Mar 13
The Cleveland Orchestra, under the leadership of Franz Welser-Möst since 2002, is one of the most sought-after performing ensembles in the world. Year after year, the ensemble exemplifies extraordinary artistic excellence, creative programming, and community engagement. In recent years, The New York Times has called Cleveland “the best in America” for its virtuosity, elegance of sound, variety of color, and chamber-like musical cohesion.
Founded by Adella Prentiss Hughes, the Orchestra performed its inaugural concert in December 1918. By the middle of the century, decades of growth and sustained support had turned the ensemble into one of the most admired around the world.
The past decade has seen an increasing number of young people attending concerts, bringing fresh attention to The Cleveland Orchestra’s legendary sound and committed programming. More recently, the Orchestra launched several bold digital projects, including the streaming platform Adella.live and its own recording label. Together, they have captured the Orchestra’s unique artistry and the musical achievements of the Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra partnership.
The 2025–26 season marks Franz Welser-Möst’s 24th year as Music Director, a period in which The Cleveland Orchestra has earned unprecedented acclaim around the world, including a series of residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of its kind by an American orchestra, and a number of celebrated opera presentations.
Since 1918, seven music directors — Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodziński, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst — have guided and shaped the ensemble’s growth and sound. Through concerts at home and on tour, broadcasts, and a catalog of acclaimed recordings, The Cleveland Orchestra is heard today by a growing group of fans around the world.
conductor
Semyon Bychkov’s tenure as chief conductor and music director of the Czech Philharmonic — Gramophone’s 2024 Orchestra of the Year — was initiated with concerts in Prague, London, New York, and Washington, DC, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Czech independence. This past season, alongside subscription concerts in Prague, Bychkov toured with the orchestra to Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Austria, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Finland. In spring 2026, Pentatone released the complete cycle of Mahler symphonies recorded with the Philharmonic over the past 8 seasons.
Bychkov brings a unique combination of innate musicality and rigorous pedagogy to a repertoire that spans four centuries. He is a frequent guest with the leading international orchestras and opera companies and has recorded extensively with the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Concertgebouworkest, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, among others.
This season, Bychkov conducted a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Paris Opera and returned for concerts with the Concertgebouworkest, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Berlin Philharmonic, and New York Philharmonic
In common with the Czech Philharmonic, Bychkov has one foot firmly in the culture of the East and the other in the West. Born in St. Petersburg, he emigrated to the United States in 1975 and is now based in Europe. In 1989, Bychkov returned to the former Soviet Union as principal guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, and the same year was named music director of the Orchestre de Paris. In 1997, he was appointed chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, and in 1998, chief conductor of the Dresden Semperoper.
Bychkov holds honorary titles with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Academy of Music. He was named Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards in 2015 and by Musical America in 2022.
Composer
composer
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire.
Memorable melodies and inventive variations abound in this program of 20th-century showpieces. French pianist Alexandre Kantorow brings electrifying virtuosity to Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which transforms a famous violin caprice into a stunning tour de force. Framing the program are two orchestral favorites: Britten’s dazzling tour of the orchestra and Elgar’s Enigma Variations, a personal and reflective tribute to the composer’s dearest friends.
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