The Cleveland Orchestra January 11-13 Concerts

23

24

The Miraculous Mandarin JANUARY 11–13, 2024

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA’S DIGITAL STREAMING SERVICE & APP Experience The Cleveland Orchestra’s digital platform with new & improved features.

NEW Concert Experiences Experience on-demand concerts with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes features!

Now available: Completing the Picture featuring Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

NEW Educational Content Access videos and learning resources for children, students, and teachers.

Visit stream.adella.live/premium or scan the QR code to secure your subscription today!

NEW Livestreamed Concerts Enjoy six concerts broadcast live from Severance throughout the 2023–24 season.

COMING SOON Archival Audio Recordings By popular demand, stream exclusive recordings from The Cleveland Orchestra’s audio archives.

Questions? Email adellahelp@clevelandorchestra.com or call 216-231-7300

2023/2024 SEASON J A C K , J O S E P H A N D M O RTO N M A N D E L C O N C E RT H A L L AT S E V E R A N C E M U S I C C E N T E R

The Miraculous Mandarin Thursday, January 11, 2024, at 7:30 PM Friday, January 12, 2024, at 7:30 PM Saturday, January 13, 2024, at 8 PM

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Ernst Krenek (1900–1991)

Kleine Symphonie, Op. 58

15 minutes

I. Andante sostenuto; Allegro energico ma non troppo II. Andantino (poco lento) III. Allegretto, poco grave

Adagio from Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major

25 minutes

I N TERMIS SI ON

20 minutes

Béla Bartók (1881–1945)

String Quartet No. 3

20 minutes

Béla Bartók

Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)

arranged for double string orchestra

by Stanley Konopka 20 minutes

COVER: PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

Total approximate running time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Saturday’s concert will be livestreamed on adella.live and medici.tv.

clevelandorchestra.com

Thank you for silencing your electronic devices.

THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA

Music Champions:

This standing ovation is for YOU The ongoing generosity of our donor family brings magic to the stage. Thank you for making another year of orchestral music, education programs, and so many unforgettable memories possible.

You keep the music playing, and we are so grateful!

Learn about your impact: clevelandorchestra.com/impact

AN I N TRO DU C TION

by Franz Welser-Möst

IMAGE COURTESY OF THE TATE

THE YEARS OF THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC ,

from the end of World War I in 1918 to the rise of Hitler in 1933, were perhaps the wildest 15 years of artistic creation in European history. Up until that time, the evolution of art and culture had progressed somewhat gradually. Then came the First World War, a war that should never have been fought and yet caused cataclysmic destruction on a scale never-before seen. How could artists and musicians respond to such meaningless death and suffering?

We see their response in the sheer amount of experimentation and innovation produced during the Weimar Republic, when the order and logic of previous eras gave way to a flurry of different, inventive, and exciting new ideas.

This evening’s program refers to that period in history. It opens with two works connected to Ernst Krenek that exemplify the rupture from pre- to postWorld War I years. As a young composer, Krenek idolized Gustav Mahler, and in fact, Alma Mahler asked Krenek (then her son-in-law) to complete her husband’s unfinished Tenth Symphony.

We will perform its Adagio, the only movement from the symphony that Mahler composed and orchestrated.

After the lush, late romanticism of Mahler with its prolonged compositions requiring upwards of 100 musicians, we see figures such as Krenek turn in the opposite direction and begin reducing music to its essential elements. The Kleine Symphonie has neither violas, clevelandorchestra.com

In Carnival (1920) painter Max Beckmann depicts this festive season in Germany from the early years of the Weimar Republic. Beckmann’s work would later be labeled “degenerate” by the Nazis.

cellos, oboes, nor horns, but it takes an old form, inspired by the Baroque, and fills it with new, modern sounds.

The second half of the program pairs two of Béla Bartók’s most challenging and ingenious works, both written during this time. In the String Quartet No. 3, which we play in an arrangement for string orchestra, and The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Bartók creates a new musical path forward by masterly combining influences from folk tunes and elements of the avant-garde to create works of lasting power. | 3

TH E MUSI C

Kleine Symphonie, Op. 58

by Ernst Krenek BORN : August 23, 1900, in Vienna DIED: December 22, 1991, in Palm Springs, California

▶ COMPOSED: 1928 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: November 3, 1928, in Berlin with Otto Klemperer conducting ▶ This weekend’s concerts, conducted by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, mark the first performances of Ernst Krenek’s Kleine Symphonie by The Cleveland Orchestra. ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 2 flutes, 3 clarinets (1st doubling E-flat clarinet, 2nd doubling E-flat clarinet and bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (2nd doubling contrabassoon), 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, harp, 2 mandolins, guitar, 2 banjos, timpani, percussion (bass drum, snare drum, field drum, cymbals), violins, and basses ▶ DURATION: about 15 minutes

tions, ranging from operas and ballets to IT ’S FITTING THAT A COMPOSER of symphonies, string quartets, and solo classical music born at the dawn of the 20th century, in August 1900, would come piano music, one hears Krenek moving in lockstep with the musical evolution of each to embrace nearly all its major musical styles. Over Ernst Krenek’s astonishingly passing decade. Although he was never part of the avant-garde at any moment in prolific seven-decade career, the Austrian his career, he consistently adapted his composer produced a body of work style to align with the latest innovations. that emerged from the hyper-expressive But Krenek didn’t foresee becoming world of fin de siècle romanticism before exploring more radical paths of atonality, such a chameleonic composer at the beginning of his career. In his early 20s he serialism, electronic music, and the had one mission in mind: to write in the aleatoric style that fascinated artists style of the late Gustav Mahler, whose during the second half of the century. titanic, heaven-storming symphonies Unlike many contemporaries who composed with an eye toward posterity — proved a major milestone in the development of the Austro-German symphony.

Zukunftsmusik, or music of the future, “I put it down as a note in a diary,” Krenek as Richard Wagner coined it — Krenek recalled, “to become the successor of was consistently an artist of his time.

Mahler in the field of the symphony.”

From a survey of his 200-plus composi4 | 2023/2024 SEASON

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ERNST KRENEK INSTITUTE/WIEN MUSEUM

His quest to assume the mantle of Mahler began in a blaze of glory, with Krenek composing three large-scale symphonies before the age of 23. Encompassing more than two hours of dissonant, expressionistic music, these works fused the jarring parody and banality of Mahler’s symphonies with the kinetic rhythms and vivid orchestral colors of another composer Krenek revered, Béla Bartók. clevelandorchestra.com

After completing the Kleine Symphonie in 1928, Krenek, depicted in 1930, began experimenting with twelve-tone technique.

