among today’s most distinguished conductors. The 2018-19 season marks his seventeenth year as music director of The Cleveland Orch­estra, with the future of this acclaimed partnership extending into the next decade. The New York Times has declared Cleveland under Welser-Möst’s direction to be the “best American orchestra“ for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.

During The Cleveland Orchestra’s centennial last season — dedicated to the community that created it — Franz Welser-Möst led two ambitious festivals, The Ecstasy of Tristan and Isolde, examining the power of music to portray and create transcendence, followed by a concentrated look at the philosophical and political messages within Beethoven’s music in The Prometheus Project (presented on three continents, in Cleveland, Vienna, and Tokyo). His innovative approach to programming, introducing new music, and rediscovering and re-examining older works continues this season, including a brand-new madefor-Cleveland production by Frederic Wake-Walker of Richard Strauss’s opera Ariadne auf Naxos in January.

Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra are frequent guests at many prestigious concert halls and festivals around the world, including regular appearances in Vienna, New

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Music Director

P H OTO BY J U L I A W E S E LY

Music Director Kelvin Smith Family Endowed Chair The Cleveland Orchestra

York, and Miami, and at the festivals of Salzburg and Lucerne. During WelserMöst’s tenure, The Cleveland Orchestra has been hugely successful in building up a new and, notably, younger audience at home in Cleveland through groundbreaking programs involving families, students, universities, and cross-community partnerships. A series of established and newly created education offerings continue to energize and engage students throughout the region.

As a guest conductor, Mr. WelserMöst enjoys a close and productive relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic. His recent performances with the Philharmonic have included a series of critically-acclaimed opera productions at the Salzburg Festival (Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier in 2014, Beethoven’s Fidelio in 2015, Strauss’s Die Liebe der Danae in 2016, Reimann’s Lear in 2017, and Strauss’s Salome in 2018), as well as appearances on tour at New York’s Carnegie Hall, at the Lucerne Festival, and in concert at La Scala Milan. He has conducted the Philharmonic’s celebrat-

ed annual New Year’s Day concert twice, viewed by millions worldwide. Performances with the Philharmonic this year include appearances at the Salzburg, Grafenegg, and Glyndebourne festivals, and, in November, at Versailles and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall. He returns to Vienna in the spring to lead Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.

Mr. Welser-Möst also maintains relationships with a number of other European orchestras and opera companies.

His 2018-19 schedule includes concerts with the Czech Philharmonic and Dresden Staatskapelle. He leads performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute in a new production directed by Yuval Sharon with the Berlin State Opera, and Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala.

From 2010 to 2014, Franz WelserMöst served as general music director of the Vienna State Opera. His partnership with the company included an acclaimed new production of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung cycle and a series of critically-praised new productions, as well as performances of a wide range of other operas, particularly works by Wagner and Richard Strauss. Prior to his years with the Vienna State Opera, Mr. Welser-Möst led the Zurich Opera across a decadelong tenure, conducting more than forty new productions and culminating in three seasons as general music director (2005-08).

Franz Welser-Möst’s audio and video recordings have won major awards, including a Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, Japanese Re-

cord Academy Award, and two Grammy nominations. The recent Salzburg Festival production he conducted of Der Rosenkavalier was awarded with the Echo Klassik for “best opera recording.“ With The Cleveland Orch­estra, his recordings include DVD releases of live performances of five of Bruckner’s symphonies and a multi-DVD set of major works by Brahms, featuring Yefim Bronfman and Julia Fischer as soloists. A companion video recording of Brahms’s German Requiem was released in 2017.

In 2017, Mr. Welser-Möst was awarded the Pro Arte Europa­preis for his advocacy and achievements as a musical ambassador. Other honors and awards include the Vienna Philhar­monic’s “Ring of Honor” for his long-standing personal and artistic relationship with the ensemble, as well as recognition from the Western Law Center for Disability Rights, honorary membership in the Vienna Singverein, appointment as an Academician of the European Academy of Yuste, a Decoration of Honor from the Republic of Austria for his artistic achievements, and the Kilenyi Medal from the Bruckner Society of America.

“Franz Welser-Möst, music director of the subtle, responsive Cleveland Orch­estra — possibly America’s most memorable symphonic ensemble — leads operas with airy, catlike grace.”

—New York Times

Music Director

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Few artists can claim to have the same profound impact on the world of music as Lang Lang has had. As a pianist, educator, and philanthropist — as well as an influential ambassador for the arts — Lang Lang has fully embraced technology and innovation, leading the way in bringing classical music into the 21st century. Equally happy playing for a worldwide audience at the 2008 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Beijing or for just a few hundred children in public schools, Lang Lang is a master of communicating through music. Gifted with unique artistic and communicative skills, Lang Lang uniquely unites excellence and accessibility, and is building bridges between Eastern and Western culture.

