24
Kanneh-Mason Plays Schumann FEBRUARY 29 – MARCH 2, 2024
Expect the Extraordinary
23
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: Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major featuring Víkingur Ólafsson.
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
Kanneh-Mason Plays Schumann Thursday, February 29, 2024, at 7:30 PM Friday, March 1, 2024, at 11 AM Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 8 PM
Susanna Mälkki, conductor J.S. Bach (1685–1750)
Ricercare (Fugue) from Musical Offering, BWV 1079*
10 minutes
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7
20 minutes
Orchestrated by
Anton Webern (1883–1945) Clara Schumann (1819–1896)
Paul Hindemith (1895–1963)
I. Allegro maestoso — II. Romanze: Andante non troppo con grazia — III. Finale: Allegro non troppo Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano I N TERMIS SI ON
20 minutes
Symphony: Mathis der Maler
25 minutes
I. Engelkonzert (Angelic Concert) II. Grablegung (Entombment) III. Versuchung des heiligen Antonius (Temptation of St. Anthony) Total approximate running time: 1 hour 15 minutes
COVER: PHOTO BY CHRIS LEE
* J.S. Bach’s Ricercare (Fugue) from Musical Offering does not appear on Friday’s program, which will be performed without intermission.
Thank you for silencing your electronic devices. clevelandorchestra.com
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
IN 1938 , Paul Hindemith left his native Germany for neutral Switzerland. Life had become precarious for the composer: His music had been officially banned by the ruling Nazi regime the year before, and his wife Gertrude was half Jewish. At that time, Hindemith wrote to his music publisher: “There are only two things worth aiming for, good music and a clean conscience.” In an example of life mimicking art, these principles are central to Hindemith’s opera Mathis der Maler, written as Hitler ascended to power. Casting the 16th-century painter Matthias Grünewald as his protagonist, Hindemith interrogated the ethical and moral duties of an artist during troubled times in this work. The opera and its themes, however, put Hindemith in the crosshairs of Nazi censors. Boycotts were organized of his music, and his defender Wilhelm Furtwängler, who premiered the Mathis der Mahler Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic, was forced to step down from his post. Hindemith’s powerful statement provides a haunting capstone to this weekend’s program, led by guest conductor Susanna Mälkki, encapsulating music’s unique ability to transcend time and place, as well as establish empathy and understanding with figures from the past. That ability to speak across eras is fundamental to Anton Webern’s 1935 arrangement of Bach’s Ricercare from Musical Offering, originally written in 1747. Webern’s orchestration is at once faithful to Bach, yet distinctly modern. He wrote of his arrangement: “Of course, it also seeks to show how I see the character of the work. ... Isn’t the point to awaken what is still sleeping in the secrecy of Bach’s abstract rendering. ...” In championing the work of Clara Schumann, soloist Isata Kanneh-Mason (above) has established her own metaphysical connection with the great composerpianist, who wrote the Piano Concerto performed this weekend as a teenager. Schumann herself alluded to this transporting quality of music when she wrote: “Composing gives me great pleasure … there is nothing that surpasses creative activity, even if only for those hours of self-forgetfulness in which one breathes solely in the world of sound.” — Amanda Angel
2 | 2023/2024 SEASON
PHOTO BY ROBIN CLEWLEY
I N TRO DU C TI O N
E XPLORE LUXURY S ENIOR LIVING IN S HAKER HEIGHT S
SHAKER HEIGHTS | (216) 677-4484
TH E MUSI C
Ricercare (Fugue) from Musical Offering, BWV 1079 by Johann Sebastian Bach BORN : March 31, 1685, in Eisenach, Germany DIED: July 28, 1750, in Leipzig
▶ COMPOSED: 1747; arranged for orchestra by Anton Webern, 1934–35 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: The premiere of Bach’s original composition is unknown. Webern’s orchestration was first performed on April 25, 1935, in a radio broadcast with Webern conducting the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Leinsdorf (Cleveland Orchestra Music Director, 1943–46) ▶ ORCHESTRATION: flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, timpani, harp, and strings ▶ DURATION: about 10 minutes
ANTON WEBERN EXERTED a widespread
influence on the 20th-century avantgarde, but his respect for the past was profound, reaching back to the stillemerging field of early music. For example, his official Opus 1 (written as a sort of graduation exercise after studying with Arnold Schoenberg) was cast in the old-fashioned variation form of the passacaglia. The polyphonic textures of the Baroque held a continuing fascination as he developed his style. Webern orchestrated this J.S. Bach piece at the height of his career — one of several remarkable arrangements and transcriptions he made of music by other composers. Thus, he synthesized his love of the past with his latest experiments in extending the impor4 | 2023/2024 SEASON
