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Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet DECEMBER 7 & 9, 2023
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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
Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Thursday, December 7, 2023, at 7:30 PM Saturday, December 9, 2023, at 8 PM
Semyon Bychkov, conductor Julian Anderson (b. 1967)
Symphony No. 2, “Prague Panoramas”
35 minutes
I. Feroce, energico II. Tempo Fluido III. Adagio misterioso US Premiere, co-commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra
Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959)
I N TERMIS SI ON
20 minutes
Concerto for Two Pianos, H. 292
30 minutes
I. Allegro non troppo II. Adagio III. Allegro Katia & Marielle Labèque, pianos
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)
Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy
20 minutes
Total approximate running time: 1 hour 45 minutes
COVER: PHOTO BY PETR KADLEC
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AN I N TRO DU C TION
PHOTO BY JOSEF SUDEK/ONLANDSCAPE.CO.UK
IN 1959 , the Czech photographer
Josef Sudek (1896–1976) published a book of photographs of the country’s capital, titled Prague Panoramic. Considered his masterpiece, the book captures the city in romantic, elongated landscapes of its stately squares, Baroque architecture, and the meandering Vltava River. The images made an impression on Grawemeyer Award–winning composer Julian Anderson, who saw them displayed in a London gallery exhibition. In an interview from 2022, Anderson remembers being struck by “the unreal detail of [the photographs]. … It has the most uncanny effect when you see it. It sort of seems to gyrate and move. Everything seems to be in motion. You seem to be thrust into the landscape, and also I thought it looked like an orchestra because of the panoramic quality because an orchestra is 180 degrees as it’s laid out on stage.” This weekend, The Cleveland Orchestra presents the US premiere of Anderson’s Symphony No. 2, “Prague Panoramas,” which opens this Czechinclined program, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, who is in his sixth clevelandorchestra.com
Composer Julian Anderson found Josef Sudek’s photographs, such as this panorama of Prague Castle, inherently musical.
season as chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. From Anderson’s visions of Prague, we proceed to Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů’s exposure to American culture. In 1941, Martinů (1890–1959) — a contemporary of Sudek — arrived in the States, fleeing the German army. While there he encountered popular and jazz music as well as a network of supportive composers and musicians. These influences from his newfound country come to the surface of Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos, written in 1943, and performed by the dynamic piano duo of Katia and Marielle Labèque. And to conclude, a Russian interpretation of an English play set in Italy: Tchaikovsky’s beloved Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy. It took two rewrites over a full decade for Tchaikovsky to distill Shakespeare’s tragedy into a 20minute masterpiece, but what an accomplishment. More than 150 years later, its love theme still sends hearts soaring. — Amanda Angel | 3
TH E MUSI C
Symphony No. 2, “Prague Panoramas” by Julian Anderson BORN : April 6, 1967, in London
▶ COMPOSED: 2019–22 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: August 5, 2022, with Semyon Bychkov leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra at London’s Royal Albert Hall ▶ This weekend’s presentations mark the US premiere of Anderson’s Symphony No. 2, commissioned by the Munich Philharmonic, BBC Radio 3, and The Cleveland Orchestra with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst. ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 4 flutes (2nd and 3rd doubling piccolo and alto flute; 4th doubling bass flute), 3 oboes (2nd and 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, percussion (bass drum, church bells, tuned Thai gong, ocean drum, vibraphone, marimba, cymbals, whip, tubular bells, hand bells, sleigh bells, glockenspiel, side drum, triangles, tam-tams, crotales), piano (doubling celesta), 2 harps, and strings ▶ DURATION: about 35 minutes
“A SYMPHONY FOR ME MEANS CONTRAST,”
Julian Anderson told Michael Small, a fellow composer, in a video interview posted on YouTube in July 2022. “It means integrating contrast,” he amended himself instantly. The timing of the conversation was auspicious. Anderson, one of England’s most internationally renowned and celebrated composers, had started his second symphony in 2019, responding to a commission from BBC Radio 3, The Cleveland Orchestra, and the Munich Philharmonic. But with the following year came the worldwide Covid-19 4 | 2023/2024 SEASON
pandemic, with its litanies of loss and surfeit of scheduling delays. The work finally had a partial premiere in Munich in January 2022, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, who would lead the first complete performances in August of that year. Current global events, including the pandemic and conflict aroused by migration, likely had exerted some influence on another of Anderson’s compositions: Exiles (2021), for chorus and orchestra, in which the composer reacted to his then-recent discovery of extended family Composer Julian Anderson won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in 2023.