He first appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra during the 2000 Blossom Music Festival, and most recently performed here in October 2014.

Heralded by the New York Times as “the hottest artist on the classical music planet,” Lang Lang works with many of the best classical musicians of our time. He has formed ongoing collaborations with conductors including Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim and Christoph Eschenbach, and performs with the world’s top orchestras, including the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics as well as America’s leading orchestras.

Lang Lang plays sold-out concerts in major concert halls around the world.

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Guest Soloist

P H OTO BY H A I G I A N G LV

Lang Lang

Recent appearances include concerts at the Sydney Opera House, as well as a performance in the old town of Havana with Cuban jazz legend Chucho Valdés. Lang Lang is known for thinking outside the box and frequently steps into different musical worlds, teaming up with artists from diverse genres. His performances at the Grammy Awards with Metallica, Pharrell Williams, or jazz legend Herbie Hancock were witnessed by millions of viewers. His video collaboration with dubstep dancer Marquese “Nonstop” Scott continues to inspire a global internet community.

Lang Lang has contributed to musical education and support for children worldwide. In 2008, he founded the Lang Lang International Music Foundation — aimed at cultivating tomorrow’s top pianists, championing music education at the forefront of technology, and building a young audience through live music

experiences. Headquartered in New York City, the Foundation has implemented its programs in North America, Europe, and Asia, and was awarded an Echo Klassik special prize in 2015. In 2013, Lang Lang was designated by the Secretary General of the United Nations as a Messenger of Peace focusing on global education. He also currently serves on the Weill Music Institute Advisory Committee as part of Carnegie Hall’s educational program and is the youngest member of Carnegie Hall’s Artistic Advisory Board.

Lang Lang’s tireless energy and boundless drive to attract new audiences to classical music have brought him many titles and awards, including being chosen for the 2010 Crystal Award in Davos and as one of the 250 “Young Global Leaders” by the World Economic Forum. In December 2011, he was honored with the highest prize awarded by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China. More recently, he has received the highest German civilian honor, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, in recognition of his distinguished service to music, and, in January 2013, he was presented with the Medal of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture.

In 2016, Lang Lang was invited to the Vatican to perform for Pope Francis at the opening ceremony of the first Faith and Sports World Conference.

He has also performed for many other international dignitaries and heads of state, including four U.S. presidents

and monarchs from many nations.

Lang Lang started playing the piano at age 3, won the Shenyang Competition and gave his first public recital before the age of 5, entered Beijing’s Central Music Conservatory age 9, and won First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians and played the complete Chopin Études at the Beijing Concert Hall at 13. He left China for Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute, where he worked with the legendary pianist Gary Graffman. His big break came at age 17 substituting for André Watts at a gala performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto.

Lang Lang focuses much thought and energy on bringing music education into the 21st century through his new publishing program, the Lang Lang Piano Academy, produced in collaboration with Faber Music. The program launched with Mastering the Piano, five progressive books exploring piano technique. The latest addition is The Lang Lang Piano Method, an imaginative new tutoring for beginners used in the public schools initiative “Keys of Inspiration.”

Lang Lang’s autobiography, Jour­ ney of a Thousand Miles: My Story, was released with widespread interest in 2008 and has been published by Random House in eleven languages. He also released a special version aimed at younger readers, entitled Playing with Flying Keys.

Guest Soloist

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About the Music

The Spirit of Vienna Love, Death, & Celebration This evening’s concert features four works, touching on more than a century of Viennese musical traditions. Vienna, today the capital of Austria and in centuries past the capital of a larger German-speaking empire, is among the world’s great music cities. Its heyday at the forefront of classical music ran from Mozart’s time into the first half of the 20th century. Today, its arts and culture remain renowned for authenticity and experimentation, for debuts and traditions. Tonight, we enjoy a piano concerto by Mozart, played by one of today’s most gifted pianists, followed by an orchestral fantasy of operatic music by Richard Strauss, then a waltz by that “other” Strauss, Waltz King Johann Jr. , and concluding with Maurice Ravel’s scintillating and cataclysmic death of empire and the waltz, titled simply La Valse.