tance of timbre (the qualities that distinguish the sounds of different instruments) as a structural element. Webern worked from Bach’s magnificent collection of fugues and several other pieces, Musical Offering, all derived from a theme invented by King Frederick the Great of Prussia. When the king met Bach in 1747, he requested numerous improvisations on this theme, including a six-voice fugue. Even Bach had to ask for more time to work such an intricate structure out — hence the title “ricercare” or “ricercata” referring to the notion of research required to devise this mostinvolved of the collection’s fugues. The haunting eight-bar C-minor theme, with its reversal of direction and chromatic complexity, was bound to
TOP RIGHT: IMAGE COURTESY OF ©AUSTRIAN ARCHIVES/BRANDSTAETTER IMAGES/PICTUREDESK.COM | RIGHT: IMAGE COURTESY OF GL ARCHIVE / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
▶ CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE: October 26, 1972, conducted by Erich
Alongside his groundbreaking experiments with atonality, Anton Webern (above, c. 1940) held deep affinity for the past, specifically the music of J.S. Bach (left, 1746, portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussman).
have a special appeal for Webern. Bach’s published score for Musical Offering indicates no specific instruments for this piece (nor tempos nor dynamics). Webern adds yet another dimension to the counterpoint — one of instrumental color — by dividing the voices up clevelandorchestra.com
into tiny particles that he spreads out among the ensemble. This technique (one Schoenberg had drawn attention to as Klangfarbenmelodie — literally, the melody made from mixing varied tonal colors) has been compared to pointillism in painting. The result is a constantly shifting array that brings modernist, prismatic clarity to the interlocking voices of Bach’s fugue. — Thomas May Thomas May is the author of Decoding Wagner and The John Adams Reader. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Gramophone, and Strings magazine. Since 2009, he has served as the English writer and program editor for the Lucerne Festival.
| 5
THE MUS I C
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 7 by Clara Schumann BORN : September 13, 1819, in Leipzig DIED: May 20, 1896, in Frankfurt
▶ COMPOSED: 1833–35 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: November 9, 1835, featuring the composer as soloist and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn ▶ CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE: June 20, 1942, with soloist Boris Goldovsky and conductor Rudolph Ringwall at Cleveland’s Public Auditorium ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, trombone, timpani, and strings, plus solo piano ▶ DURATION: about 20 minutes
FOR MUCH OF THE 20TH CENTURY, history
books primarily positioned Clara Wieck Schumann as muse to her husband, Robert — a committed companion and stabilizing force who encouraged his work and, in the decades following his death, cemented his legacy as one of German Romanticism’s most gifted composers. And while Clara was indeed a sensitive and supportive muse, to Robert as well as the couple’s close friend Johannes Brahms, her impact on 19th-century classical music travels far beyond that border. Clara was one of the finest performers of her day, an acclaimed pianist who, after making her debut at the age of 9, maintained an astonishing seven-decade career as a concert artist — while also serving as her own manager, promoter, and agent. She was among the first to regularly perform J.S. Bach and Beetho6 | 2023/2024 SEASON
ven on the concert stage and helped establish new standards for virtuoso pianists, including always performing from memory. At 18 she was named Royal and Imperial Chamber Virtuoso of the Austrian Court, by which point her playing had been hailed by Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, and Niccolò Paganini. She raised eight children, managed household finances, and served as the family’s primary breadwinner (and after Robert’s mental collapse, its sole earner). So yes, Clara propelled Robert to greater heights in his artistry, so much so that his name eclipses hers in those history books, but when the couple wedded in 1840, Clara was the internationally renowned celebrity and Robert a relatively unknown composer of piano miniatures. Clara Schumann (c. 1850) was an acclaimed concert pianist and a composer in her own right.
