NEWS RELEASE
The Cleveland Orchestra and Pierre Boulez performances
to be recorded live for future television broadcast and DVD release
CLEVELAND, February 1, 2010 – The Cleveland Orchestra announces that its performances with conductor Pierre Boulez on February 11, 12, and 13 at Severance Hall in Cleveland will be recorded live by Clasart Classic, the musical arm of the Tele München Group, along with Deutsche Grammophon for future television broadcast and DVD release.
The all-Mahler program includes Gustav Mahler’s Adagio from Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major, and Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn (“The Youth’s Magic Horn”), Songs for Voice and Orchestra. Vocal soloists joining the Orchestra will be mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, in her Cleveland Orchestra debut, and baritone Christian Gerhaher.
The recording is an homage to the great turn-of-the-century composer on the 150th anniversary of his birth in 2010 and the 100th anniversary of his death in 2011. Since the 1970s at the latest, Gustav Mahler has assumed his rightful position among the giants of classical music. His orchestral songs, though less well-known than his symphonies, are late-romantic masterpieces that require top-notch soloists and an extremely responsive orchestra. Among Mahler’s orchestral songs, those of Des Knaben Wunderhorn occupy a special position: written in the 1890s, they are of groundbreaking importance in his oeuvre, since they helped establish a genre that had few precedents before him. Moreover, they also served as sources of inspiration, both musical and poetic, for the symphonies he wrote during this time.
These performances take place during Pierre Boulez’s second of two weeks of Cleveland Orchestra concerts marking his 85th birthday year and the 45th anniversary year of his American professional orchestra debut with The Cleveland Orchestra. Among Mr. Boulez’s many recordings with The Cleveland Orchestra, five have won Grammy Awards, including the 1969 award in the “Best Classical Performance, Orchestra” category, for their album including Debussy’s Images.
The recording is a coproduction between Clasart Classic, ARTE, and Deutsche Grammophon. The production will be directed by William Cosel. Mr. Cosel has more than four decades of experience as a producer and director for a variety of broadcast media. As a producer at WGBH in Boston, Mr. Cosel produced the station’s Evening At Popsbroadcasts for three decades. As a freelance producer-director, his work includes Andrea Bocelli: Sacred Arias from the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome, Italy; In Performance at the White House hosted by James Naughton, with Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Jennifer Holliday; and The Three Tenors with Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti, recorded at Giants Stadium.
Cleveland Orchestra Recordings During The 2009-10 Season
The Orchestra will also record its performances under Pierre Boulez’s baton February 4, 6 and 7, 2010, at Severance Hall, for future release on the Deutsche Grammophon label. The disc will include Pierre-Laurent Aimard performing piano concertos by Maurice Ravel, as well as solo piano works, also to be recorded at Severance Hall.
The video recording follows The Cleveland Orchestra’s acclaimed DVD recordings of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 (recorded live at Severance Hall and released in October 2009); Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5 (at the Abbey of St. Florian near Linz, Austria) and Symphony No. 9 (at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria) by the Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst.
In its February 2010 issue, BBC Music Magazine featured the Orchestra’s recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 (also directed by William Cosel) as a “DVD Choice.” The Cleveland Orchestra’s recording of Mozart’s Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 24 with Mitsuko Uchida performing as soloist and conductor has received critical acclaim since its release by Decca Music Group in September 2009. Gramophone named the recording “Editor’s Choice” in December 2009.
The Cleveland Orchestra has a long and distinguished history of audio recordings, and a number of upcoming media projects scheduled for the remainder of this season. The Orchestra’s February 2010 performances conducted by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst will be recorded live for future release on the Deutsche Grammophon label. The all-Wagner disc will include Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Songs, with soprano Measha Brueggergosman as soloist.
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Media Contacts: Jennifer Schlosser, (216) 231-7518; Email; or
Ana Papakhian, Office: (216) 231-7476; Cell phone: (216) 370-2595; Email