Piano Concerto: No. 24 in C minor, K491

by Wolfgang Amadè Mozart (1756-1791)

W. A. MOZART

Mozart’s piano concertos represent an exceptional body of work, unique in the classical music canon. Especially when looking at — or listening to — the seventeen mature concertos he wrote within half a dozen years in Vienna, between 1782 and 1787, it becomes quickly apparent that Mozart had a very specific vision and understanding of what a piano concerto was and could be.

Taking a model used rather quietly by composers before him, Mozart set new expectations for the form and single-handedly lifted it to be among the most lauded of genres. Later composers would embellish and improvise in more personal and obviously emotional directions. But none would write so many perfect gems in this single genre — so clearly filled with passion and crafted in an identifiably Mozartian way.

Mozart wrote his Viennese concertos for himself, and used them during the busiest time of his life, to make money and gain increased reputation. In some years, he was writing three concertos almost simultaneously as he prepared for his own series of concerts during the season of Lent (prior to Easter) — in which the concertos, with the composer as soloist, would be the highpoint. For the six weeks of Lent, Mozart performed almost every night somewhere (seven nights a week!), in his own series or as the star soloist in a private home (with orchestra). He was, quite simply, at the top of

18

About the Music

his game as both composer and soloist.

Piano Concerto No. 24 dates from the spring of 1786. It is one of only two Mozart concertos written in a minor key, adding poignancy and depth to its musical themes and ideas.

The opening movement is, unusually, in triple meter, and begins with a sequence of ominous and nearly unrelated chords, which melt seamlessly into the opening theme. The orchestral introduction is unusually lengthy, prior to the piano’s first entrance.

And, indeed, throughout much of the movement, the piano and orchestra almost sound as though they are playing two different, but related, works — only to finally come together in the coda with clear effect. Mozart left no solo cadenza for this opening movement, so that each pianist must create or borrow ideas and make choices for appropriate connection and unity.

The slower, quiet middle movement is a marvel of style and tension, with a theme built across notes ranging nearly two octaves.

The winds play alone for a time, before everyone again comes together in the coda. The final movement is a march, stated and then given six variations (as well as alternate variations on the repeats of the last five). An elaborate coda adds to the variety. Throughout, Mozart hints at a major-key happy ending, but ultimately, slyly, and magically refuses, creating a closing moment that caused Beethoven to lament that he would “never be able to do anything like this.”

Symphonic Fantasy: Die Frau ohne Schatten

by Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Many of Richard Strauss’s operas explore the variety, depth, and repercussions of human love. His first two big successes, Sa­ lome and Elektra, wrestled with ancient stories of familial revenge.

Next, the much happier story of Der Rosenkavalier comments on the natural progression of love across life, as maturity hands new joys and youthful intensity wanes. His next opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, which The Cleveland Orchestra is presenting in January at Severance Hall, is a bold story artfully examining the juxtaposition of comedy and tragedy in life and in art, reinforcing our understanding of the world around us.

After completing (and revising) Ariadne, Strauss and his longtime librettist, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, worked on a more fanciful opera titled Die Frau ohne Schatten [The Woman Without a Shadow].

About the Music

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RICHARD STRAUSS

This fairytale of an opera was Strauss’s main focus throughout much of World War I. The opera combines elements from a number of storytelling sources, including ideas from the Arabian Nights and Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The main character is a gazelle who has taken human form — but casts no shadow, symbolizing that she is barren. She and her husband the Emperor are told that he will turn to stone (quite literally) if she cannot give him a son — which is to say, allegorically, that she must acquire a shadow.

In her quest for a shadow, the Empress learns about the true love of parents for their children, and dramatically refuses to steal a shadow from a kind woman. Her refusal (and understanding) frees the Empress to claim a shadow of her own. The Emperor and Empress, together with the woman and her husband, are reunited and proclaim the happiness that love gives them by offering them children. The opera was first produced in 1919 in Vienna, to reviews decidedly negative or, at best, mixed — the allegorical storyline was challenging to stage in an understandable way.

Years later, in 1946, Strauss created a one-movement orchestral fantasy, wrestling and combining the opera’s music with more effort than a mere suite requires. He brings to it some, but not all, of the opera’s orchestral interludes, as well as several other key musical moments. Strauss’s mastery of orchestral sounds and color is fully apparent, and his lyrical gifts for melody are amply demonstrated.

The fantasy starts dark, but reaches a bright and hopeful ending.