PHOTO BY FRANZ HANFSTAENGL , COURTESY OF IANDAGNALL COMPUTING / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
clevelandorchestra.com
| 7
THE MUS I C
The daughter of two pianists, Clara was immersed from a young age in Leipzig’s musical world, where she met the major figures who swept through town on European concert tours. As a result, Clara’s teenage compositions reflect the same influences as those of her older male contemporaries. She embraced the ornate melodies of Italian opera, infused her work with a dazzling virtuosity that matched Paganini, and found inspiration in music both old and new, from Bach’s freshly rediscovered keyboard works to Hector Berlioz’s avant-garde Symphonie fantastique fantastique, premiered in 1830.
a century after her death in 1896, Clara’s work largely wasn’t marginalized during her lifetime. In fact, it was celebrated by audiences and critics alike, as was the case with her Piano Concerto. Her only surviving orchestral work, the Piano Concerto evolved from a one-movement concert piece (Konzertsatz) Clara began composing in 1833, at the age of 13. As a piano soloist on the rise, she would have been expected to perform improvisations and works of her own making, so the Konzertsatz ultimately served as both a statement of creative expression and a star-making showpiece. Clara eventually expanded the work
There is nothing that surpasses creative activity, even if only for those hours of self-forgetfulness in which one breathes solely in the world of sound. — Clara Schumann
By the time Robert began studying composition with Clara’s father, Friedrich, she had enough experience to support Robert’s work as a composer, identifying new techniques for him to consider and persuading him to experiment with orchestral, choral, and chamber music. Although the number of compositions she produced grew smaller over time, due to her increasing demands as concert artist, wife, and mother, Clara managed to publish the majority of her music during her lifetime — an enormous achievement for any composer, let alone a woman in mid 19th–century Germany. And despite her music falling into the shadows for nearly 8 | 2023/2024 SEASON
into a three-movement concerto, using the Konzertsatz material for the final third. She orchestrated the first and second movements and made comprehensive edits to Robert’s original orchestration of the Konzertsatz. Following the concerto’s 1835 premiere, which featured Clara as soloist accompanied by the Gewandhaus Orchestra under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn, the work received many performances throughout Clara’s career — including an 1837 concert in which she was summoned to the stage for a record four curtain calls. A groundbreaking work for its time, the concerto not only carries the emotional intensity and operatic
PHOTO BY JOHANN ANTON VÖLLNER (1850), COURTESY OF ARCHIVIO GBB / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Though Clara’s marriage to Robert Schumann (right) and family life slowed her composition career, she continued to champion her own music alongside the works of others.
melodicism of the new Romantic style, but its structure is also inventive: three uninterrupted movements, made architecturally cohesive by the use of shared melodies woven across each movement. And while the concerto teems with flashy displays of virtuosity in its outer movements, it includes none of the improvised cadenzas made standard by composers like Mozart and Beethoven. Rather, the technical fireworks are baked into the work’s clevelandorchestra.com
character, with flights of filigreed fancy across the keyboard alternating with pulsating passages of thunderous chords. As expected in a work meant to showcase the soloist’s superpowers, the piano doesn’t converse with the orchestra as much as towers over it. Still, Clara manages to capture moments of quietly mesmerizing beauty, especially in the central Romanze. As the drama of the first movement subsides and the first four notes of its main theme echo slowly in the distance, the solo piano spins them into a new melody of aching beauty. Eschewing tradition, Clara silences the | 9
orchestra for this movement, giving the piano room to deliver a rapturous aria that becomes increasingly ornate until a solo cello enters the scene. Together they scale the melody of longing to new heights as the cello ascends into its uppermost tenor. After we’re lulled into blissful reverie by this intimate conversation, timpani rolls and brass fanfares plunge us into the final movement’s fervent dances. So why is this youthful concerto the only large-scale work to have flowed from Clara’s pen? Of course there are societal reasons: Clara and her husband tenderly supported each other’s work, but Robert still considered the duties of wife and mother to be her main priorities — though that idea troubled him. Three years into their marriage, Robert wrote about the impact of household responsibilities on her creativity: “To have children and a husband who is always living in the realms of imagination do not go together with composing. She cannot work at it regularly, and I am often disturbed to think how many profound ideas are lost because she cannot work them out.” Look deeper, however, and we discover Clara herself was ambivalent about the role of composition in her career. Although she confessed that “there is nothing that surpasses creative activity, even if only for those hours of self-forgetfulness in which one breathes solely in the world of sound,” she also carried the composer’s trademark sense of inadequacy and imposter syndrome, 10 | 2023/2024 SEASON