PHOTO BY JOHN BATTEN
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THE MUS I C
lished a flourishing commercial career members killed during the Holocaust. alongside his artistic pursuits. Focusing on the experience of the In a note meant to accompany his new survivors who left their homelands, symphony, Anderson says he was captiAnderson explains in his composer’s vated by a book of Sudek’s photographs, note that the piece celebrates “the Prague Panoramic, from the time he vibrancy that humans gain from sharing first saw it, more than 16 years ago. That our creativity, and the richness that this new piece would be written for and arises when people move to different dedicated to Semyon Bychkov, who in countries.” 2018 became the chief conductor and Traveling to new places, whether music director of the storied Czech actual or imagined, is a longtime Philharmonic, emboldened Anderson preoccupation for Anderson — a pento compose his impressions of Sudek’s chant extended by his Symphony No. 2, extraordinary images. subtitled “Prague Panoramas.” Previous Perhaps paradoxically, those photos — examples include Alhambra Fantasy (2000), a dazzling paean to the Alhambra and by extension the sensibility Sudek palace in Granada, Spain, and Symphony infused into them — are the sum of Anderson’s experience of Prague, a city No. 1 (2003), a potent evocation of the he has never visited despite repeatedly painting Morning by a Lake by Finnish planning to do so. “I will not be surartist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (a friend prised if Czechs say they cannot hear of composer Jean Sibelius). Prague in it at all,” he said last year in Like Alhambra Fantasy, Anderson’s a Financial Times interview. Symphony No. 2 is inspired by a real Certainly Czech listeners would place, the city of Prague. Like his earlier recognize at least one feature of symphony, though, “Prague Panoramas” Anderson’s symphony: two traditional was prompted by the work of a specific artist: Czech photographer Josef Sudek “Saint Wenceslas” hymns that provide germinal material for brass motifs and (1896–1976), whose black-and-white wind refrains. The contrast Anderson images of his studio and garden, the city mentioned in his video interview is of Prague, and the Bohemian woods are evident instantly in the sharply etched suffused with light in a manner borderrhythms and vivid colors that announce ing on the supernatural. the first movement — at once a striking Initially a bookbinder and amateur photographer, Sudek was wounded while departure from Sudek’s moody blackand-white images and an affirmation of serving in the Austro-Hungarian Army the vitality beneath their monochrome during World War I, and lost part of his surfaces. Prague’s famous bridges right arm as a result of his injuries. He inspired the steely architecture. Bell went on to study photography formally tones, another longtime fascination for in Prague during the 1920s and estab6 | 2023/2024 SEASON
Anderson due to their overtone-rich sonority, provide a fitting climax. Bells return in an extended, episodic second movement: both literally, and in melodies and harmonies derived from spectral analysis of a specific bell in Prague. Anderson introduces the movement with a rich chord illustrating his notion of “spectral minor” harmony, an ambiguous confluence of notes meant to evoke Sudek’s nocturnal imagery. An arresting duo for English horns attests to Anderson’s love for the instrument, while also nodding to a Czech precursor: Josef Suk’s tone poem A Summer’s Tale, which also features an uncommon duet for that instrument. “The second movement is a nocturne, and effectively the music goes to sleep at the end of it,” Anderson told interviewer Small. “So I thought at the start of the third movement it should wake up.” Embedded within a muzzy sensation of awakening are fleeting hints of other pieces: some of Czech origin, like Dvořák, Janáček, and Smetana; others purely referential, like a bit of Mozart’s Prague-born opera Don Giovanni. Brawling episodes meant to evoke illustrations by Czech artist Josef Lada (1887–1957) are balanced with gentler, more lyrical music, including a singsong triple-meter coda — one final example of the contrast that, for Anderson, defines what a symphony is. — Steve Smith
Composer’s Note
I have admired Josef Sudek’s book Prague Panoramic since I first saw it 16 years ago. The breadth and sweep of his astonishingly beautiful panoramic photographs evoke orchestral sonorities every time I look at them. An important aspect of the photographs which gives them a somewhat surreal quality is their lack of a single focal point — everything is in sharp focus, no matter how vast the panoramas. For my work, I have selected a number of the most striking images. I find them a hugely stimulating source of creative energy and intensity. If ever there was a musical book of photographs, this is it. — Julian Anderson
Steve Smith is a journalist, critic, and editor based in New York City. He has written about music for The New York Times and The New Yorker Yorker, and served as an editor for the Boston Globe Globe, Time Out New York York, and NPR.