Waltz: Wiener Blut [Viennese Spirit]

by Johann Strauss Jr. (1825-1899)

JOHANN STRAUSS JR

Like all Viennese waltzes, Wiener Blut is actually a series of waltz melodies, with two of the main ones alternating back and forth in contrast, ultimately building to a grand and joyous finale. Written in 1873 for festivities surrounding the marriage of Emperor Franz Joseph’s eldest daughter to the prince of Bavaria, Wiener Blut also marked Johann Strauss’s debut conducting the city’s famed Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The evening’s charity ball was held at the Musikverein, making it the forerunner of today’s New Year’s Concert telecast worldwide. (Six months later, Strauss led the Philharmonic in his Blue Danube Waltz, further cementing the ensemble’s tradition as an acclaimed — and authentic — Strauss orchestra.) In Wiener Blut, Johann Jr. admirably and effortlessly captures a rhythmic pulse and dynamic effervescence — of Viennese high society at its apex, of tuneful give and take, of a great city celebrating together.

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About the Music

Concert Piece: La Valse [The Waltz]

by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Tonight’s gala concert concludes with a vibrant musical homage to the Germanic waltz, written by a Frenchman. Ravel was greatly inspired by dance forms throughout his career. He began sketching what would become The Waltz [La Valse] in 1905, imagining that he would create a pleasant and uplifting tribute to the power of the 19th century’s greatest dance form as perfected by Johann Strauss Jr. At the time, Ravel planned to call the new work “Vienna.” Different projects intervened, however, and Ravel found himself writing other music instead. And when World War I came along, the French composer could not bring himself to continue writing “music of the enemy.” (Ravel enlisted in the French Army to fight, but was turned down by the infantry and then the air services, before being assigned to the supply department, where he helped organize and drive trucks filled with petrol to the front lines.)

Ravel finally completed La Valse in 1920, writing into it a sense not just of the waltz at the height of its popularity, but a larger view of the great Germanic society that had created it and that had been smashed by the forces of World War I — death and destruction, diversity and democracy. In the score, Ravel had the following text printed: “An Imperial court about 1855. At first the scene is dimmed by a kind of swirling mist, through which one discerns, vaguely and in­ termittently, the waltzing couples. Little by little the vapors disperse, the illumination grows brighter, revealing an immense ballroom filled with dancers; the blaze of the chandeliers comes to full splendor.”

The music begins softly, almost imperceptibly. Slowly, a waltz forms. Like the great Strauss waltzes, this “waltz” is really a set of several waltz-tunes, alternated and developed together. The music builds and builds, with ever greater energy, but also with a sense of foreboding, of a distant storm on the horizon, of unwanted dissonances lurking deep in the music. Dance now, for you cannot know what tomorrow shall bring. But the dance goes on, and on. At last there is a great climax, and then the three-quarter beat of the waltz shatters and is smashed, finished, suddenly over. Exhilarating while it lasted, in history and in Ravel’s epic musical storytelling, the waltz was king and then . . . no longer. program notes by Eric Sellen © 2018

About the Music

21

MAURICE RAVEL

Special Thanks ...

This evening’s 100th Anniversary Gala concert is being recorded by Great Performances.

The performance will premiere as The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration on WVIZ/PBS ideastream and on PBS stations nationwide on January 11, 2019, at 9:00 p.m. (please check local listings for specific dates and times).

The Cleveland Orchestra

Centennial Celebration Major support for The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration is provided by The Eric and Jane Nord Family.

Major support for Great Performances is provided by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, Irene Diamond Fund, Rosalind P. Walter, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, The Agnes Varis Trust, The Starr Foundation, Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The Abra Prentice Foundation, and PBS. The Cleveland Orchestra Centennial Celebration is a production of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, ideastream, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Clasart Classics in association with NHK (Japan), BR/3Sat (Austria/Germany), and YLE (Finland).

For more information about the Great Performances series, please visit pbs.org.

This evening’s concert event is being taped for television, with plans to exhibit it on television and in other media. Such taping may include pictures and footage of individuals in the audience. Attendance at this event is deemed your consent to appear in such programming.

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Media Production

MUSICAL ARTS ASSOCIATION

as of August 2018

operating The Cleveland Orchestra, Severance Hall, and Blossom Music Festival

O F F I C ER S A ND EXEC UT I VE C O MMIT T EE Richard K. Smucker, President Dennis W. LaBarre, Chairman Richard J. Bogomolny, Chairman Emeritus

Norma Lerner, Honorary Chair Hewitt B. Shaw, Secretary Beth E. Mooney, Treasurer

Alexander M. Cutler Hiroyuki Fujita David J. Hooker Michael J. Horvitz Douglas A. Kern

Virginia M. Lindseth Nancy W. McCann Larry Pollock Alfred M. Rankin, Jr. Audrey Gilbert Ratner

Barbara S. Robinson Jeffery J. Weaver Meredith Smith Weil Paul E. Westlake Jr.