writing: “I once believed I had creative talent, but I have given up this idea.” Clara’s letters and diaries provide evidence that being a creator, as opposed to an interpreter, wasn’t easy for her. Rather than chasing her own muse, she largely composed because it was expected of her — by her father during her training, by her husband during their marriage, and by the concert-going public early in her career, who expected piano soloists to perform their own works. We can also see how Clara’s departure from the world of composition overlapped with major changes in those audience expectations. As attitudes shifted in the final decades of her career, with soloists now called upon to deliver immaculate readings of works by established (and often dead) composers, Clara had a diminishing need to continue composing. But that never stopped her from performing her music: At nearly every concert until she retired from the stage at 72, at least one work on the program bore the byline Clara Schumann. — 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.
PHOTO BY FRANZ HANFSTAENGL , COURTESY OF ALBUM / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
THE MUS I C
Symphony: Mathis der Maler by Paul Hindemith BORN : November 16, 1895, in Hanau, Germany DIED: December 28, 1963, in Frankfurt
▶ COMPOSED: 1933–34 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: March 12, 1934, with Wilhelm Furtwängler leading the Berlin Philharmonic ▶ CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE: October 10, 1935, conducted by then–Music Director Artur Rodziński ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 2 flutes (2nd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (glockenspiel, snare drum, cymbals, triangle, bass drum), and strings ▶ DURATION: about 25 minutes
SHOULD CREATIVE ARTISTS become involved in the social and political issues of their times? Is the artist’s only duty to create great works of art, or are they expected to speak up actively and fight against injustice? Should art itself be a means for protest and incite a battle cry, or should it keep a safe distance from the surrounding reality? Artists of all times and places have grappled with these questions. The issues, however, arose with great force during the Nazi rule in Germany. In the face of this great evil, it was more important than ever, and also more dangerous than ever, for artists to let their voices be heard. It is no coincidence that in 1933, the same year Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, that Paul Hindemith
clevelandorchestra.com
started work on Mathis der Maler, an opera addressing these issues. What a contrast to his previous opera, from 1929, Neues vom Tage (News of the Day), which contained a much-talked-about scene where the soprano sat in a bathtub onstage, singing about the delights of a modern apartment with running hot water! Since the early 1920s, Hindemith had been recognized as Germany’s leading avant-garde composer. Now, approaching the age of 40, he was ready to assume a more classical stance, and to tackle the great moral and philosophical questions thrust upon him by a turbulent era. Hindemith found a parallel in the life and times of the painter Matthias Grünewald. Born around 1475, Grünewald lived through the Reformation and the great peasant rebellion of the 1520s. | 11
12 | 2023/2024 SEASON
The far right panel of Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece shows St. Anthony standing firm against a monster, a scene which Hindemith adapted for his opera.
In the opera, Mathis embraces the popular cause and goes to fight on the side of the peasants, but is disillusioned after seeing the cruelty and vulgarity of the rebels. At the end of the opera, he resigns himself to a life of solitude and “inner emigration,” finding all the solutions suggested by his environment equally unacceptable. At the request of conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, Hindemith adapted material from his opera-in-progress to create a symphony, which he also named Mathis der Maler. The first two movements appear in the opera verbatim, while the third is a revised compilation drawing on several scenes from the stage work.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Relatively little is known about his life, aside from the fact that he was employed by Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz. Hindemith largely invented the words and story of the opera, however he felt he had discovered his own and projected his own dilemmas and anxieties onto the mirror image he found in the Renaissance painter. Hindemith extensively studied the historical background and, according to his close friend Willy Strecker of Mainz’s publishing house Schott & Sons, “read no fewer than 130 books in order to collect material.” Hindemith was also intimately familiar with the music of the period, and the resulting opera and related symphony are replete with echoes of Renaissance polyphony, Gregorian chant, and old German folk song.