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THE MUS I C
Concerto for Two Pianos, H. 292 by Bohuslav Martinů BORN : December 8, 1890, in Polička, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) DIED : August 28, 1959, in Liestal, Switzerland
▶ COMPOSED: 1943 ▶ WORLD PREMIERE: November 5, 1943, with pianists Pierre Luboshutz and Genia Nemenoff, and Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra ▶ This weekend’s performances mark the first presentations of Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos by The Cleveland Orchestra. ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, percussion (bass drum, snare drum, military drum, cymbals, tam-tam, tambourine, triangle), and strings, plus 2 solo pianos ▶ DURATION: about 30 minutes
ON MARCH 31, 1941 , the SS Exeter ocean liner docked at Ellis Island, just outside New York City. On board was Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů and his wife, French seamstress Charlotte Quennehen. Though grateful for a safe arrival, the storm-ridden ocean journey had done little to quell the worries of recent months. A year prior, Martinů was enjoying a productive career in Paris, where he had lived and worked since 1923. But in June 1940, the German army advanced toward Paris, and Martinů — now a target of Nazi censorship for supporting the Czech resistance — was forced to flee. The couple traveled to Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, staying for six months before securing passage to the US from Portugal.
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Breaking into the American cultural scene was challenging at first. Limited finances and the language barrier often made finding work an uphill battle, a situation that was not uncommon for the thousands of European refugees — many composers, conductors, and performers among them — who immigrated to the US throughout the 1930s and ’40s. But Martinů soon found a network of musical friends and advocates who supported his work, including The Cleveland Orchestra. (The Orchestra premiered three of Martinů’s works over the years: the Rhapsody-Concerto, Second Symphony, and orchestral prelude The Rock.) French pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque were praised in the press for the “necessary verve and rumbustious energy” they brought to Martinů’s Concerto for Two Pianos.
PHOTO BY UMBERTO NICOLETTI
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THE MUS I C
10 | 2023/2024 SEASON
Pianists Pierre Luboshutz and Genia Nemenoff pose with Bohuslav Martinů (right) in Philadelphia in 1943, as they prepare the world premiere of the Concerto for Two Pianos.
