NEWS RELEASE
Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra
in Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 at Severance Hall
on May 27, 28, and 29
CLEVELAND, April 28, 2010 – Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in concerts featuring Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in C minor at Severance Hall on Thursday, May 27; Friday, May 28; and Saturday, May 29, at 8:00 p.m.
The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst have made DVD recordings of Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 5, 7, and 9, each recorded live in a different historic venue: at the Abbey of St. Florian in Linz, Austria; at Severance Hall; and at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, respectively. These recordings are part of a long history of Bruckner symphony performances and recordings by the Orchestra. During the summer of 2011, in their first appearances as part of a new biennial residency at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival, The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst will perform concerts featuring Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 5, 7, 8, and 9.
At the May 27-29 concerts, Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony will be performed in the 1887 version, edited by Leopold Nowak. The Symphony is the only work on the program, which will be performed without intermission.
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The Cleveland Orchestra’s 2009-10 season at Severance Hall is sponsored by UBS. Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, Switzerland, UBS is a global firm providing services to private, corporate and institutional clients. Its strategy is to focus on international wealth management and the Swiss banking business alongside its global expertise in investment banking and asset management. In Switzerland, UBS is the market leader in retail and commercial banking.
UBS is a significant supporter of orchestral music globally. In addition to its season sponsorship of The Cleveland Orchestra, the firm currently sponsors several other outstanding symphony orchestras, such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and The Philadelphia Orchestra. These partnerships reflect UBS’s dedication to supporting the communities where it operates, as well as a philosophy of working collaboratively with its clients to deliver the customized solutions that help them pursue their goals.
Biographical information on Franz Welser-Möst follows.
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Ticket Prices (Add $5 for Saturday): Orchestra: $60, $41; Dress Circle: $82, $47; Balcony: $60, $47, $31.
Ticket Services
The Severance Hall Ticket Office is located in the Smith Lobby. The entrance and 15-minute Ticket Service parking are along East Boulevard.
Severance Hall Ticket Office Hours
M-F 9-6
Sat. 10-6
Closed Sundays and major holidays, except for those days with performances, when the Ticket Office opens three hours prior to the performance start time.
To charge tickets by telephone on American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard, and Visa, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at (216) 231-1111 (Cleveland) or 800-686-1141 during the regular ticket office hours listed above. Subscriptions and single tickets are also available through The Cleveland Orchestra’s website at clevelandorchestra.com. The website offers secure ticket transactions with any major credit card and provides complete concert listings.
Free Concert Previews
Concert Previews will be given prior to the May 27, 28, and 29 concerts, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The Previews, titled “Beyond the ‘Proclamation of Death’: Bruckner’s Luminous Eighth,” will be given by David Rothenberg, assistant professor of music at Case Western Reserve University. Concert Previews are designed to enrich the concert-going experience by providing historical background and critical insight into the music performed at each concert. This series is funded by a generous endowment gift from Dorothy Humel Hovorka.
Parking
For evening subscription concerts at Severance Hall, parking can be purchased for $10 per vehicle, when space permits, in the Campus Center Garage (the underground garage located directly behind Severance Hall). Pre-paid parking for the Campus Center Garage can be purchased in advance through the Ticket Office at the cost of $14 per concert (this includes City of Cleveland parking tax and handling fee). The pre-paid parking ensures patrons a parking space, but availability of these pre-paid parking passes is limited.
For further information, or to order pre-paid parking, patrons should call the Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Office during regular office hours at (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141. Pre-paid parking passes are also available online.
Calendar Listings
Thursday, May 27, at 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 28, at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 29, at 8:00 p.m.
Severance Hall
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
FRANZ WELSER-MÖST, conductor
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8
Ticket Prices: $31-$87 – Call (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or order online
Season Sponsor: UBS
Concert Preview, in Reinberger Chamber Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m.: “Beyond the ‘Proclamation of Death’: Bruckner’s Luminous Eighth”
Preview Speaker: David Rothenberg, assistant professor of music at Case Western Reserve University
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Press Contacts: Jennifer Schlosser, (216) 231-7518; Email: jschlosser@clevelandorchestra.com
Ana Papakhian, Office: (216) 231-7476; Cell phone: (216) 370-2595; Email: anap@clevelandorchestra.com
Franz Welser-Möst
Music Director
Kelvin Smith Family Endowed Chair
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst is in his eighth year as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra. His long-term commitment extends to the Orchestra’s centennial in 2018. Under his direction, the Orchestra holds residencies in the United States and Europe, champions living composers, partners with Northeast Ohio public schools and conservatories, and has re-established itself as an operatic ensemble. Concurrently with his post in Cleveland, Mr. Welser-Möst becomes General Music Director of the Vienna State Opera in the autumn of 2010.
Under Mr. Welser-Möst’s leadership, The Cleveland Orchestra holds ongoing residencies at Vienna’s famed Musikverein hall and Switzerland’s Lucerne Festival, along with an annual Miami Residency. In 2011, Mr. Welser-Möst and the Orchestra launch a biennial residency at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival, featuring The Cleveland Orchestra in Vienna State Opera productions.
Under Franz Welser-Möst, The Cleveland Orchestra has presented eleven world and fourteen United States premieres. As part of a Cleveland Orchestra cycle of the Mozart/Da Ponte operas at Severance Hall, Mr. Welser-Möst has led Zurich Opera productions of The Marriage of Figaro (2009) and Così fan tutte (2010). He and the Orchestra will conclude the Mozart/Da Ponte operas in Cleveland with Mozart’s Don Giovanni during the 2010-11 season.
Recent and upcoming international engagements include a new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle with stage director Sven-Eric Bechtolf at the Vienna State Opera. During the 2009-10 season, Mr. Welser-Möst leads additional Ring performances, as well as Wagner’s Tannhaüser and Parsifal, with the Vienna State Opera.
In the summer of 2009, Franz Welser-Möst appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, the BBC Proms, and the Lucerne Festival. He also conducted the Berlin Philharmonic at the 2009 Salzburg Easter Festival.
Following his 1989 American debut and prior to his appointment in Cleveland, Mr. Welser-Möst regularly guest-conducted the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia. Mr. Welser-Möst was music director of the London Philharmonic from 1990 to 1996. Across his decade-long tenure with the Zurich Opera, culminating in three seasons as General Music Director (2005-08), Mr. Welser-Möst led more than 40 new productions. In January 2010, he led Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten in Zurich.
Mr. Welser-Möst’s recordings and videos have won the Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, Japanese Record Academy Award, and two Grammy nominations. Mr. Welser-Möst has led The Cleveland Orchestra in video recordings of live performances of the Bruckner Symphonies Nos. 5, 7, and 9. Mr. Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra released a recording of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on Deutsche Grammophon in 2007.
Mr. Welser-Möst has been recognized by the Western Law Center for Disability Rights and is an honorary member of the Vienna Singverein. Musical America named him the 2003 Conductor of the Year.