1067086_Cleveland Orchestra_Week 14._single_sw
THE MUS I C
Each movement is inspired by parts of Grünewald’s greatest masterpiece, the Isenheim Altarpiece (now at the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, France). Grünewald’s polyptych consists of 18 paintings and woodcarvings, distributed on an open altarpiece, the predella (or foot-piece), and two pairs of wings, one above the other, that could be opened or closed according to the requirements of the liturgical year. In church, the Crucifixion and the Entombment would be displayed during Advent and Lent. The joyous scenes of the Annunciation, the Concert of Angels, the Nativity, and the Resurrection, would be on view at Christmas, Easter, and the feasts of the Virgin. The pictures representing the life of St. Anthony were shown on the saint’s feast day. Today, at the Unterlinden Museum, the wings have been removed and displayed separately so the entire work is on view at the same time. The first movement of Hindemith’s symphony is titled Engelkonzert (Angelic Concert). Inspired by a painting showing musician angels performing before the Virgin and the Child, it serves as the prelude to the opera. (Its material returns in a vocal setting later in the opera.) It is a piece of perfectly balanced classical proportions in three distinct sections. The first introduces two contrasting tonalities: G and D flat, which are as far apart as possible in the Western harmonic system. According to analyst David Neumeyer, this opposition symbolizes the contrast between heaven and earth, angels and mortals, or serenity and clevelandorchestra.com
dramatic turmoil. After an ethereal introduction, the trombones play the medieval German melody Es sungen drei Engel einen süssen Gesang (Three angels sang a sweet song). The second section is in a faster tempo and is based on two themes, both lively and spirited; the two are finally combined and played simultaneously. The third section, then, merges the two themes with Es sungen drei Engel, bringing them to a magnificently joyous conclusion. The second movement, Grablegung (Entombment), is an orchestral interlude from the last of the opera’s seven tableaux. Regina, the daughter of the peasant leader Schwalb, has just died, leaving Mathis completely and irrevocably alone. While this piece has a specific dramatic function in the opera, in the symphony it stands for death and mourning in general. Lyrical woodwind melodies unfold over a halting accompaniment for muted strings. A short crescendo leads to a powerful climax and a sudden return of the initial lament. The third movement, Versuchung des heiligen Antonius (The Temptation of St. Anthony), is the most dramatic section of the symphony. In Grünewald’s painting, we see the saint attacked by a terrifying, devilish monster. In the opera, Mathis is equated with the saint. His monsters are various characters from previous scenes in the opera who assume allegorical roles such as Lust, Greed, War, etc. Each tries to convert MathisAnthony to his or her own life philosophy. At the climactic point in this scene, | 13
THE MUS I C
Mathis sings in Latin: “Where were you good Jesus, where were you? Why were you not there to heal my wounds?” These words are written on the bottom right-hand side of Grünewald’s panel depicting the temptations of St. Anthony, and they also appear as the motto of the third movement of Hindemith’s symphony. The movement opens with an impassioned introduction in free rhythm that sets the stage for the drama. It is followed by a fast passage that, in the opera, is sung by a chorus of demons (“Your worst enemy is inside yourself”). The most poignant musical idea, one that will often recur throughout the movement, is a four-note descending scale that corresponds to the chorus singing “We torment you” in the opera. During a brief respite, the tempo slows and the orchestration is reduced to strings only. The cellos begin a sinuous melody in a free rhythm (somewhat similar to the movement’s introduction). The “We torment you” motif soon returns, and the orchestral adaptation of the demons’ chorus continues. There is a long melody that Hindemith, a renowned violist, assigned to his favorite instrument; in the opera, this accompanies a graphic description of the horrors seen in Grünewald’s painting. Finally, St. Anthony overcomes the temptations and banishes the monsters. The Gregorian melody Lauda Sion salvatorem (Praise, Zion, the Savior) appears in the woodwinds, against a lively contrapuntal background supplied 14 | 2023/2024 SEASON