Performances of these early works positioned Krenek as the enfant terrible of contemporary music in Vienna, and he quickly became part of the city’s musical elite. He sparred with Arnold Schoenberg on the future of tonality in music.

He antagonized his teacher Franz | 5

THE MUS I C

Schreker by producing reams of scores the elder composer found too extreme.

He grew close to Alma Mahler, Gustav’s widow, and the couple’s youngest daughter Anna, whom Ernst wedded in early 1924 — a tumultuous marriage that ended before their first anniversary.

Just as quickly as Krenek’s marriage to Anna had dissolved, so too would his desire to uphold her father’s writing style. Emotionally distraught by his impending divorce and caught at a crossroads in his burgeoning career, Krenek embarked on a journey to Paris in the fall of 1924 that would transform his approach to composition.

During his trip, Krenek got to know Igor Stravinsky and was charmed by the members of Les Six, a Parisian composer collective championed by the cultural maven Jean Cocteau. Les Six merged the worlds of the concert hall and the dance hall, producing music that mixed elements of Baroque and Classical style with those of cabaret, vaudeville, and — most intriguing of all to Krenek — American jazz. Krenek’s immersion in this hothouse of artistic innovation prompted, in his words, “a complete about-face in my artistic outlook.”

“I was fascinated by what appeared to me the happy equilibrium, perfect poise, grace, elegance, and clarity I perceived in the French music of that period, as well as in the relations of French musicians with their public,” he later wrote.

“I decided that the tenets which I had followed so far in writing ‘modern’ music were totally wrong. Music, according 6 | 2023/2024 SEASON

to my new philosophy, had to fit the well-defined demands of the community for which it was written. It had to be useful, entertaining, practical.”

Krenek’s epiphany mirrored that of many European artists during the 1920s.

From the smoldering ashes of World War I emerged a new wave of musical thought, neoclassicism, which traded in romanticism’s excessive emotionality and highbrow complexity for a style that prized objectivity, accessible musical language, and a cool, even whimsical sensibility. Neoclassicism became Krenek’s musical focus for the next five

I decided that the tenets which I had followed so far in writing ‘modern’ music were totally wrong. ...

[Music] had to be useful, entertaining, practical. years, culminating in his raucous, jazzy Kleine Symphonie (Little symphony).

Completed in 1928, Kleine Symphonie marks the last of Krenek’s neoclassical works and stands in stark contrast to the primal screams woven throughout his early symphonies. As opposed to the large orchestras required of those works, here Krenek guts the orchestra considerably, removing the oboes, horns, violas, and cellos. The entire string body is

composed of just violins, basses, harp, and — in a nod to the instruments so beloved by Cocteau and the Parisian bohemians — a group of mandolins, banjos, and guitar.

But rather than eschew every element of the symphonic tradition he was distancing himself from, Krenek attempts to reconcile past and present.

Kleine Symphonie follows the threemovement structure of the 18th-century symphony, but Krenek turns this traditional form on its head by introducing hallmarks of 1920s music: a saucier approach to harmonic dissonance, the spiky rhythmic distortions he admired in Stravinsky and Bartók’s music, and iridescent rainbows of instrumental color that speak to European culture’s feverish obsession with le Jazz Hot. Krenek’s playful mixing of old and new begins in the first bars of the introduction, where he introduces three elements that will drive the first movement’s action: a series of Mozartean fanfares; a jagged melody that emerges from the gravelly contrabassoon; and jaunty dance rhythms that quickly accelerate, plunging us into the main body of the movement. Melodic fragments fly across every corner of the orchestra, where dizzying changes in character abound — from jazzy woodwind syncopations to sinister martial figures in the trumpets and drums, and the quivering hum of mandolin and banjo. Oom-pah figures in the low brass and percussion evoke the raucous music of the dance hall, rushing the music clevelandorchestra.com

along as Krenek’s harmonic tricks tickle the ear. Rather than give listeners the ecstasy of a bright, brassy finish, the music quietly disappears like the final plume of smoke from a cigarillo.

The central movement is built around an obsessive ostinato in the guitar and harp, written in a set of changing asymmetrical meters that prevent the music from ever finding a stable groove.

Over this foundation a series of instruments take turns singing a minor-key aria teeming with bluesy arabesques — first in the clarinet, followed by trumpet, bassoon, and finally, the captivating combination of flute and trombone.

For the finale, Krenek delivers a deliriously spirited rondo, in which the primary melody — first introduced in the bassoons — is repeated throughout, always giving the ear clear anchor points as the rowdy music traverses new territories of harmony and rhythm. Dominated throughout by the repetition of hammerlike chords that call to mind the fierce dissonance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, the music builds to a fury of sound.

Strings and percussion persist with their ferocious ostinato, flutes and clarinets spit out rapid-fire scales that act like galeforce winds swirling around the orchestra, as this little symphony marches headfirst into its cheeky, high-octane conclusion.

— Michael Cirigliano II Michael Cirigliano II is a freelance writer who has worked with The Cleveland Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His newsletter, Shades of Blue, explores the human stories behind classical music’s most melancholy moments as a means to cultivate calm, connection, and healing.

| 7

THE MUS I C

Adagio from Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major

by Gustav Mahler BORN : July 7, 1860, in Kalischt, Bohemia (now Kalištì in the Czech Republic) DIED: May 18, 1911, in Vienna

▶ COMPOSED: 1910 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: On October 12, 1924, Franz Schalk led a performance of the Adagio and Purgatorio movements of Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, arranged by Schalk and Ernst Krenek. ▶ CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE: George Szell led The Cleveland Orchestra in Mahler’s Symphony No. 10, (the Ernst Krenek edition, published in 1951) on October 30, 1958. Pierre Boulez was the first to lead the Orchestra in just the Adagio, on April 6, 1972. ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, harp, and strings ▶ DURATION: about 25 minutes

IN THE DECADE FOLLOWING Gustav Mahler’s death in 1911, many considered the hushed, ethereal beauty that closes his Ninth Symphony to be the composer’s farewell to the world. Aspiring to “embrace everything” in his symphonies, Mahler had spent three decades penning riveting poetic journeys from heaven to hell and back that mirrored his own turbulent voyage through life. And in the Ninth, infused with many elements of that personal history — from the pastoral folk dances he loved as a child to his all-consuming anxiety following the diagnosis of his fatal heart disease in 1907 — Mahler appeared to confess to each listener: Here are the experiences I’ve lived, the joys and sorrows, the love and loss I’ve carried with me for 50 years. When called upon, I am prepared to go gently into that good night.

