News Release
The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst
invite public to experience the recording of live performances
of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8
Free performances on August 11 and 12
WVIZ/PBS ideastream® will record at Severance Hall for next DVD in the Orchestra’s Bruckner series
Franz Welser-Möst
Photo by Roger Mastroianni
CLEVELAND, July 23, 2010 – The Cleveland Orchestra will open Severance Hall for free performances of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 on Wednesday, August 11, and Thursday, August 12, at 8:00 p.m. The performances offer the public a chance to see and hear the recording process for a DVD and television broadcast, which WVIZ/PBS ideastream® is recording for the fourth DVD in a series featuring Music Director Franz Welser-Möst and the Orchestra performing Bruckner in historic venues.
In a Concert Preview each evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Concert Hall, Franz Welser-Möst and William Cosel, director of the Bruckner 8 DVD project, will be joined in conversation by Dee Perry, host of WCPN’s “Around Noon” and WVIZ’s “Applause.” Also at each preview, Cleveland Orchestra Principal Keyboard Joela Jones will perform a solo organ work by Charles Ives that she will perform at the Edinburgh Festival during the first concert of the Orchestra’s upcoming European tour.
When the Orchestra’s DVD of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 was released, BBC Magazine called it “a wonderful performance of Bruckner’s most popular symphony.” The Bruckner 7 performance is being telecast nationally on PBS over the summer and fall of 2010.
The Severance Hall program on August 11 and 12 features Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 performed in the 1887 revised version, edited by Leopold Nowak.
General admission tickets are available free to the public at clevelandorchestra.com and at the Severance Hall Ticket Office.
About the Bruckner Connection
Like Bruckner, Franz Welser-Möst was born in Linz. He has a long, critically acclaimed association with the Austrian composer’s symphonies. Over the next 12 months, primarily during Mr. Welser-Möst’s ninth season as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra, he will lead the Orchestra in a total of 17 Bruckner performances in Ohio, Scotland, Switzerland, and Japan, as well as in New York City.
The New York performances of Bruckner celebrate the Orchestra’s debut at the Lincoln Center Festival, where it begins an ongoing biennial residency in summer 2011 – the festival’s first multi-year commitment to a visiting orchestra. In 2011, Franz Welser-Möst will lead four concerts at the Lincoln Center Festival, to include Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 5, 7, 8, and 9. The residency continues in 2013 with an opera production performed in conjunction with the Vienna State Opera, where Mr. Welser-Möst becomes General Music Director in September 2010.
Upcoming live Bruckner performances by The Cleveland Orchestra
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August 11, 2010
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Severance Hall
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Symphony No. 8
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August 12, 2010
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Severance Hall
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Symphony No. 8
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August 17, 2010
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Edinburgh
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Symphony No. 8
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August 27, 2010
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Lucerne
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Symphony No. 8
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September 30, 2010
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Severance Hall
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Symphony No. 7
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October 2, 2010
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Severance Hall
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Symphony No. 7
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November 17, 2010
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Tokyo
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Symphony No. 7
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November 21, 2010
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Seoul
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Symphony No. 7
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May 12, 2011
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Severance Hall
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Symphony No. 5
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May 13, 2011
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Severance Hall
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Symphony No. 5
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May 14, 2011
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Severance Hall
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Symphony No. 5
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July 9, 2011
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Blossom Festival
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Symphony No. 8
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July 10, 2011
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Blossom Festival
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Symphony No. 7
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July 2011
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New York City
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Symphony No. 5
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Symphony No. 7
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Symphony No. 8
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Symphony No. 9
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Clasart is producing the DVD of the Symphony No. 8 recording, which will be distributed by Arthaus. The Cleveland Orchestra and Clasart have had a long-term partnership resulting in all three previous Bruckner DVDs. The Cleveland Orchestra acknowledges both Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich and Clasart for their generous support of the DVD release.
About Franz Welser-Möst
Born in Linz, Austria, Franz Welser-Möst often performs and records the music of Bruckner – who famously served as organist at the Abbey of St. Florian, just outside Linz. Mr. Welser-Möst has led The Cleveland Orchestra in video recordings of live performances of three Bruckner symphonies made in historic concert venues: Symphony No. 5 in the Abbey of St. Florian, Symphony No. 7 in Severance Hall, and Symphony No. 9 in Vienna’s Musikverein.