by the strings, in a procedure inspired by Bach’s chorale preludes. The symphony ends with a solemn Alleluia, derived from the duet of Mathis and the Archbishop. The allegory of Mathis der Maler allows for different interpretations, yet the fact that the protagonist follows his own conscience and doesn’t succumb to prevailing doctrines is highly significant. The premiere of the Mathis der Maler Symphony, conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler in March 1934, was a resounding success. Just a few weeks later, Hindemith conducted the work in a recording with the Berlin Philharmonic. But the artistic policies of Nazi Germany were highly volatile. Hindemith was already a target of the Nazis because his wife was half Jewish and of the scandalous bathtub scene in Neues vom Tage. Then, on November 25, 1934, Furtwängler’s article “Der Fall Hindemith” (The Hindemith Case) appeared in the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. This article, which defended Hindemith against Nazi attacks, led to Furtwängler’s forced resignation from all of his posts and to a ban on Mathis der Maler. Hindemith continued to work on the opera, completing it in 1935. The premiere was held in Zurich, Switzerland — the opera could not be staged in Germany until the end of World War II. Hindemith’s own situation became untenable, and he left the country, eventually coming to the United States. — Peter Laki Peter Laki is a musicologist and frequent lecturer on classical music. He is a visiting associate professor of music at Bard College.
TH E CO N DU C TOR
PHOTO BY SIMON FOWLER
Susanna Mälkki Susanna Mälkki is sought after at the highest level by symphony orchestras and opera houses worldwide. She appears regularly with top orchestras throughout Europe and North America, including the Helsinki Philharmonic, where she is chief conductor emeritus and was chief conductor from 2016 until 2023; Los Angeles Philharmonic, where she was principal guest conductor from 2017 until 2022; The Philadelphia Orchestra; The Cleveland Orchestra; New York Philharmonic; Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Boston Symphony Orchestra; London Symphony Orchestra; Münchner Philharmoniker; Wiener Symphoniker; Bayerischer Rundfunk; and Berliner Philharmoniker. By invitation of Pierre Boulez, Mälkki was also the music director of the Ensemble intercontemporain from 2006 to 2013. Equally in demand with major opera houses, she has made notable appearances at the Opéra national de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Royal Opera House, London. Operatic titles this season and beyond show Mälkki’s versatility in the art form: Janáček’s The Makropulos Case, Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Beethoven’s Fidelio, Fauré’s Pénélope, and Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. Recognized for her significant contribution to the art form, Mälkki was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal of the clevelandorchestra.com
Order of the Lion of Finland — one of Finland’s highest honors — in 2011. She was named Officier (2014) and Commandeur (2022) de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France and, in January 2016, was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in France. She is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London and a member of the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien in Stockholm. In October 2016, she was named Musical America’s 2017 Conductor of the Year and in November 2017, she was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize. | 17
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
TH E ARTIST
PHOTO BY ROBIN CLEWLEY
Isata Kanneh-Mason piano Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason is in great demand internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. She offers eclectic and interesting recital programs encompassing music from Haydn and Mozart via Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann to Chopin, Brahms, Gershwin, and beyond. She is equally at home in concertos by Felix Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann as in those by Prokofiev and Dohnányi. Highlights of the 2023–24 season include performances with The Philadelphia Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Stockholm Philharmonic. With her cellist brother, Sheku, she appears in recital in Japan, Singapore, and South Korea in addition to a European recital tour. Kanneh-Mason also gives a series of solo recitals in the US and Canada as well as at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Lucerne Festival, and across Germany. In previous seasons, Kanneh-Mason has appeared with the New World Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. She was artist in residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Kanneh-Mason is a Decca Classics recording artist. Her 2019 album, Romance: The Piano Music of Clara Schumann, entered the UK classical clevelandorchestra.com
charts at No. 1. This was followed by 2021’s Summertime, featuring 20thcentury American repertoire, and 2023’s Childhood Tales, inspired by a nostalgia for youth. In 2021, Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason released their first duo album, Muse, demonstrating their musical empathy and rapport borne from years of playing together. In 2020, the siblings performed a specially recorded recital, during the reduced BBC Proms due to the Covid-19 pandemic; KannehMason later made her BBC Proms solo debut in 2023 to a fully open Royal Albert Hall, alongside Ryan Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Kanneh-Mason was an ECHO Rising Star in 2021–22. She is also the recipient of the coveted Leonard Bernstein Award, an Opus Klassik Award for best young artist, and is one of the Konzerthaus Dortmund’s Junge Wilde artists. | 19
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
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 –
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.