RE S I D ENT TR U S TEES Richard J. Bogomolny Yuval Brisker Jeanette Grasselli Brown Helen Rankin Butler Irad Carmi Paul G. Clark Robert D. Conrad Matthew V. Crawford Alexander M. Cutler Hiroyuki Fujita Robert K. Gudbranson Iris Harvie Jeffrey A. Healy Stephen H. Hoffman David J. Hooker Michael J. Horvitz Marguerite B. Humphrey Betsy Juliano Jean C. Kalberer Nancy F. Keithley

Christopher M. Kelly Douglas A. Kern John D. Koch Dennis W. LaBarre Norma Lerner Virginia M. Lindseth Milton S. Maltz Nancy W. McCann Stephen McHale Thomas F. McKee Loretta J. Mester Beth E. Mooney John C. Morley Meg Fulton Mueller Katherine T. O’Neill Rich Paul Larry Pollock Alfred M. Rankin, Jr. Clara T. Rankin Audrey Gilbert Ratner

Charles A. Ratner Zoya Reyzis Barbara S. Robinson Steven M. Ross Luci Schey Spring Hewitt B. Shaw Richard K. Smucker James C. Spira R. Thomas Stanton Russell Trusso Daniel P. Walsh Thomas A. Waltermire Geraldine B. Warner Jeffery J. Weaver Meredith Smith Weil Jeffrey M. Weiss Norman E. Wells Paul E. Westlake Jr. David A. Wolfort

N O N- R ES I D ENT TRUS T EE S Virginia Nord Barbato (New York) Wolfgang C. Berndt (Austria)

Laurel Blossom (California) Richard C. Gridley (South Carolina)

T R U S TEES EX- O F F IC IO Faye A. Heston, President, Volunteer Council of The Cleveland Orchestra Patricia Sommer, President, Friends of The Cleveland Orchestra Elizabeth McCormick, President, Blossom Friends of The Cleveland Orchestra T R U S TEES EM E R I TI George N. Aronoff Dr. Ronald H. Bell David P. Hunt S. Lee Kohrman Charlotte R. Kramer Donald W. Morrison Gary A. Oatey Raymond T. Sawyer PA S T PR ES I D ENT S D. Z. Norton 1915-21 John L. Severance 1921-36 Dudley S. Blossom 1936-38 Thomas L. Sidlo 1939-53

Herbert Kloiber (Germany) Paul Rose (Mexico)

Carolyn Dessin, Chair, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus Operating Committee Beverly J. Warren, President, Kent State University Barbara R. Snyder, President, Case Western Reserve University

H O N O RARY T RUS T EES FOR LIFE Robert P. Madison Gay Cull Addicott The Honorable John D. Ong Charles P. Bolton James S. Reid, Jr. Allen H. Ford Robert W. Gillespie * deceased Alex Machaskee

Percy W. Brown 1953-55 Frank E. Taplin, Jr. 1955-57 Frank E. Joseph 1957-68 Alfred M. Rankin 1968-83

Ward Smith 1983-95 Richard J. Bogomolny 1995-2002, 2008-09 James D. Ireland III 2002-08 Dennis W. LaBarre 2009-17

THE CLEVEL AND ORCHESTR A Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director

André Gremillet, Executive Director

Board of Trustees

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1938-39, Severance Hall

1966-67, Severance Hall

1 9 18 -2 O1 8

Y E A R S

1946-47, Severance Hall

From the Start

THE

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA

December 1919, Grays Armory

by E R I C S E L L E N

A

cclaimed for decades among the world’s top symphonic ensembles, The Cleveland Orchestra celebrates its 1OOth year during the 2017-18 season and 1OOth birthday in 2018.

Such fame and acclaim did not come without a plan. From the very beginning, the private citizens who created this public institution fully intended to foster a great musical ensemble that would carry the exceptional can-do spirit of the city of Cleveland far and wide. Generations have carried through on the hard work required to forge and sustain the Orchestra’s mission to share extraordinary musical experiences, to foster a love of music in students of all ages, and to proudly carry the name of the city it represents.

The Early Decades: Creation, Growth, and the Construction of Severance Hall

At the time the ensemble was created, in 1918, Cleveland was a rising industrial metropolis heavily involved in the steel industry and rivalling Detroit in car manufacturing. Rich magnates put the money together for the Orchestra’s early seasons, including John L. Severance, an acquaintance of John D. Rocke­feller.