8 | 2023/2024 SEASON

But despite having come to terms with his mortality, Mahler’s life carried on. In the summer of 1910 — a year after completing the Ninth — in between having finished his first grueling season as music director of the New York Philharmonic and preparing to conduct the September premiere of his Eighth Symphony, he was back in Europe for a few months. Relieved of the superstitious fear that he would die before completing his Ninth Symphony, Mahler traveled in June to his summer home at Toblach in the Austrian countryside, ready to begin constructing the universe of his next symphony.

But by late July, fate brought a new crisis to his front door.

Gustav Mahler photographed at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw in 1909, the year he finished his Ninth Symphony.

PHOTO BY W. A . VAN LEER FOR WEEKBLAD VOOR MUZIEK

clevelandorchestra.com

| 9

THE MUS I C

Mahler learned that his wife of eight years, Alma, was having an affair with the German architect Walter Gropius.

The composer had received a piece of mail addressed to Herr Direktor Mahler — inside was a statement of love from Gropius to Alma, imploring her to leave her husband and start life anew with him. Overcome with grief, Mahler demanded his wife decide between the two men. Alma confirmed she would stay married to Mahler (though in secret, she continued her affair with Gropius).

Despite the paralyzing shock Alma’s infidelity had on Mahler, the writing had been on the wall for some time. The Mahlers’ marriage wasn’t a fulfilling one for Alma. She had been forced to set aside her own work as a composer and was constantly sidelined by her husband’s taxing schedule. The couple was still grieving the 1907 death of their youngest daughter, Maria Anna, and the move to New York only exacerbated Alma’s feelings of grief and isolation.

Caught in a tailspin of guilt, Mahler genuinely acknowledged his wife’s sufferings for the first time. Through streams of tears, he resolved to rededicate himself to their marriage and penned love poems to Alma throughout the summer — one of which foretold the mission of his new symphony: Let me condense the tremors of my yearning The eternity of bliss divine in your embrace Into one great song.

Mahler kept his promise. Having navigated the summer’s emotional storms, 10 | 2023/2024 SEASON

he left Toblach in September with his Tenth Symphony fully sketched — a manuscript he never touched again before his death the following May. Rumors regarding the condition of his final symphonic score began to swirl immediately after his death. Some friends claimed Mahler had requested the manuscript be burned, while others assumed any existing drafts were likely the delirious scribblings of a tortured soul.

After keeping the Tenth’s manuscript under lock and key for 13 years, Alma decided in 1924 to release it into the world through two actions. First, she authorized a Viennese publisher to release a facsimile edition of Mahler’s manuscript. And second, she requested that her son-in-law, the composer Ernst Krenek, complete the work ahead of a performance in Vienna later that year.

The facsimile pages of Mahler’s manuscript confirmed that he had indeed laid the foundation for the Tenth, a five-movement work similar in form to his Fifth and Seventh symphonies.

He had even completed the full orchestral score of the vast opening Adagio.

But the newly published score also showed the world the emotional crisis Mahler endured as he worked on the symphony. Throughout, he had etched phrases that spoke to the searing pain and suffering he experienced in his final summer, including: O Lord, why hast thou forsaken me? ...

Madness, take hold of me, the accursed one ...

To live for you! To die for you! Almschi!

In many ways, Krenek was an ideal choice to complete the Tenth’s score.

Aside from being married to Mahler’s younger daughter, Krenek had expressed a desire “to become the successor of Mahler in the field of the symphony.”

His first three symphonies, composed in 1921 and 1922, were steeped in the musical and psychological languages of Mahler’s work.

But when called upon to complete the final symphony of a composer he revered, Krenek ultimately declined. He deemed only the opening Adagio and the central movement, titled Purgatorio, ready for performance, as both movements would require only light edits and a bit of fleshing out of the orchestration using passages Mahler had already completed as an example. Realizing the sketches for the two scherzos and finale would involve, in Krenek’s words, “guesswork pure and simple ... paraphrasing upon the ideas of a departed master.”

Incomplete movements aside, the opening Adagio offers a roadmap for the new avenues Mahler was forging in his symphony. As the sentimental style of late romanticism bled into the steely sounds of 20th-century modernism, Mahler looked to follow that drumbeat of change. The Tenth anticipates the complex rhythms and annihilation of tonality a new generation of composers would begin to employ as they navigated tectonic cultural shifts throughout the 1910s and ’20s.

Returning to the shadowy world with which he ended the Ninth Symphony — clevelandorchestra.com

that liminal space between life and death — Mahler frames his Adagio around three alternating ideas: a searching, otherworldly melody whispered by unaccompanied violas; a song of radiant intensity dominated by the burnished tones of violins and horns; and a sly, sardonic dance tune that scurries about the orchestra as woodwinds cast spells with fluttered tongues and trembling trills.

After Mahler has captured our attention with the nostalgic sweep and sway of this familiarly romantic material, he plunges us into uncharted territory.

A terrifying maelstrom erupts from the full orchestra: broken chords swirl about in the strings and harp as winds and brass intone a mournful chorale.

The dance tune tries to re-emerge, only to be cast aside by grisly shrieks from the violins and trumpet and a layering of ear-shattering dissonances — the ninetone wall of sound often referred to as the symphony’s “chord of catastrophe.”

Having come so close to the existential abyss, the music quickly takes a step back and attempts to regain its original strength. The violin’s opening melody returns in fragmented form, but the warmth and vitality heard at the beginning of the movement have been replaced by a sense of wary, breathless relief. As the gentle, major-key chord that closes the movement evaporates in the ether, Mahler shows us that life must go on.

Crisis has been averted — for now.

— Michael Cirigliano II

| 11

THE MUS I C

String Quartet No. 3, arranged for double string orchestra

by Béla Bartók BORN : March 25, 1881, in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Sânnicolau Mare, Romania) DIED: September 26, 1945, in New York

▶ WORLD PREMIERE: December 30, 1928, in Philadelphia with violinists Mischa Mischakoff and David Dubinsky, violist Samuel Lifschey, and cellist William Van der Berg ▶ This weekend’s concerts mark the first performances of an arrangement for string orchestra of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 3 by The Cleveland Orchestra ▶ ORCHESTRATION: double string orchestra ▶ DURATION: about 20 minutes

Arranger’s Note DURING THE SUMMER before I entered seventh grade, I would often stay up until three or four in the morning listening to WFMT, the classical music station in Chicago, where I grew up.

With my tape deck and a stack of blank cassettes at the ready, I would record works off the broadcast. Later, I would find the scores to the music so I could study the inner workings of these pieces — so I too could become a composer one day.

