warmth of sound, while presenting intriguing programming of standard works mixed together with lesser-known repertoire. Touring became an annual part of the Orchestra’s calendar, including regular residencies in Salzburg, performances throughout Europe, and first performances in China. These years also coincided with the final era of growth in commercial recording. The Cleveland Orchestra laid claim to being the “most-recorded orchestra in America” for nearly a decade, turning out album after album annually to wide acclaim and sales. In addition, Dohnányi revived the Orchestra’s operatic traditions, though mostly with in-concert presentations, and devoted his work to further polish and amalgamate the musicians’ gifted artistry and ensemblework. One of the greatest long-term achievements of Dohnányi’s tenure was the renovation and expansion of Severance Hall, which restored what many have called “America’s most beautiful concert hall” to visual interior splendor while simultaneously enhancing its famously clear and intimate acoustics. The work also restored the hall’s original 6,025-pipe concert organ, making it once again usable (from a new location within the hall) for the first time in half a century. Accelerando con moto: Welser-Möst and a New Century Franz Welser-Möst became The Cleveland Orchestra’s seventh music director in the autumn of 2002. His charge has been to carry the ensemble forward Severance Hall 2017-18
— first into the new millennium and now into the Orchestra’s own Second Century. His playbook has been to build on the best traditions of the past while steering clearly and with passionate directness to argue for music’s renewed relevance in a changing world. He has expanded repertoire while further honing the Orchestra’s flexibility for modern (and older) music. The Orchestra’s long operatic tradition has been augmented with the return of fullystaged opera productions to Severance Hall, including cutting-edge presentations filled with 21st-century technological know-how and wonder — all in service to telling the plotlines of challenging works in compelling ways and with superb casts. Welser-Möst has also led The Cleveland Orchestra in a series of acclaimed video and other recordings, further enlarging the ensemble’s storied recorded legacy. He has advocated for a renewed and extended focus aimed at serving the people of Cleveland, through expanded education offerings and a new diversity of programming and concert formats. Special ticketing programs offer free tickets for families to bring children with them to concerts, with a notable increase of younger people attending performances — with 20% of audiences now aged 25 and younger. In the past decade, the Orchestra has also extended its work as Cleveland’s ambassador to the world, regularly showcasing its extraordinary musicianship in music capitals and at festivals and in residencies across Europe and on tour in the
About the Orchestra
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