Unusually for the era, a woman, Adella Prentiss Hughes, was the About the Orchestra

25

guiding light behind the efforts to create a hometown band — and she worked tirelessly and with great political finesse to launch it on a trajectory toward being “as good as any orchestra in America.”

Nikolai Sokoloff, the Orchestra’s first music director (1918-33), is often overlooked in light of his better-known suc-

26

cessors. He was, however, certainly good enough to pull the group together and guide them forward for more than a decade. Those years saw the start of many education programs that continue today — the Orchestra has introduced more than 4 million young people to classical music across its first century — as well as extensive touring across the United States and to Cuba, and its first concerts at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall.

Perhaps the biggest push in the early years came from John L. Severance when he donated money toward the ensemble’s permanent home concert hall, named to honor both Severance and his wife when it opened in 1931. Severance Hall was among the very first such buildings designed with radio broadcasting capability in its original schematics and quickly gave the musical ensemble a new sense of permanence, style, and purpose.

Artur Rodzinski came next as music director (1933-43), injecting a new level of energy into the Orchestra’s music making.

A gifted if mercurial leader, who may (or may not) have had a pistol strapped to him onstage when he conducted, Rodzinski had big ambitions and started out strong. For four seasons in the mid-1930s, the Orchestra’s season featured fully-staged opera productions at Severance Hall, with some of the day’s most-renowned stars, including Lotte Lehmann and Friedrich Schorr.

However, the cost of presenting four or five operas each year, in the midst of the Depression, eventually forced their discontinuation. Rodzinski moved forward nevertheless, with recordings alongside new and rediscovered works. Finally, he left Cleve-

land to pursue his own career in the bigger cities of New York and, later, Chicago.

For Erich Leinsdorf, the next music director (1943-46), timing was everything — and World War II largely precluded him from making much impact in Cleveland.

Many of the ensemble’s musicians were on leave for military duty, and Leinsdorf himself was away part of the time for military service. Evenso, he made some solid recordings, led a variety of radio broadcasts, and re-affirmed his own bona fides for the high-powered international career he enjoyed in the ensuing decades.

The Szell Era: Rise to International Fame

George Szell, music director from 1946 until his death in 1970, took a credibly good orchestra and made it great. It’s not that he put The Cleveland Orchestra on the map, for it had been touring around the U.S. for years. It was more that he took the stage and insisted that Cleveland could be — in real fact, would become — as good

as any orchestra anywhere. His legendary standards focused 100 musicians toward a kind of peerless perfection that dazzled many ears. Just as a great restaurant grows its reputation through delivering consistent excellence, Szell was concerned with repeatability. Day in and day out, critics and audiences around the world could more and more count on The Cleveland Orchestra to deliver a great performance, everytime, anywhere. That predictability, coupled with the rise of audiophile home listening equipment (and stereo sound) turned Cleveland into a powerhouse in the recording studio, creating an outstanding catalog across the standard repertoire, many selections from which still hold their own as much as half a century later.

The Orchestra’s ambitions also grew along with Szell’s tenure, touring internationally to amaze Europeans unaccustomed to such constant perfection in live performance. A ten-week tour in 1965 included a month in the Soviet Union, which became legendary among Cleveland’s musicians,

Education has long been a fundamen­ tal part of The Cleveland Orch­ estra’s programs each year, includ­ ing teaching and coaching future musicians — such as these young stu­ dents in 1929.

About the Orchestra

27

1918

Seven music directors have led the Orchestra, including George Szell, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst.

16 17th

1l1l 11l1 l1l1 1 1

The The2017-18 2018-19season seasonwill marks mark Franz Welser-Möst’s 16th 17th year as music director.

SEVERANCE HALL, “America’s most beautiful concert hall,” opened in 1931 as the Orchestra’s permanent home.

40,000

each year

Over 40,000 young people attend Cleveland Orch­estra concerts each year via programs funded by the Center for Future Audiences, through student programs and Under 18s Free ticketing — making up 20% of audiences.

52 53%

Over half of The Cleveland Orchestra’s funding each year comes from thousands of generous donors and sponsors, who together make possible our concert presentations, community programs, and education initiatives.

4million

Follows Followers onon Facebook social media (as of (July June2018) 2016)

The Cleveland Orchestra has introduced over 4.1 million children in Northeast Ohio to symphonic music through concerts for children since 1918.

129,452 200,000

1931

150

concerts each each year. year. concerts

The Orchestra was founded in 1918 and performed its first concert on December 11.