One night I heard something unlike anything I had ever heard before: the pizzicato movement of Béla Bartók’s Fourth String Quartet. The harmonic language was like nothing I’d ever encountered, the interaction of the lines was so interesting and complex,

12 | 2023/2024 SEASON

and the fourth movement was as wild as any of the heavy metal my friends were listening to at that time.

The next morning, I ran straight to our local library — I arrived before the doors were unlocked — I had to verify that music like this really existed. I found the 1940 Juilliard String Quartet mono recording of Bartok’s Third and Fourth string quartets and quickly began to wear out the vinyl. It was like an alien language, but somehow, I intuitively knew what everything meant in detail.

While my middle-school peers listened to Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, Bartók was my Metallica.

One of the reasons that it resonated with me profoundly was that these discordant and often brutal sounding works accurately reflected what I was witnessing in my life. My parents were

1064631_Cleveland Orchestra_Week 9_sw

▶ COMPOSED: 1927, arranged for double string orchestra by Stanley Konopka, 2023

going goingthrough throughmarital maritalconflicts, conflicts,and andthis this Hungarian Hungarianfolk folkmusic musicsources sourcesrecently, recently, aggressive aggressiveand andhostile hostilemusic musicrepresented represented IIdiscovered discoveredthat thatPeter PeterBartók Bartókhad had very verypowerfully powerfullythe thediscordance discordanceIIfelt feltat at passed passedaway awayin inlate late2020.

2020.IIimmediately immediately home. home.Bartók Bartókwasn’t wasn’tdepicting depictingan anideal ideal contacted contactedFranz, Franz,and andwe wedecided decidedto togive give or orthe theway waythings thingsshould shouldbe, be,he hewas was the thearrangement arrangementidea ideaanother anothergo. go. depicting depictingthe theway waythings thingsoften oftenare. are.

From Fromthe thebeginning beginningof ofthe theThird Third The Theidea ideaof ofarranging arrangingBartók’s Bartók’sstring string String StringQuartet, Quartet,you youperceive perceivethese these quartets quartetsfor fororchestra orchestracame cameto tome memuch much blatant, blatant,definitive definitiveinterruptions. interruptions.An Anidea idea later, later,around around2000.

2000.At Atthe thetime timeThe The will willbe beproposed, proposed,and andthen thenititwill willbe be Cleveland ClevelandOrchestra Orchestrawas wastouring touringwith withaa countered. countered.IIoriginally originallythought thoughtthat thatthis this string stringorchestra orchestraarrangement arrangementof ofBeethoBeetho- back-and-forth back-and-forthdepicted depictedthe theinternal internal ven’s ven’sGrosse GrosseFuge, Fuge,which whichwas wasoriginally originally dialogue dialogueof ofaasingle singleperson personwith withmultiple multiple written writtenfor forstring stringquartet. quartet.ItItoccurred occurredto to different differentpersonalities. personalities.And Andmy myfirst first me methat thatsome somepieces piecesof ofmusic, music,like likethe the attempt attemptatan atanarrangement arrangementreflected reflectedthis this Grosse GrosseFuge, Fuge,are arebigger biggerthan thantheir theiroriginal original impression. impression.However, However,the themore moreIIstudied studied orchestration; orchestration;they theycan canbe beexpanded expanded the thepiece, piece,the themore moreIIrealized realizedthat thatthere there tenfold tenfoldand andstill stillsound soundlike likethemselves. themselves. were weretwo twoconsistent consistentand anddistinct distinctvoices voices IIimmediately immediatelystarted startedthinking thinkingabout aboutwhat what that thatemerged: emerged:one oneisisoften oftencalmer calmerand and other otherquartets quartetswould wouldbenefit benefitfrom fromthis this more morelevelheaded; levelheaded;the theother otherisismuch much treatment. treatment.Bartók’s Bartók’squartets quartetsimmediately immediately more morereactionary reactionaryand andhostile; hostile;and and came cameto tomind, mind,but butthey theyare areso sodifficult difficult together togetherthey theymake makeup uptwo twopassionate passionate to toplay playthat thatthe theidea ideainitially initiallyseemed seemed and andcomplex complexcharacters. characters. impractical. impractical.However, However,the theorchestral orchestral With Withthis thisrealization, realization,IIturned turnedto to writing writingstyle stylein inthe theThird ThirdString StringQuartet, Quartet, Bartók’s Bartók’sMusic Musicfor forStrings, Strings,Percussion, Percussion, as aswell wellas asits itsstructure structureas asone onecontinuous continuous and andCelesta Celestafor forinspiration. inspiration.In Inthis thispiece, piece, 17-minute 17-minutepiece piecein infour fourseamless seamless Bartók Bartókdivides dividesthe thestring stringsection sectionin intwo two movements, movements,made madethat thatwork workthe thebest best and andplaces placesthem themantiphonally antiphonallyon onstage. stage. candidate candidatefor forsuch suchan anarrangement. arrangement.

IImade madeaabold boldchoice choiceto tofollow followthis this IIproposed proposedthe theidea ideato toFranz FranzWelserWelser- model modelas asaameans meansof ofcapturing capturingthese these Möst Möst— —he hehad hadbeen beenmusic musicdirector director two twocharacters. characters.At Atthe thesame sametime, time,IItried tried for foraafew fewseasons seasonsat atthat thatpoint point— —and andhe he to tobe beas asfaithful faithfulto tothe theoriginal originalscore score was wasinterested interestedin inthe theidea. idea.After Aftergoing going as asIIcould. could.Compositionally, Compositionally,ititshowcases showcases through throughthe theproper properchannels channelsto tocomplete complete Bartók’s Bartók’sgenius geniusand andhis hisability abilityto totake take such suchaaproject, project,we weencountered encounteredaasudden sudden aatiny, tiny,little littlemusical musicalidea ideaand andrun runitit disappointment: disappointment:Peter PeterBartók, Bartók,the the through throughevery everypermutation: permutation:forwards, forwards, composer’s composer’sson, son,had hadheard heardabout aboutour our backwards, backwards,inverted, inverted,and andrecapitulated. recapitulated. undertaking, undertaking,and andhe hewould wouldhave havenone none — —Stanley StanleyKonopka Konopka of ofit! it!We Wesuspended suspendedour ourefforts. efforts.

Stanley StanleyKonopka Konopkaisisthe theassistant assistantprincipal principalviola viola While Whileresearching researchingBartók’s Bartók’soriginal original at atThe TheCleveland ClevelandOrchestra.

Orchestra. clevelandorchestra.com clevelandorchestra.com

| | 13 13

THE MUS I C

Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

by Béla Bartók

▶ COMPOSED: 1918–24, suite 1927 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: The ballet premiered in Cologne on November 27, 1926.

The suite was first performed by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra on October 15, 1928, led by Ernő Dohnányi. ▶ CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE: March 31, 1966, under the direction of Louis Lane ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 3 flutes (2nd and 3rd doubling piccolo), 3 oboes (3rd doubling English horn), 3 clarinets (2nd doubling E-flat clarinet, 3rd doubling bass clarinet), 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, tenor drum, triangle, tam-tam, xylophone), harp, celesta, piano, organ, and strings ▶ DURATION: about 20 minutes

THE ONE-ACT PLAY The Miraculous Mandarin by Menyhért (Melchior) Lengyel struck a deep nerve in Béla Bartók, who decided to set it to music as soon as he had read it in the literary magazine Nyugat (The Occident). Lengyel was a successful Hungarian playwright who later worked in Hollywood (writing screenplays for Greta Garbo, among others). The Miraculous Mandarin abounded in gruesome details that instigated adverse consequences for the performance history of Bartók’s pantomime ballet. Its premiere in the predominantly Catholic city of Cologne sparked a major scandal, leading the city’s mayor to ban the work. However, this should not prevent us from recognizing the intense drama that arises from the fatal conflict between trivial everyday experience and something that transcends it.

14 | 2023/2024 SEASON

The action of the pantomime is summarized in the score as follows: In a shabby room in the slums, three tramps, bent on robbery, force a girl to lure prospective victims from the street.

A down-at-heel cavalier and a timid youth, who succumb to her attractions, are found to have thin wallets and are thrown out. The third “guest” is the eerie Mandarin. His impassivity frightens the girl, who tries to thaw him by dancing — but when he feverishly embraces her, she runs from him in terror. After a wild chase he catches her, at which point the three tramps leap from their hiding place, rob him of everything he has, and try to smother him under a pile of cushions. But he gets to his feet, his Béla Bartók, here in 1922, composed The Miraculous Mandarin in 1919 but had to wait seven years before its premiere was mounted in Cologne, Germany.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

clevelandorchestra.com

| 15

THE MUS I C

eyes fixed passionately on the girl. They run him through with a sword; he is shaken, but his desire is stronger than his wounds, and he hurls himself on her.

They hang him up, but it is impossible for him to die. Only when they cut him down, and the girl takes him into her arms, do his wounds begin to bleed and he dies.

The scenario is intentionally unappealing, typical of the expressionist dramas created during the Weimar era, a wild interwar period of artistic experimentation. In his harmonies, in his treatment of rhythm and orchestration, Bartók was at his most experimental here, coming closer than ever, as László Somfai states in The New Grove Dictionary, “to the aspirations of the Second Viennese School,” whose intentions were to create a new kind of music vocabulary.

Bartók’s music depicts the successive stages of the action with great vividness.

After a frenetic introduction, which portrays the hustle and bustle of a large city, the curtain rises. The three tramps appear, and order the girl to stand by the window and lure men from the street.

The girl will play her “decoy game” three times, with her seductive motions rendered by a clarinet solo in rubato (free) rhythm. Each time, the clarinet solo gets more involved and more agitated.

The first visitor, an old cavalier, enters.

His awkward gestures are expressed in humorous trombone glissandos. He tries to woo the girl (mock-romantic English horn and cello solos) but the tramps

16 | 2023/2024 SEASON

seize the old man and throw him out, in a short Vivace section dominated by the repeated-note figures of the trumpets.

The second “decoy game” lures a shy young man to the door. He is represented by a dreamy oboe solo; the dance begins with the entrance of the harp, with a theme played by bassoon and violin.

Does the girl forget her role for a minute and become attracted to the youth? At any rate, the tramps set her straight and throw out the young man as before.

The third “decoy game” leads to the appearance of the Mandarin in a menacing theme for trombones and tuba, set against woodwind tremolos and glissandos for violins and piano. The music hesitates before the girl begins her dance.

Out of short melodic fragments played by solo woodwinds, a waltz theme gradually emerges. As the Mandarin begins his frenzied chase after the girl, a wild fugato starts in the orchestra, to the thudding accompaniment of the low winds and percussion. At the climactic point of the chase, the Mandarin catches the girl.

The suite version, prepared by Bartók in 1927, ends at this point. The suite is in fact nothing but the first two-thirds of the original score, with a few concluding measures added for concert use. The rest of the action, including the threefold murder and final catharsis, was cut off to provide a rousing concert ending.

— Peter Laki Peter Laki is a musicologist and frequent lecturer on classical music. He is a visiting associate professor of music at Bard College.

NOW OPEN IN SHAKER HEIGHTS

SHAKER HEIGHTS | (216) 677-4038

TH E CO N DU C TOR

Franz Welser-Möst Music Director KELVIN SMITH FAMILY CHAIR

PHOTO BY JULIA WESELY

FRANZ WELSER-MÖST is among today’s

most distinguished conductors. The 2023–24 season marks his 22nd year as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra. With the future of their acclaimed partnership extended to 2027, he will be the longest-serving musical leader in the ensemble’s history. The New York Times has declared Cleveland under WelserMöst’s direction to be “America’s most brilliant orchestra,” praising its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.

With Welser-Möst, The Cleveland Orchestra has been praised for its inventive programming, ongoing support of new music, and innovative work in presenting operas. To date, the Orchestra and Welser-Möst have been showcased around the world in 20 international tours together.

In the 2023–24 season, Welser-Möst is a featured Perspectives Artist at Carnegie Hall, where he leads The Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic as part of the series, “Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice.”

In addition to his commitment to Cleveland, Welser-Möst enjoys a particularly close and productive relationship with the Vienna Philharmonic as a guest conductor. He has conducted its celebrated New Year’s Concert three times, and regularly leads the orchestra clevelandorchestra.com

at home in Vienna, as well as on tours.

Welser-Möst is also a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival where he has led a series of acclaimed opera productions, including Rusalka, Der Rosenkavalier, Fidelio, Die Liebe der Danae, Aribert Reimann’s opera Lear, and Richard Strauss’s Salome. In 2020, he conducted Strauss’s Elektra on the 100th anniversary of its premiere. He has since returned to Salzburg to conduct additional performances of Elektra in 2021 and Giacomo Puccini’s Il trittico in 2022.

In 2019, Welser-Möst was awarded the Gold Medal in the Arts by the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts. Other honors include The Cleveland Orchestra’s Distinguished Service Award, two Cleveland Arts Prize citations, the Vienna Philharmonic’s “Ring of Honor,” 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, and the Kilenyi Medal from the Bruckner Society of America. | 19

fourth generation in the industry

LJI builds confidence in every customer and ensures quality repairs and superior customer service. Our commitment is to achieve and retain customer loyalty for life!