Franz Welser-Möst has a long-term commitment extending to the Orchestra’s centennial in 2018. Under his direction, the Orchestra holds residencies in the United States and Europe, champions living composers, and has re-established itself as an important operatic ensemble. In September 2010, as Mr. Welser-Möst begins his ninth season as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra, he will begin serving concurrently as General Music Director of the Vienna State Opera.
In 2008, Mr. Welser-Möst led The Cleveland Orchestra in five sold-out performances of Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Salzburg Festival. During the 2010-11 season, their operatic work continues as they complete their series of Mozart/Da Ponte operas in Cleveland with a Zurich Opera production of Don Giovanni. This follows Severance Hall sold-out performances of Zurich productions of The Marriage of Figaro (2008-09) and Così fan tutte (2009-10).
In June, Franz Welser-Möst conducted the Vienna Philharmonic’s outdoor Sommernachts concert at Schönbrunn Palace and, in 2011, he conducts the orchestra’s world-renowned concerts celebrating the New Year. At the Vienna State Opera, Mr. Welser-Möst has recently led a new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle with stage director Sven-Eric Bechtolf and conducted Wagner’s Tannhäuser and Parsifal, in addition to leading the Vienna Philharmonic at the Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival, and in a special concert in Vienna to mark the 150th anniversary of the Vienna Singverein.
Mr. Welser-Möst’s recording with soprano Measha Brueggergosman and The Cleveland Orchestra of the Wesendonck Lieder and a collection of operatic orchestral music by Wagner was released on Deutsche Grammophon in 2010, following Mr. Welser-Möst’s DG recording with The Cleveland Orchestra of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 2007. Mr. Welser-Möst’s recordings and videos have won the Gramophone Award, Diapason d’Or, Japanese Record Academy Award, and two Grammy nominations.
About WVIZ/PBS ideastream®
WVIZ/PBS, Northeast Ohio’s public television station, is part of ideastream, a non-profit organization that applies the power of multiple media to education, culture, and citizenship. In addition to WVIZ/PBS, ideastream includes 90.3 WCPN, WVIZ/DT (high definition), education and public service cable channels, broadband interactive video distance learning, and the internet. ideastream creates several hours a day of award-winning programming for distribution on these streams, receiving in the last year a regional Emmy and multiple Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists, and Public Broadcasting awards including Best Newscast and Program of the Year in Ohio. ideastream is generously funded by Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
About The Cleveland Orchestra
Long considered one of America’s great orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra stands today among the world’s most revered symphonic ensembles. In concerts at home in Severance Hall; at its summer home, Blossom Music Center; and on tour, The Cleveland Orchestra continues to set standards of performing excellence and imaginative programming that serve as models for audiences and performers alike.
Under the leadership of Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, The Cleveland Orchestra has become one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Their partnership earned the Orchestra unprecedented residencies in the United States and in Europe, including one at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra. Since the start of his tenure in 2002, Franz Welser-Möst and the Orchestra have toured extensively, to critical acclaim. The Orchestra will be in residence at the Edinburgh and Lucerne Festivals this summer, and at Suntory Hall in Japan in the fall of 2010.
TICKETS
Admission is free and seating is General Admission. Tickets are available online at clevelandorchestra.com, at the Severance Hall Ticket Office, or by calling (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141.
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 Summer Hours:
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Closed Saturdays and Sundays.
PARKING
For evening 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 online or through the Ticket Office for $14.
Calendar Listing
Wednesday, August 11, at 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, August 12, at 8:00 p.m.
Severance Hall
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
FRANZ WELSER-MÖST, conductor
BRUCKNER Symphony No. 8 (performed without intermission)
Free Tickets (General Admission) are now available, in person at the Severance Hall Ticket Office, by calling (216) 231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or online at clevelandorchestra.com.
Concert Preview, in the main Concert Hall beginning at 7:00 p.m.: Franz Welser-Möst, William Cosel (director of the Bruckner 8 DVD project), and ideastream’s Dee Perry in conversation about the making of the Bruckner 8 DVD.
All artists and programs are subject to change.
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Contacts
Jennifer Schlosser, (216) 231-7518; Email
Ana Papakhian, Office: (216) 231-7476; Cell phone: (216) 370-2595; Email