The Cleveland Orchestra performs over

THE CLEVEL AND ORCHESTRA

BY THE NUMBERS

G’

staff, and board members for the Orchestra’s unflagging ability to put on a great performance for wildly enthusiastic audiences — even with circumstances of lessthan-optimal hotels, transportation, and backstage facilities.

Despite his reputation, the steel-eyed taskmaster Szell was not entirely without emotion and understanding of those around him or of humanity as a collective society. Stories abound of small gestures of sympathy and understanding at fateful moments in the lives of longtime Orchestra musicians. And, having escaped in the 1930s from a Europe-turned-afoul, he was well-tuned to world politics and changing times — and to the need for public statements in times of crisis. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, he led the Orchestra in a moving performance of the Funeral March from Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony, making a statement of solidarity and caring with the ongoing struggle for human justice.

Planning and foresight by the Orchestra’s leadership also brought about increased performance opportunities. In 1968, the opening of the Orchestra’s parklike countryside summer home, Blossom Music Center, ensured the musicians of a year-round employment contract, further bonding them with their hometown audiences (who also lined up by the thousands at Blossom for rock-n-roll concerts by the era’s other big-name musical legends).

Forging Ahead: Boulez and Maazel

Upon Szell’s death, Pierre Boulez was appointed to an interim position as musical advisor for two seasons (1970-72). Boulez

made his professional American debut with the Cleveland ensemble in 1965. His relationship as a friend and influence on the podium in Cleveland eventually extended to nearly half a century. He brought daring programming of new music along with new ideas to clear the accumulated earwax from old ways of listening to classics. His astute musical judgement and his extraordinary laser-like precision on the podium eventually won Cleveland five Grammy Awards. By example and with keen intellect and approach, he effortlessly encouraged the musicians across a widening spectrum of the repertoire.

Lorin Maazel, the next music director (1972-82), stirred things up a bit for The Cleveland Orchestra. His high-energy leadership and fascinating programming, along with a compelling (if at times headstrong)

About the Orchestra

29

conducting style also dared the musicians to make music in new ways. International touring continued, including the Cleveland’s first trips to South America and to Australia and New Zealand — with the Orch­estra’s global reach becoming a true reality beyond its well-deserved reputation. The ensemble’s recordings also continued, with Maazel leading large swaths of the repertoire and helping the Orchestra pioneer digital recording.

A New Golden Era: Dohnányi and a Restored Severance Hall

Christoph von Dohnányi, the sixth music director (1982-2002), brought artistic leadership for a second “Golden Age,” as well as, finally, some critical distinction beyond being “the Orchestra that Szell built.” Dohnányi focused on both precision and warmth of sound, while presenting intriguing programming of standard works mixed together with lesser-known repertoire. Touring became an annual part of the Orchestra’s calendar, including regular residencies in Salzburg, performances throughout Europe, and first performances in China.

These years also coincided with the final era of growth in commercial recording. The Cleveland Orchestra laid claim to being the “most-recorded orchestra in America” for nearly a decade, turning out album after album annually to wide acclaim and sales. In addition, Dohnányi revived the Orchestra’s operatic traditions, though mostly with in-concert presentations, and devoted his work to further polish and amalgamate the musicians’ gifted artistry and ensemblework.

30

One of the greatest long-term achievements of Dohnányi’s tenure was the renovation and expansion of Severance Hall, which restored what many have called “America’s most beautiful concert hall” to visual interior splendor while simultaneously enhancing its famously clear and intimate acoustics.

The work also restored the hall’s original 6,025-pipe concert organ, making it once again usable (from a new location within the hall) for the first time in half a century.

Accelerando con moto: Welser-Möst and a New Century

Franz Welser-Möst became The Cleveland Orchestra’s seventh music director in the autumn of 2002. His charge has been to carry the ensemble forward — first into the new millennium and now into the Orchestra’s own Second Century.

His playbook has been to build on the best traditions of the past while steering clearly and with passionate directness to argue for music’s renewed relevance in a changing world.

He has expanded repertoire while further honing the Orchestra’s flexibility for modern (and older) music. The Orchestra’s long operatic tradition has been augmented with the return of fullystaged opera productions to Severance Hall, including cutting-edge presentations filled with 21st-century technological know-how and wonder — all in service to telling the plotlines of challenging works in compelling ways and with superb casts.

Welser-Möst has also led The Cleve-

About the Orchestra

PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

land Orchestra in a series of acclaimed video and other recordings, further enlarging the ensemble’s storied recorded legacy. He has advocated for a renewed and extended focus aimed at serving the people of Cleveland, through expanded education offerings and a new diversity of programming and concert formats. Special ticketing programs offer free tickets for families to bring children with them to concerts, with a notable increase of younger people attending performances — with 20% of audiences now aged 25 and younger.