Customer Confidence – Priority One™

Lauren Angie TWO LOCATIONS

27100 Chagrin Blvd. at I-271 Orange Village

(216) 364-7100

Customer Confidence

NOW TWO LOCATIONS

1640 Lee Rd. at Mayfield LJI builds confidence in every Cleveland Hts.quality repairs customer and ensures

(216) 932-7100 and superior customer service.

Our commitment is to achieve and – Priority One™ retain customer loyalty for life!

Jill Strauss ljicollisioncenter.com

27100 Chagrin Blvd. at I-271 Orange Village

1640 Lee Rd. at Mayfield Cleveland Hts.

Need a More Comfortable Seat?

Experience the largest collection of upholstered, leather and motion furniture in Northeast Ohio.

Complimentary Delivery and Set-Up Within 60 Miles.

CELEBRATING

34300 Solon Road | Solon, OH | 440-248-2424 | 800-260-2949 One block south of Rt. 422 & SOM Center Road 10-8 M/Th | 10-5:30 Tu/W/F/Sa | www.sedlakinteriors.com

JOIN NOW

THE PLACE FOR FANS OF THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA EARN POINTS • Attend concerts • Watch videos • Answer quizzes • Give feedback

Log in to your account at my.clevelandorchestra.com and click “Rewards”

GET REWARDS • Seat upgrades & exclusive content • FREE season of Adella with 3000 Rewards points • VIP experiences & more

CLEVELANDORCHESTR A .COM/REWARDS | 216-231-1111

THE BALDWIN WALLACE 23/24 BACH FESTIVAL

presents the Festival in three parts, or Inventions, with events in October, January and April.

INVENTION NO. II Lecture: Troubling Voices in Bach’s Sublime St. John Passion Thur, Jan 25 at 3:05pm Presented by Dr. Michael Marissen Free and open to the public.

Partita Americana Fri, Jan 26 at 7pm Featuring Fire & Grace & Ash $

BACH52 in Concert Sat, Jan 27 at 7pm Nicholas Phan and Les Délices $ Reich-n-Bach Sun, Jan 28 at 2pm BWV: Cleveland’s Bach Choir; Prof. Rob Kovacs; and Dr. Dirk Garner, Artistic Director and Conductor $

$ Tickets available at bw.edu/tickets | Presented by the Kulas Foundation

I F YO U ’ R E LO O K I N G TO

create something magical.

Contemporary Youth Orchestra ROBERT MULLER

E

With just a few clicks, discover hundreds of events made possible in part with public funding from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

P L OR

E

ClevelandArtsEvents.com connects you to the region’s vibrant arts and culture scene.

X

O

N L I N E

PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

AB OU T THE CLE VEL AN D ORC HESTR A NOW IN ITS SECOND CENTURY , The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Music Director Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year, the ensemble exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.

Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned it into one of the most admired globally.

The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including the streaming platform Adella, the podcast On a Personal Note, and its own recording label, a new chapter in the Orchestra’s long and distinguished recording and broadcast history. Together, they have captured the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.

The 2023–24 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 22nd year as music director, a period in which The Cleveland Orchestra earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra, and a number of acclaimed opera presentations.

Since 1918, seven music directors — Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst — have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalog of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.

@ClevelandOrchestra

clevelandorchestra.com

@Cleveorch

@CleveOrchestra

@clevelandorchestra

| 23

TH E CLEV EL A N D ORCHESTR A

Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director KELVIN SMITH FAMILY CHAIR FIRST VIOLINS

Eli Matthews1 Patricia M. Kozerefski and Richard J. Bogomolny Chair

Ralph Curry

ENGLISH HORN

Brian Thornton William P. Blair III Chair

Blossom-Lee Chair

Sonja Braaten Molloy

David Alan Harrell

Robert Walters Samuel C. and Bernette K. Jaffe Chair

Jung-Min Amy Lee

Carolyn Gadiel Warner

Martha Baldwin

ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER

Elayna Duitman

Dane Johansen

Gretchen D. and Ward Smith Chair

Ioana Missits

Paul Kushious

Jessica Lee

Sae Shiragami

BASSES

ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER

Kathleen Collins

Maximilian Dimoff* Clarence T. Reinberger Chair

David Radzynski CONCERTMASTER

Clara G. and George P. Bickford Chair

Stephen Tavani ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER

Dr. Ronald H. Krasney Chair

Wei-Fang Gu Drs. Paul M. and Renate H. Duchesneau Chair Kim Gomez Elizabeth and Leslie Kondorossy Chair Chul-In Park Harriet T. and David L. Simon Chair Miho Hashizume Theodore Rautenberg Chair Jeanne Preucil Rose Larry J.B. and Barbara S. Robinson Chair Alicia Koelz Oswald and Phyllis Lerner Gilroy Chair

Jeffrey Zehngut

Beth Woodside Emma Shook Dr. Jeanette Grasselli Brown and Dr. Glenn R. Brown Chair Yun-Ting Lee Jiah Chung Chapdelaine Liyuan Xie

VIOLAS

Derek Zadinsky2 Charles Paul1 Mary E. and F. Joseph Callahan Chair Mark Atherton Thomas Sperl Henry Peyrebrune Charles Barr Memorial Chair

CLARINETS Afendi Yusuf* Robert Marcellus Chair Robert Woolfrey Victoire G. and Alfred M. Rankin, Jr. Chair Daniel McKelway2 Robert R. and Vilma L. Kohn Chair Amy Zoloto

E-FLAT CLARINET Daniel McKelway Stanley L. and Eloise M. Morgan Chair

Wesley Collins* Chaillé H. and Richard B. Tullis Chair

Charles Carleton

BASS CLARINET

Scott Dixon

Amy Zoloto Myrna and James Spira Chair

Stanley Konopka2

HARP

Mark Jackobs Jean Wall Bennett Chair

Trina Struble* Alice Chalifoux Chair

Lisa Boyko Richard and Nancy Sneed Chair Richard Waugh Lembi Veskimets The Morgan Sisters Chair

