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THE CLEVELANDERS
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His manner and method may not have endeared Szell to every player (or listener), but the results spoke for themselves. "Although he appeared with almost all the great orchestras of the world, the Cleveland Orchestra, which he built and trained, remained the ideal instrument for his expression," Michael Charry, a former assistant conductor of the orchestra during the Szell years, has written. "The qualities he imbued in the Cleveland Orchestra, its refinement and power, its reflection of his ideal of chamber music clarity, remains to this day as a characteristic of this great ensemble after more than a quarter of a century and three subsequent music directors."
The first of those subsequent music directors was Lorin Maazel, appointed in 1972 despite the objections of the players. The brilliant conductor went on to enjoy a notable decade of music-making with the ensemble, much of it documented on record. Exploration of contemporary works increased significantly under Maazel's guidance. He applied his own brand of fine-tuning to the ensemble (along with his own highly personal interpretive ideas), and the Cleveland Orchestra continued to enjoy its elite status.
German-born conductor Christoph von Dohnányi, a musician of impeccable taste and inspirational interpretations, wrote his chapter in the Cleveland Orchestra's illustrious history during a distinguished tenure from 1984 to 2002. He increased the orchestra's presence abroad, notably with regular appearances at the Salzburg Festival. Additions to the organization's extensive discography were also part of the Dohnányi years, as was a much-heralded renovation project at Severance Hall.
Since succeeding Dohnányi in 2002, Austrian conductor Franz Welser-Möst has helped make the Cleveland Orchestra even more of a regular presence in Europe, where it has established almost a second home in Vienna. And this season, he'll lead the musicians in another home away from home, the new Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, where the orchestra will spend three weeks each season over the next decade. It will be interesting to see how his tenure continues to develop; his contract runs through 2012.
Over the decades, the city of Cleveland, like so many other metropolitan areas, has had its ups and downs, but it has had the benefit of a constant source of pleasure and pride in the Cleveland Orchestra. It's likely to continue reaping that benefit for a very long time to come.
Top banner photos: Soprano Dorothea Röschmann and Franz Welser-Möst with the Cleveland Orchestra (photos by Joe Sinnott); Carnegie Hall exterior (photo by Don Perdue).
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The Cleveland Orchestra (photo by Joe Sinnott). |
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The gala was hosted by Paula Zahn (photo by Joe Sinnott). |
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No CD or DVD available. |
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