In the past decade, the Orchestra has also extended its work as Cleveland’s ambassador to the world, regularly showcasing its extraordinary musicianship in music capitals and at festivals and in residencies across Europe and on tour in the United States.

With his contract extended to encompass a tenure of at least two decades, Welser-Möst continues to prepare The Cleveland Orchestra for its Second Century, serving the art of music and the people of its hometown earnestly and with the utmost dedication to harness the power of music to change lives and to inspire creativity and understanding.

Tellingly, throughout the Orchestra’s history, there has been a strong tradition of leadership continuity, not just artistically (with only seven Music Directors in 100 years), but also in Presidents of the governing non-profit Board of Trustees (just twelve), and staff Executive Directors (only nine), providing a steady but focused progression of guidance propelling the Orchestra forward. Contrasted with the shifting sands at some other well-known

ensembles, this unity of purpose and personnel has helped carry the Orchestra forward institutionally as a tireless agent for inspiring its hometown through great music.

For, in truth, the Orchestra’s greatest strength remains the citizens of its hometown and the region surrounding Cleveland, whose forebears imagined such a world-famous orchestra could exist and then set about to make it happen. Individuals and corporations financed the Orchestra’s growth while insisting on excellence as the goal, not just musically, but in programs for educating and inspiring the city’s youth.

That support continues today at uniquely high levels, boasting the greatest generosity of per capita donations for any major American orchestra.

Thus, the extraordinary dream continues — marching The Cleveland Orchestra into a Second Century of achievement and success, arm in arm with the community whose name it carries.

Eric Sellen has served for twenty-five seasons as program editor for The Cleveland Orchestra.

About the Orchestra

31

11001 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44106

P H OTO BY S T E V E H A L L © H E D R I C H B L E S S I N G

CLEVELANDORCHESTRA.COM

the world’s most beautiful concert halls, Severance Hall has been home to The Cleveland Orchestra since its opening on February 5, 1931. After that first concert, a Cleveland newspaper editorial stated: “We believe that Mr. Severance intended to build a temple to music, and not a temple to wealth; and we believe it is his intention that all music lovers should be welcome there.” John Long Severance (president of the Musical Arts Association, 1921-1936) and his wife, Elisabeth, donated most of the funds necessary to erect this magnificent building. Designed by Walker & Weeks, its elegant HAILED AS ONE OF

32

Georgian exterior was constructed to harmonize with the classical architecture of other prominent buildings in the University Circle area. The interior of the building reflects a combination of design styles, including Art Deco, Egyptian Revival, Classicism, and Modernism.

An extensive renovation, restoration, and expansion of the facility was completed in January 2000. In addition to serving as the home of The Cleveland Orchestra for concerts and rehearsals, the building is rented by a wide variety of local organizations and private citizens for performances, meetings, and special events each year.

Severance Hall

THE

CLEVELAND ORC HE STR A

The Cleveland Orchestra extends gratitude to the following commercial partners for helping to make this evening a great success: Executive Chef Douglas Katz Fire Food & Drink Aable Rents Brand Bake Shop Consolidated Solutions DC Rental Event Source HeatherLily L’Nique Marigold Catering Neo-Tessares Saxophone Quartet NOW Valet Oliver Printing Co. Reynard Pope Calligraphy Vincent Lighting Cleveland Orchestra and 100th Anniversary photography by Roger Mastroianni.

Tonight’s floral arrangements will be repurposed and delivered to the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital and local nursing homes, senior centers, and halfway houses through BigHearted Blooms, delivering joy through recycled flowers.

LATE SEATING As a courtesy to the audience members and musicians in the hall, late-arriving patrons are asked to wait quietly until the first convenient break in the program, when ushers will help you to your seats.

These seating breaks are at the discretion of the House Manager in consultation with the conductor and performing artists.

PHOTOGRAPHY AND RECORDING For the safety of and as a cour­tesy to guests and performers, photography and videography are strictly prohibited during concerts at Severance Hall.

CELLPHONES AND WATCH ALARMS As a courtesy to the performances and audience members, cellphones and watch alarms should be turned off before the start of the concert.

IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY Contact an usher or a member of house staff if you require medical assistance.

Emergency exits are clearly marked throughout the building. Ushers and house staff will provide instructions in the event of an emergency.

THE

CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA FRANZ WELSER-MÖST

Severance Hall 11001 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio clevelandorchestra.com

Special thanks for generous ongoing support from: