Among the best in the US. The Cleveland Orchestra is coming to Dvořák’s Prague
The director of the Dvořák Prague festival, which begins on Thursday, considers the performance of the Cleveland Orchestra to be the highlight of this year’s program. He will present himself in Prague’s Rudolfinum this Sunday, September 11, under the baton of his Austrian chief conductor, Franz Welser-Möst. Tickets are still available at prices from 990 to 4490 crowns.
The body returns to the Czech capital after 33 years. “Its history is connected with greats such as Erich Leinsdorf, Christoph von Dohnányi or Franz Welser-Möst, so we are talking about an extra-class conductor. Cleveland is among the ten best orchestras in the world,” says Jan Simon, pianist and director of Dvořák’s Prague. It will last until September 25.
The participation of the Cleveland Orchestra, founded in 1918, is also extraordinary because American ensembles have a strictly defined period when they can go on tour due to the concert.
Jan Simon has been the head of Dvořák’s Prague since 2019. | Photo: Petra Hajská
“Dvořák’s Prague is fortunate in terms of timing that it takes place before the start of the concert season in the United States. That is why the Cleveland Orchestra is on a European tour, where, in addition to Prague, it plays in prestigious halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic or the Vienna Musikverein,” calculates Simon.
The Prague concert will be dedicated to the music of Richard Strauss. The orchestra will perform his symphonic poems Macbeth and Enšpígel’s Mischief, and in the second half of the evening, a three-part orchestral suite from Strauss’s opera The Pink Cavalier will be performed.
“Strauss is an author for an extremely demanding orchestra, which is the lesser frequency of his works. The demands on the players are maximum, Strauss used a range of instruments beyond the laws of physics, such horn players could tell. On the other hand, The Pink Cavalier is one of the most famous operas, but it needs a great orchestra and an excellent singer,” notes Simon. The ensemble will present the same program at the Lucerne Festival or the Vienna Muzikverein.
The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918. It also has a Czech footprint. His former conductor Leinsdorf performed Symphony No. 2 by Bohuslav Martinů, which the author composed on order from the Cleveland Orchestra and was personally present at the premiere in 1943.
The Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Möst plays Strauss’s symphonic poem Enspiegel’s Mischief. Photo: Julia Wesely | Video: The Cleveland Orchestra
In 1964, Czech native Josef Suk performed Antonín Dvořák’s Violin Concerto with an ensemble in New York’s Carnegie Hall. Conductor Jakub Hrůša has collaborated with the orchestra in recent years, and recently Lukáš Vondráček performed Sergej Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with him.
“In 2020 and 2021, the covid pandemic ruined the hosting of Pittsburgh and Washington at Dvořák’s Prague. I’m glad that it will finally work out for the third time with the American orchestra, and in the best imaginable quality,” adds Jan Simon.
Franz Welser-Möst, who previously worked with the London Philharmonic Orchestra or the Vienna State Opera, has been the chief conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra since 2002, and has a contract for another five years.
In this way, he will become the longest-serving artistic director in the history of the ensembles and surpass even the famous Georg Szell, who was the music director of the New German Theater in Prague before emigrating to the USA in the 1930s. In 1946, Szell took over the Cleveland Orchestra and for the next 24 years worked hard to improve its reputation.
Under Welser-Möst’s leadership, the troupe is now gaining recognition for imaginative dramaturgy, consistent presentation of novelties and innovative work in semi-staged and staged productions of operas. It also manages to appeal to a younger audience.
The last time Czechs experienced the conductor Welser-Möst was this spring, when he performed three times at the Rudolfinum alongside the Czech Philharmonic. They had Mozart and Bruckner on the program. “Almost everywhere in the world today, you have to explain every nuance of a waltz or a march to orchestras. Unfortunately, such things are no longer taught. You don’t have to explain anything to the Czech Philharmonic, it has everything in its blood,” he told Aktuálně.cz at the time.
He attributes the fact that he lasted so long in Cleveland to the “extraordinary work environment.” He speaks of the orchestra as his family, praises the good relations with the management, the support of the locals and the fact that the ensemble accompanies the best soloists for a long time. Above all, Welser-Möst mentions artistic freedom. “In Cleveland, there’s virtually no one to talk you into the repertoire. You can play whatever you like, whether it’s a Beethoven symphony or a composition by a contemporary author like Thomas Adès. The audience just asks that you present it in the highest quality,” he added .