1640 Lee Rd.
(216) 364-7100
JOIN NOW
Mike Giarrizzo Sr.
Log in to your account at web: ljicollisioncenter.com my.clevelandorchestra.com
THE PLACE FOR FANS OF THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA EARN POINTS • Attend concerts • Watch videos • Answer quizzes • Give feedback
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
Jo Arnold ’24
Double Bass Performance Major Student of Charles Carleton
™
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill When you create your legacy with The Cleveland Orchestra, you make world-class music a way of life in Northeast Ohio for generations to come. Learn how you can use your assets to plan a thoughtful gift, and make a lasting connection to the music you love.
Katie Shames, JD 216-456-8400 legacy@clevelandorchestra.com
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
Michael Sachs* Mary Elizabeth and G. Robert Klein Chair
TIMPANI
Paul and Lucille Jones Chair
Michael Miller
PERCUSSION
TROMBONES
Marc Damoulakis* Margaret Allen Ireland Chair
Jack Sutte
CORNETS
PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI
Brian Wendel* Gilbert W. and Louise I. Humphrey Chair Richard Stout Alexander and Marianna C. McAfee Chair Shachar Israel2
clevelandorchestra.com
TUBA
vacant
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 Charles M. and Janet G. Kimball 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 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
MAR 7 – 9 BRAHMS’S FOURTH SYMPHONY Fabio Luisi, conductor Mary Kay Fink, piccolo 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 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”
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
Pre-concert lecture by Cicilia Yudha
Klaus Mäkelä, conductor Sol Gabetta, cello Thomas Hampson, baritone * The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus *
SPRING
JIMMY LÓPEZ BELLIDO Perú negro ELGAR Cello Concerto WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast *
MAR 21 – 23 SIBELIUS’S SECOND SYMPHONY
Pre-concert lecture by James Wilding
APR 14
Dalia Stasevska, conductor Josefina Maldonado, mezzo-soprano
RECITAL
RAUTAVAARA Cantus Arcticus PERRY Stabat Mater SIBELIUS Symphony No. 2
Evgeny Kissin, piano Matthias Goerne, baritone
Pre-concert lecture by Kevin McBrien
Schumann & Brahms R . SCHUMANN Dichterliebe BRAHMS Four Ballades, Op. 10 BRAHMS Selected Songs
For tickets & more information visit:
clevelandorchestra.com
APR 18 – 20 YUJA WANG PLAYS RAVEL & STRAVINSKY
MAY 2 – 4 LANG LANG PLAYS SAINT-SAËNS
MAY 23 & 25 MOZART’S GRAN PARTITA
Klaus Mäkelä, conductor Yuja Wang, piano
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Lang Lang, piano *
RAVEL Concerto for the Left Hand STRAVINSKY Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments STRAVINSKY The Rite of Spring
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2 * BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Leila Josefowicz, violin Trina Struble, harp
Pre-concert lecture by Caroline Oltmanns
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
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
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
MOZART The Magic Flute Staged production sung in German with projected supertitles
Pre-concert lecture by James O’Leary
* Not performed on the Friday matinee concert
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. For more information and direct links to download, visit clevelandorchestra.com/ticketwallet or scan the code with your smartphone camera to download the app for iPhone or Android. Available for iOS and Android on Google Play and at the Apple App Store.
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. 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.
©2024 The Cleveland Orchestra and the Musical Arts Association 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.
Kevin McBrien, The Cleveland Orchestra kmcbrien@clevelandorchestra.com DE SIG N
Elizabeth Eddins, Eddinsdesign eddinsdesign@gmail.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