duo, Janine Reding and Henri Piette — continued to champion it in following years, leading one critic to declare, “This concerto will be like the Tour de France; it’s going on a Tour du monde.” Martinů wrote of his concerto, “The work was written under terrible circumstances, but the emotions it voices are not those of despair, but rather of revolt, courage, and unshakable faith in the future.” Indeed, the work’s opening only hints at these “terrible circumstances,” with an orchestral crash followed by a whirlwind of sound from the two pianos. But the mood does not linger for long. The soloists soon introduce bright, folk-inflected music that bubbles with
PHOTO OWNER: BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ CENTRE IN POLIČKA
The Concerto for Two Pianos is a product of Martinů’s remarkably fruitful American period (1941–53), which saw the creation of two operas, six symphonies, numerous concertos, and an assortment of chamber works. In 1942, while teaching composition at Tanglewood, Martinů heard the husband-wife piano duo of Pierre Luboshutz and Genia Nemenoff perform Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos (K. 365). Inspired, Martinů struck up a friendship with the couple and proposed writing his own two-piano concerto for them, to which they agreed. The work was composed quickly in the first months of 1943 and saw its premiere later that year at Carnegie Hall with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Martinů’s concerto was well received, and Luboshutz and Nemenoff — alongside another husband-wife piano
playful energy and virtuosic tricks as the orchestra provides amicable support. Though the turbulent, swirling music of the opening does return, soloists and orchestra ultimately sweep this aside and the movement ends with a grin. Throughout the work, the dialogue between soloists and orchestra is reminiscent of a Baroque-era concerto grosso, where passages for soloists are interspersed with commentary from the larger ensemble. This is particularly apparent in the spellbinding Adagio. The movement opens with a dreamy solo passage for the pianos alone before pairs of clarinets and bassoons respond with a reflective interlude. This back-and-forth continues as increasingly larger groups of instruments answer the pianos’ queries. Much of the piano music in this movement is written without a time signature or barlines, giving the solo moments a freer, almost improvisatory quality, but orchestra and soloists soon align to whip up another small tempest. As with the first movement, the storm subsides, and the movement ends with a wistful sigh, punctuated by the bright tinkling of the triangle.
The third movement returns to the unabashedly cheerful quality of the opening. A buoyant tune in 3/8 time bursts onto the scene, played by the full orchestra, before the spotlight is handed over to the pianos. Though the soloists’ material is initially different — rapidly ping-ponging back and forth between their respective instruments — this quickly morphs into the melody heard at the outset of the movement. At one point, Martinů makes a sneaky switch to a sturdier 2/4 meter. Here, rhythmic syncopations and tight harmonies — couched in the fiendishly difficult solo parts — create evocations of American popular music, namely jazz. This wild energy eventually fades into a brief cadenza for the soloists. Hints of the dreamlike second movement can be heard at first, but the dance rhythms linger persistently in the background. Unable to contain the energy, the pianists unleash a flurry of notes and the whole ensemble races to a triumphant finish. — Kevin McBrien Kevin McBrien is The Cleveland Orchestra’s editorial assistant. He holds a PhD in musicology from UC Santa Barbara and has written program notes for the Aspen Music Festival and School, Seattle Symphony, and Philharmonic Society of Orange County.
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THE MUS I C
Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky BORN : May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia DIED : November 6, 1893, in St. Petersburg
▶ COMPOSED: 1869–70, revised 1880
▶ CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA PREMIERE: December 3, 1919, under Nikolai Sokoloff ▶ ORCHESTRATION: 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (cymbals, bass drum), harp, and strings ▶ DURATION: about 20 minutes
THE IDEA TO WRITE an orchestral work
based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet was not Tchaikovsky’s own but came instead from Mily Balakirev, the intellectual leader of a group of composers known by a number of nicknames, including the Mighty Handful or the Russian Five. The group also included Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, and César Cui. Balakirev was just a few years older than Tchaikovsky and the rest of the Five. Yet he had an acute critical mind and charisma that made him the unofficial leader of his generation. Although he composed a great deal himself, he was often far more important as a catalyst who inspired others and prodded them to write the works he himself was incapable of writing. 12 | 2023/2024 SEASON