BASSOONS John Clouser* Louise Harkness Ingalls Chair

FLUTES

Gareth Thomas

Joshua Smith* Elizabeth M. and William C. Treuhaft Chair

Barrick Stees2 Sandra L. Haslinger Chair

Saeran St. Christopher

Jonathan Sherwin

Jessica Sindell Austin B. and Ellen W. Chinn Chair

CONTRABASSOON

Mary Kay Fink

HORNS

William Bender

PICCOLO

Gareth Zehngut

Nathaniel Silberschlag* George Szell Memorial Chair

CELLOS

Mary Kay Fink Anne M. and M. Roger Clapp Chair

Michael Mayhew§ Knight Foundation Chair

Mark Kosower* Louis D. Beaumont Chair

OBOES

Richard Weiss1 The GAR Foundation Chair

Frank Rosenwein* Edith S. Taplin Chair

Hans Clebsch

Genevieve Smelser

SECOND VIOLINS

Charles Bernard2 Helen Weil Ross Chair

Meghan Guegold Hege

Stephen Rose* Alfred M. and Clara T. Rankin Chair

Bryan Dumm Muriel and Noah Butkin Chair

Corbin Stair Sharon and Yoash Wiener Chair

Jason Yu2 James and Donna Reid Chair

Tanya Ell Thomas J. and Judith Fay Gruber Chair

Yu Yuan Patty and John Collinson Chair Isabel Trautwein Trevor and Jennie Jones Chair Katherine Bormann Analisé Denise Kukelhan Gladys B. Goetz Chair Zhan Shu Youngji Kim

24 | 2023/2024 SEASON

Eliesha Nelson Anthony and Diane Wynshaw-Boris Chair Joanna Patterson Zakany

2

Jeffrey Rathbun2 Everett D. and Eugenia S. McCurdy Chair Robert Walters

Jonathan Sherwin

Jesse McCormick Robert B. Benyo Chair Richard King

TRUMPETS

BASS TROMBONE

LIBRARIANS

CONDUCTORS

Michael Sachs* Robert and Eunice Podis Weiskopf Chair

Luke Sieve

Michael Ferraguto Joe and Marlene Toot Chair

Christoph von Dohnányi

EUPHONIUM & BASS TRUMPET

Donald Miller

Daniel Reith

Lyle Steelman2 James P. and Dolores D. Storer Chair

Richard Stout

ENDOWED CHAIRS CURRENTLY UNOCCUPIED

Michael Miller

Yasuhito Sugiyama* Nathalie C. Spence and Nathalie S. Boswell Chair

Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Chair

TIMPANI

Charles M. and Janet G. Kimball Chair

Jack Sutte

CORNETS Michael Sachs* Mary Elizabeth and G. Robert Klein Chair

vacant

Michael Miller

PERCUSSION

TROMBONES

Marc Damoulakis* Margaret Allen Ireland Chair

Brian Wendel* Gilbert W. and Louise I. Humphrey Chair PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI

TUBA

Richard Stout Alexander and Marianna C. McAfee Chair Shachar Israel2

clevelandorchestra.com

Thomas Sherwood Tanner Tanyeri

KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS Carolyn Gadiel Warner Marjory and Marc L. Swartzbaugh Chair

MUSIC DIRECTOR LAUREATE

ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR

Virginia M. Linsdseth, PhD, Chair

Paul and Lucille Jones Chair Sunshine Chair Otto G. and Corinne T. Voss Chair Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Smucker Chair Rudolf Serkin Chair

Sidney and Doris Dworkin Chair

Lisa Wong DIRECTOR OF CHORUSES

Frances P. and Chester C. Bolton Chair

* Principal § Associate Principal 1 First Assistant Principal 2 Assistant Principal

This roster lists full-time members of The Cleveland Orchestra. The number and seating of musicians onstage varies depending on the piece being performed. Seating within the string sections rotates on a periodic basis.

| 25

TH E 2023/2024 SEAS ON

CALE N DAR Pre-concert lectures are held in Reinberger Chamber Hall one hour prior to the performance.

WINTER JAN 11 – 13 THE MIRACULOUS MANDARIN Franz Welser-Möst, conductor

FEB 9 – 11 BEETHOVEN’S FATEFUL FIFTH

MAR 7 – 9 BRAHMS’S FOURTH SYMPHONY

Jukka-Pekka Saraste, conductor

Fabio Luisi, conductor Mary Kay Fink, piccolo

SCHUBERT Symphony No. 6 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 5 Pre-concert lecture by James O’Leary

FEB 15 & 17 RAVEL’S MOTHER GOOSE George Benjamin, conductor Tim Mead, countertenor The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus

KRENEK Kleine Symphonie MAHLER Adagio from Symphony No. 10 BARTÓK String Quartet No. 3 (arr. for string orchestra) BARTÓK Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin

DIETER AMMANN glut GEORGE BENJAMIN Dream of the Song KNUSSEN The Way to Castle Yonder RAVEL Ma mère l’Oye (complete ballet)

Pre-concert lecture by Kevin McBrien

Pre-concert lecture by James Wilding

JAN 17 & 18 PROKOFIEV 2 & 5

FEB 22 – 25 BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 2 WEBERN Symphony PROKOFIEV Symphony No. 5 Pre-concert lecture by Eric Charnofsky

FEB 1 RECITAL

Beethoven for Three Leonidas Kavakos, violin Yo-Yo Ma, cello Emanuel Ax, piano BEETHOVEN Piano Trio, Op. 70, No. 1, “Ghost” BEETHOVEN/WOSNER Symphony No. 1 BEETHOVEN Piano Trio, Op. 70, No. 2

Philippe Herreweghe, conductor Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello BEETHOVEN Overture to Egmont HAYDN Cello Concerto No. 1 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”

WEBER Overture to Oberon ODED ZEHAVI Aurora BRAHMS Symphony No. 4 Pre-concert lecture by Francesca Brittan

MAR 10 RECITAL

Chopin & Schubert Yefim Bronfman, piano SCHUBERT Piano Sonata No. 14 R . SCHUMANN Carnival Scenes from Vienna ESA-PEKKA SALONEN Sisar CHOPIN Piano Sonata No. 3

MAR 14, 16 & 17 LEVIT PLAYS MOZART Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Igor Levit, piano MOZART Piano Concerto No. 27 BRUCKNER Symphony No. 4, “Romantic” Pre-concert lecture by Cicilia Yudha

Pre-concert lecture by David Rothenberg

FEB 29 – MAR 2 KANNEH-MASON PLAYS SCHUMANN Susanna Mälkki, conductor Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano J.S. BACH/WEBERN Ricercare from Musical Offering * C. SCHUMANN Piano Concerto HINDEMITH Mathis der Maler Symphony Pre-concert lecture by Eric Charnofsky

For tickets & more information visit:

clevelandorchestra.com

* Not performed on the Friday matinee concert

SPRING

APR 14

MAR 21 – 23 SIBELIUS’S SECOND SYMPHONY

Schumann & Brahms

MAY 2 – 4 LANG LANG PLAYS SAINT-SAËNS

Evgeny Kissin, piano Matthias Goerne, baritone

Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Lang Lang, piano *

R . SCHUMANN Dichterliebe BRAHMS Four Ballades, Op. 10 BRAHMS Selected Songs

SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2 * BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique

Dalia Stasevska, conductor Josefina Maldonado, mezzo-soprano RAUTAVAARA Cantus Arcticus PERRY Stabat Mater SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2 Pre-concert lecture by Kevin McBrien

APR 4 & 6 CITY NOIR John Adams, conductor James McVinnie, organ Timothy McAllister, saxophone GABRIELLA SMITH Breathing Forests DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun JOHN ADAMS City Noir Pre-concert lecture by Eric Charnofsky

APR 11 – 13 ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO Klaus Mäkelä, conductor Sol Gabetta, cello Thomas Hampson, baritone * The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus *

RECITAL

Pre-concert lecture by Caroline Oltmanns

APR 18 – 20 YUJA WANG PLAYS RAVEL & STRAVINSKY Klaus Mäkelä, conductor Yuja Wang, piano RAVEL Concerto for the Left Hand STRAVINSKY Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring Pre-concert lecture by Caroline Oltmanns

APR 26 – 28 RACHMANINOFF’S SECOND PIANO CONCERTO Lahav Shani, conductor Beatrice Rana, piano UNSUK CHIN subito con forza RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No. 2 BARTÓK Concerto for Orchestra Pre-concert lecture by James O’Leary

JIMMY LÓPEZ BELLIDO Perú negro ELGAR Cello Concerto WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast *

MAY 16, 18, 24 & 26 MOZART’S MAGIC FLUTE Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Nikolaus Habjan, director Julian Prégardien, tenor Ludwig Mittelhammer, baritone Christina Landshamer, soprano The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus MOZART The Magic Flute Staged production sung in German with projected supertitles

MAY 23 & 25 MOZART’S GRAN PARTITA Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Leila Josefowicz, violin Trina Struble, harp WAGNER Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde JÜRI REINVERE Concerto for Violin and Harp MOZART Serenade No. 10, “Gran Partita” Pre-concert lecture by Michael Strasser

Pre-concert lecture by James Wilding

Subscribe Today & Create Your Own Extraordinary Season Starting with 3 concerts as low as $78

FITS YOUR LIFESTYLE .

WORRY FREE .

Flexible and convenient. Create the perfect package that fits your schedule and preferences.

If your schedule changes, exchanging your tickets is quick and easy.

BUY MORE . SAVE MORE .

IT ’S EASY TO SUBSCRIBE .

Pick any 3+ | SAVE 15% Pick any 6+ | SAVE 20%

Simply choose your favorite concerts, select your dates, then reserve your seats.

Create your season today at clevelandorchestra.com/cyo

YOU R V IS IT HEALTH & SAFETY The Cleveland Orchestra is committed to creating a comfortable, enjoyable, and safe environment for all guests at Severance Music Center. While mask and COVID-19 vaccination are recommended they are not required. Protocols are reviewed regularly with the assistance of our Cleveland Clinic partners; for up-to-date information, visit: clevelandorchestra. com/attend/health-safety

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

PAGERS, CELL PHONES & WRISTWATCH ALARMS

IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY

As a courtesy to others, please silence all devices prior to the start of the concert.

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.

PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEOGRAPHY & RECORDING Audio recording, photography, and videography are prohibited during performances at Severance.

Photographs can only be taken when the performance is not in progress.

HEARING AIDS & OTHER HEALTH-ASSISTIVE DEVICES For the comfort of those around you, please reduce the volume on hearing aids and other devices that may produce a noise that would detract from the program. For Infrared Assistive-Listening Devices, please see the House Manager or Head Usher for more details.

FREE MOBILE APP

TICKET WALLET Download today for instant, secure, and paperless access to your concert tickets.

AGE RESTRICTIONS Regardless of age, each person must have a ticket and be able to sit quietly in a seat throughout the performance. Classical Season subscription concerts are not recommended for children under the age of 8. However, there are several age-appropriate series designed specifically for children and youth, including Music Explorers (for 3 to 6 years old) and Family Concerts (for ages 7 and older).

The Cleveland Orchestra is grateful to the following organizations for their ongoing generous support of The Cleveland Orchestra: the State of Ohio and Ohio Arts Council and to the residents of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.

The Cleveland Orchestra is proud of its long-term partnership with Kent State University, made possible in part through generous funding from the State of Ohio.

clevelandorchestra.com/ticketwallet

The Cleveland Orchestra is proud to have its home, Severance Music Center, located on the campus of Case Western Reserve University, with whom it has a long history of collaboration and partnership.

or scan the code with your smartphone camera to download the app for iPhone or Android.

©2024 The Cleveland Orchestra and the Musical Arts Association

For more information and direct links to download, visit

Available for iOS and Android on Google Play and at the Apple App Store.

Program books for Cleveland Orchestra concerts are produced by The Cleveland Orchestra and are distributed free to attending audience members.

EDI TORI AL

Cleveland Orchestra performances are broadcast as part of regular programming on ideastream/WCLV Classical 90.3 FM, Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 4 PM.

Amanda Angel, Program Editor, Managing Editor of Content aangel@clevelandorchestra.com Kevin McBrien, Editorial Assistant DE SIG N

Elizabeth Eddins, eddinsdesign.com ADV ERT ISI NG

Live Publishing Company, 216-721-1800

28 | 2023/2024 SEASON

clevelandorchestra.com

LIVING YOUR

Life’s Passions

Pauline has always been passionate about educating and giving people the tools needed to succeed. As a professor, analyst, Certified Financial Planner and recent Crain’s Eight Over 80 honoree, she has impacted many and continues to inspire and inform as a volunteer and philanthropist.

Bringing Independent Living to Life.

PHOTO CREDITS XXXX

At Judson, independent living is all about enjoying the comforts of home in a vibrant, maintenance-free retirement community. Residents take advantage of diverse, enriching programs that cultivate new friendships, maintain wellness, fuel creativity and ignite new interests. Seniors define an inspirational way of living with peace of mind that comes with access to staff members 24 hours a day should help be needed. Visit us to see how we bring independent living to life.

(216) 791-2436 judsonsmartliving.org

Tri-C Creative Arts Dance Academy

SETTING THE STAGE

for Success

We believe that all Cleveland youth should have access to high-quality arts education. Through the generosity of our donors, we have invested more than $12.6 million since 2016 to scale up neighborhood-based programs that serve thousands of youth year-round in music, dance, theater, photography, literary arts and curatorial mastery. That’s setting the stage for success. Find your passion, and partner with the Cleveland Foundation to make your greatest charitable impact.

(877) 554-5054 www.ClevelandFoundation.org/Success