Back to Press Release List > 09/14/2007 - The Cleveland Orchestra, 10/16-10/18/07

Carnegie Hall presents The Cleveland Orchestra led by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst on Tuesday, October 16; Wednesday, October 17; and Thursday, October 18 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage. Tuesday evening’s program includes works by John Adams, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky. On Wednesday evening the Orchestra gives the New York premiere of Matthias Pintscher’s Five Orchestral Pieces, on a program that also features Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major and Debussy’s Iberia from Images. Finally, on Thursday evening Maestro Welser-Möst leads the orchestra in a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, “Resurrection,” with soprano Malin Hartelius; mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink; and the Westminster Symphonic Choir, Joe Miller, Conductor. The Cleveland Orchestra’s last appearances at Carnegie Hall included the Opening Night of the 2006–2007 season. A DVD of the 2006 performance, which aired on PBS’s Great Performances, will be released by EuroArts and Naxos in October 2007. The program included performances of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 17 with Leif Ove Andsnes and Mozart arias with soprano Dorothea Röschmann, as well as works by Franz Von Suppé and Johann Strauss.

Franz Welser-Möst is in his sixth season as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra. His long-term commitment to the Orchestra extends through the 2011–12 season. In June 2007, Mr. Welser-Möst was named General Music Director of the Vienna State Opera beginning in 2010. His long partnership with the company features a new production of Wagner’s Ring cycle in the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons. Mr. Welser-Möst became general music director of the Zurich Opera in 2005, having previously served as music director and principal conductor. He regularly conducts leading European orchestras and opera companies, including those of Berlin and Vienna, and served as music director of the London Philharmonic from 1990 to 1996. Mr. Welser-Möst’s recordings have won a number of major awards. Forthcoming DVD releases on EMI include Fierrabras, Don Giovanni, and Peter Grimes. Mr. Welser-Möst’s honors include the 2003 Conductor of the Year Award from Musical America.

Swedish soprano Malin Hartelius studied opera, lied, and oratorio at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna with Margarethe Bence. She began her career as a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1989, and since she has performed in opera houses and concert halls around the world. Most recently Ms. Hartelius has appeared with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, among several others. She also recently returned to the Opera Bastille de Paris, and performed the role of Sophie in a new production of Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera. In addition to this appearance with The Cleveland Orchestra, Ms. Hartelius will also appear with orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi, and the Tonhalle Orchestra among several others during the 2007–2008 season. Ms. Hartelius has made several recordings on the Sony Classical label, including Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Il Sogno di Scipione, and Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, along with Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem for Farao Classics.

Mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink was born to Slovenian parents in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and received her vocal and musical education at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón where she also used to perform frequently. In 1985 she won the First Prize at the Nuevas Voces Líricas competition and moved to Europe where she has since performed with renowned orchestras, including the Vienna, London, and Czech Philharmonics; the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France; Orchestre National de France; Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Residentie Orchestra of The Hague; and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, among others. Ms. Fink has also performed to critical acclaim at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Czech National Opera, the opera houses of Montpellier, Innsbruck, Rennes, Barcelona, and Salzburg, along with The Nederlandse Opera, and Teatro Colón. Her recitals have included performances at the Royal Concertgebouw, Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Slovenian Philharmonic Hall, and the Sydney Opera House.

The Cleveland Orchestra, founded in 1918 under the direction of Nikolai Sokoloff, is one of America’s premier orchestras. Throughout its history, the Orchestra has been led by some of the world’s most preeminent conductors, including Artur Rodzinski, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel, and Christoph von Dohnányi. Now in his sixth season as Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst has led the Orchestra in numerous world premieres of Cleveland Orchestra-commissioned works. The Orchestra gives the U.S. premiere of Pintscher’s Five Orchestral Pieces on the opening concert of the 2007–08 season at Severance Hall in Cleveland on September 20. The Cleveland Orchestra, known for establishing long-term associations with contemporary composers, has worked extensively with Pintscher, who served as its Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow from 2000 to 2002.

The Cleveland Orchestra has developed an expanded electronic media presence under Franz Welser-Möst, and their first commercial CD recording together, of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, recorded live at Severance Hall in January 2007, will be released by Deutsche Grammophon on October 2, 2007. In February 2007, the first commercially available DVD featuring The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst was released worldwide by EuroArts.

The Cleveland Orchestra has toured extensively under Franz Welser-Möst’s direction. In addition to biennial residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of their kind by an American orchestra, the Orchestra continues its previously annual residencies at the Lucerne Festival with biennial residencies featuring Roche Commission projects. Domestically, the Orchestra and Mr. Welser-Möst have toured from coast to coast, including frequent performances at Carnegie Hall. In January 2007, the Orchestra began a 10-year residency project in Miami, Florida, at the new Carnival Center for the Performing Arts. They return for concerts there this season on January 25–26, February 1–2 and March 28–29.

During the 2007–08 season, Franz Welser-Möst will conduct The Cleveland Orchestra in ten weeks of subscription concerts, highlights of which include performances of Dvořák’s Rusalka, the Orchestra’s annual opera-in-concert; six works by Béla Bartók; and four United States premieres. He will also lead the Orchestra in a concert at the Kennedy Center on October 15, 2007, in addition to their sixth European tour together this fall.

Program Information
Tuesday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director and Conductor

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Symphony No. 28 in C Major, K. 200
JOHN ADAMS Guide to Strange Places
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74 “Pathétique”
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Wednesday, October 17 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director and Conductor

CLAUDE DEBUSSY Ibéria, from Images, No. 2
MATTHIAS PINTSCHER Five Orchestral Pieces (New York Premiere)
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92

Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with Michael Beckerman, Professor of Music, New York University.
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Thursday, October 18 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage
THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA
Franz Welser-Möst, Music Director and Conductor
Malin Hartelius, Soprano
Bernarda Fink, Mezzo-Soprano
Westminster Symphonic Choir
Joe Miller, Conductor

GUSTAV MAHLER Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, "Resurrection"

Pre-concert talk starts at 7:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage with Walter Frisch, Professor of Music, Columbia University.
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