Tchaikovsky had studied Balakirev’s collection of Russian folk songs and arranged two dozen of them for piano duet. He also submitted his own symphonic poem, Fatum, to Balakirev, who conducted it in St. Petersburg — and then tore it to shreds in a letter to the composer. In 1869, Balakirev was inspired to write a King Lear overture and suggested that Tchaikovsky tackle an orchestral piece based on another Shakespearean play: Romeo and Juliet. He gave the younger composer precise instructions on how to go about the project, including four measures of music that he thought should start the piece and a structural outline complete with a sequence of themes, modulation plan, and other technical details. Tchaikovsky didn’t use the suggested
1063170_Cleveland Orchestra_Week 8_sw
▶ WORLD PREMIERE: March 16, 1870, in Moscow with Nikolai Rubinstein conducting. Tchaikovsky revised the piece twice, and the final version was premiered in 1886.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
opening measures, but in other respects he followed Balakirev’s advice rather closely. He even sent his mentor the musical themes from his new piece for approval. Balakirev replied, “the first theme is not at all to my taste,” but he found the great love theme “simply delightful.” Tchaikovsky was careful not to show Balakirev the entire work until after he had heard it performed the way he had written it. After the March 1870 premiere, Tchaikovsky followed up on the older man’s criticisms. He threw out the theme that Balakirev didn’t like, wrote a new introduction, and revised the development and the coda. He then sent this new version to Balakirev, who shared it with his circle. The influential critic Vladimir Stasov, a central figure associated with the Five, exclaimed: “There were five of you; now you are six!” This judgement was premature, for Tchaikovsky followed his own artistic path — and the Five became less important as Balakirev’s influence decreased in the 1870s. By the time Tchaikovsky returned to Romeo and Juliet to revise it further in 1880, he was a mature composer who, although always sensitive to criticism, no longer depended on advice. He undertook some further cutting and pasting on his own, resulting in the final form of what is universally considered his first masterpiece. The Overture-Fantasy begins with a musical portrait of Friar Laurence (a very Russian Friar Laurence, one might add, with a slow chorale melody tinged with clevelandorchestra.com
Tchaikovsky, depicted in the mid 1870s, in between his first and second revisions of his Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy.
some typically Russian polyphonic motifs). A brief transition leads to a stormy Allegro theme evoking the feud of the Montagues and the Capulets in an almost graphic way through the rapid alternations of the string and wind sections. The development leads to a climactic point where the “feud” music is combined with the Friar Laurence theme, played fortissimo by the brass. The recapitulation reworks the love theme, revealing its hidden connections with the “feud” music. In the final section (Moderato assai), the love theme comes to a tragic conclusion, consistent with Shakespeare’s play. — Peter Laki Peter Laki is a musicologist and frequent lecturer on classical music, and a visiting associate professor at Bard College.
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TH E CO N DU C TOR
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Semyon Bychkov Semyon Bychkov’s 2022–23 season, his fifth as chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic, opened with the official concert to mark the Czech Republic’s presidency of the Council of the European Union and continued at the Prague International Music Festival with concert performances of Dvořák’s Rusalka. Over the last two years, the focus of Bychkov’s work with the Czech Philharmonic has turned to the music of Gustav Mahler with performances of the symphonies at the Rudofinum, on tour, and ultimately on disc for Pentatone. In 1989, Bychkov was named music director of the Orchestre de Paris; in 1997, chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne; and the following year, chief conductor of the Dresden Semperoper. He also enjoyed success in the US as music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Bychkov’s symphonic and operatic repertoire is wide ranging. He conducts in all the major opera houses including La Scala, Opéra national de Paris, Dresden Semperoper, Wiener Staatsoper, the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, and Teatro Real. Recent productions include Parsifal at the Bayreuth Festival, Elektra in Vienna, Rusalka in London, and Tristan und Isolde in Madrid. On the concert stage, Bychkov has appeared with the London Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, Berlin and Vienna philclevelandorchestra.com
harmonics, and the Orchestre National de France. In the US, he can be heard with The Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. Bychkov’s 13-year collaboration with the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne produced a series of benchmark recordings that included works by Richard Strauss, Mahler, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Verdi, Brahms, Detlev Glanert, and York Höller. His recording of Wagner’s Lohengrin was BBC Music Magazine’s Record of the Year in 2010. In 2015, Bychkov was named Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards. He received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Academy of Music in July 2022 and the award for Conductor of the Year from Musical America in October 2022. | 19
TH E ARTISTS
PHOTO BY UMBERTO NICOLETTI
Katia & Marielle Labèque, pianos Katia and Marielle Labèque are sibling pianists renowned for their synchronicity and energy. They have played with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and Vienna Philharmonic, under the direction of John Adams, Semyon Bychkov, Gustavo Dudamel, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Michael Tilson Thomas. They have also appeared with Baroque ensembles such as the English Baroque Soloists, Musica Antiqua Köln, Il Pomo d’Oro, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. The Labèques have worked with many composers including Thomas Adès, Louis Andriessen, Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, Osvaldo Golijov, György Ligeti, and Olivier Messiaen. They presented the world premieres of Philip Glass’s Double Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bryce Dessner’s Concerto for Two Pianos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Nico Muhly’s In Certain Circles with the Orchestre de Paris and New York Philharmonic. The Labèques play in renowned venues worldwide including the Vienna Musikverein, Hamburg Musikhalle, La Scala, Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, and at the Blossom, Lucerne, Ravinia, Tanglewood, and Salzburg festivals. clevelandorchestra.com
More than 33,000 people attended a gala concert at which they performed with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, at Berlin’s Waldbühne in 2005 (available on DVD by EuroArts). A record audience of more than 100,000 saw them play at the Vienna Summer Night Concert at Schönbrunn in 2016 (available on CD and DVD by Sony), and more than 1.5 million viewers followed the event on television. Together with Bryce Dessner and David Chalmin, they created the Dream House Quartet, touring the US last April. Their project Electric Fields with Barbara Hannigan was premiered at Walt Disney Concert Hall last season. They are currently working on their next project with stage director Cyril Teste, Trilogie Cocteau/Glass, to be premiered in March 2024 at the Philharmonie de Paris. | 21
T H E A R T I S T R E C I TA L S E R I E S AT O B E R L I N
Give the gift of music this season! Concert tickets are the perfect gift for the music lover in your life. Choose single tickets or a Pick Three Subscription and save! Tickets: $10–$35
Trey McLaughlin and The Sounds of Zamar Experience the music with this renowned gospel/neo-soul collective. Saturday, February 10, 7:30 p.m., Finney Chapel
Artemis Don’t miss these electrifying modern jazz masters. Wednesday, March 13, 7:30 p.m., Finney Chapel
Silkroad Ensemble with Wu Man and Pure Fé It’s a musical journey that connects the music of indigenous North America to the world. Friday, April 26, 7:30 p.m., Finney Chapel
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Imani Winds With cellist Seth Parker Woods, pianist Cory Smythe, and actor Michael Braugher '14, performing Jeff Scott’s Fallen Petals of Nameless Flowers Thursday, March 7, 7:30 p.m., Warner Concert Hall
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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.
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TH E CLEV EL A N D ORCHESTR A
Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director KELVIN SMITH FAMILY CHAIR FIRST VIOLINS
Sonja Braaten Molloy
Ralph Curry
ENGLISH HORN
David Radzynski
Carolyn Gadiel Warner
CONCERTMASTER
Elayna Duitman
Brian Thornton William P. Blair III Chair
Ioana Missits
David Alan Harrell
Robert Walters Samuel C. and Bernette K. Jaffe Chair
Jeffrey Zehngut
Martha Baldwin
Sae Shiragami
Dane Johansen
Kathleen Collins
Paul Kushious
Beth Woodside
BASSES
Emma Shook Dr. Jeanette Grasselli Brown and Dr. Glenn R. Brown Chair
Maximilian Dimoff* Clarence T. Reinberger Chair
Blossom-Lee Chair
Jung-Min Amy Lee ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER
Gretchen D. and Ward Smith Chair
Jessica Lee ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER
Clara G. and George P. Bickford Chair
Yun-Ting Lee
Stephen Tavani
Jiah Chung Chapdelaine
ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER
Liyuan Xie
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
VIOLAS Wesley Collins* Chaillé H. and Richard B. Tullis Chair
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
Lynne Ramsey1 Charles M. and Janet G. Kimball 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
Eli Matthews1 Patricia M. Kozerefski and Richard J. Bogomolny 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 Michael Sachs* Robert and Eunice Podis Weiskopf Chair
Richard Stout
LIBRARIANS
CONDUCTORS
Michael Ferraguto Joe and Marlene Toot Chair
Christoph von Dohnányi
Donald Miller
Daniel Reith
Jack Sutte
TUBA
Lyle Steelman2 James P. and Dolores D. Storer Chair
Yasuhito Sugiyama* Nathalie C. Spence and Nathalie S. Boswell Chair
ENDOWED CHAIRS CURRENTLY UNOCCUPIED
Michael Miller
TIMPANI
Elizabeth Ring and William Gwinn Mather Chair
CORNETS Michael Sachs* Mary Elizabeth and G. Robert Klein Chair Michael Miller
PHOTO BY ROGER MASTROIANNI
EUPHONIUM & BASS TRUMPET
vacant
PERCUSSION Marc Damoulakis* Margaret Allen Ireland Chair Thomas Sherwood
TROMBONES
Tanner Tanyeri
Brian Wendel* Gilbert W. and Louise I. Humphrey Chair
KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS
Richard Stout Alexander and Marianna C. McAfee Chair Shachar Israel2
clevelandorchestra.com
Carolyn Gadiel Warner Marjory and Marc L. Swartzbaugh Chair
MUSIC DIRECTOR LAUREATE
ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR
Virginia M. Linsdseth, PhD, Chair
Sidney and Doris Dworkin Chair
Lisa Wong DIRECTOR OF CHORUSES
Frances P. and Chester C. Bolton Chair
Paul and Lucille Jones Chair James and Donna Reid Chair Sunshine Chair Otto G. and Corinne T. Voss Chair Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Smucker Chair Rudolf Serkin 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.
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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
FALL
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
DEC 7 & 9 TCHAIKOVSKY’S ROMEO & JULIET Semyon Bychkov, conductor Katia Labèque, piano Marielle Labèque, piano JULIAN ANDERSON Symphony No. 2, “Prague Panoramas” MARTINŮ Concerto for Two Pianos TCHAIKOVSKY Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy Pre-concert lecture by Caroline Oltmanns
JAN 11 – 13 THE MIRACULOUS MANDARIN KŘENEK Kleine Symphonie MAHLER Adagio from Symphony No. 10 BARTÓK String Quartet No. 3 (arr. for string orchestra) BARTÓK Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin Pre-concert lecture by Kevin McBrien
JAN 17 & 18 PROKOFIEV 2 & 5 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 DEC 13 – 23 HOLIDAY CONCERTS Brett Mitchell, conductor Capathia Jenkins, vocalist The Cleveland Orchestra Choruses Wooster Chorus and CSU Chorale A FESTIVE SELECTION OF SEASONAL FAVORITES
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
FEB 9 – 11 BEETHOVEN’S FATEFUL FIFTH Herbert Blomstedt, conductor 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 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 James Wilding
FEB 22 – 25 BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL Philippe Herreweghe, conductor Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello BEETHOVEN Overture to Egmont HAYDN Cello Concerto No. 1 BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral” 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
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
For tickets & more information visit:
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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
SPRING MAR 21 – 23 SIBELIUS’S SECOND SYMPHONY 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
MAY 2 – 4 LANG LANG PLAYS SAINT-SAËNS
Klaus Mäkelä, conductor Sol Gabetta, cello Thomas Hampson, baritone * The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus *
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor Lang Lang, piano *
JIMMY LÓPEZ BELLIDO Perú negro ELGAR Cello Concerto WALTON Belshazzar’s Feast * Pre-concert lecture by James Wilding
APR 14 RECITAL
Schumann & Brahms Evgeny Kissin, piano Matthias Goerne, baritone R . SCHUMANN Dichterliebe BRAHMS Four Ballades, Op. 10 BRAHMS Selected Songs
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
SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 2 * BERLIOZ Symphonie fantastique Pre-concert lecture by Caroline Oltmanns
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
* Not performed on the Friday matinee concert
Pre-concert lecture by James O’Leary
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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.
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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.
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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.
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