From The Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst announced details of their 2019-2020 season which encompasses 76 concerts over 26 weeks. One significant highlight includes a festival designed to explore music and art that was banned, marginalized, and destroyed during the Nazi’s Degenerate Art movement, and the continuing impact of censorship on creative expression in society today. The festival will center on Alban Berg’s Lulu, one of the 20th century’s most influential operas, and includes partner programming with the area’s notable arts institutions.
The upcoming season also features a continuation of Welser-Möst’s rediscovery of rarely performed symphonies by Schubert and Prokofiev, Cleveland Orchestra debuts by eight guest artists, first-time Orchestra performances of a dozen works, and the world premiere of two compositions commissioned by the Orchestra from Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow Bernd Richard Deutsch and Oded Zehavi. In addition, the Orchestra will present works by six other contemporary composers — John Adams, Thomas Adès, Louis Andriessen, John Harbison, Olga Neuwirth and Michael Tilson Thomas — and 20th century works by American composers George Antheil and Florence Price.
“As we look ahead to the 102nd Cleveland Orchestra season, The Cleveland Orchestra is more committed than ever to serving and engaging its Ohio communities,” says André Gremillet, Cleveland Orchestra President & CEO. “This is the 18th season of the acclaimed partnership with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, and we are all looking forward to a 2019-20 Severance Hall season that includes favorite masterworks, intriguing new music as well as neglected major works from the past, powerful education offerings, and an exciting roster of favorite and new guest artists. I am particularly excited about the festival that Franz has created around Alban Berg’s Lulu, which includes collaboration with distinguished arts organizations from Northeast Ohio across the genres of visual art, film, and literature.”
Franz Welser-Möst, Cleveland Orchestra Music Director: “The Cleveland Orchestra always tries to achieve the extraordinary. This pursuit brings joy to our work — and also makes this institution so alive. We never rest on our laurels. We are pushing ourselves constantly.
“One of the highlights of this next season is the opera, Lulu. It is an intense piece and a challenging work both musically and in its subject matter. Yet this kind of programming is successful in Cleveland because we have such an extraordinary, adventurous, and open audience. Each season, we program to challenge those of us on stage, but also to challenge the audience — to deepen their curiosity and to develop their interest in discovering new things. Just as we did a year ago with Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, we are creating a festival around Berg’s Lulu. Together we will look at the relationship of art and politics in Berg’s lifetime — of how certain music in the 1920s and ‘30s was politically abandoned and prohibited. We are featuring works by Schulhoff, Krenek, and others — works that the Nazis labeled ‘Entartete Musik’ or Degenerate Music. It was a period of autocratic, authoritarian regimes who condemned any artistic expression outside of their narrow view with a heavy hand. Artists and their work were prohibited through censorship. Just as the character of Lulu is abused and abusive in her own way, we will look into how music and art can be abused by a system — and how a system can turn people on one another. These are important topics, not only from the past, but in today’s world.
“We live in a time where angst is more and more a part of everyday life all over the world. One of the key elements of political populism is that there must always be a scapegoat — there is always someone, a group of people, or an idea to blame. For instance, Berg’s score to Lulu includes jazz elements — and jazz at the time of the 1920s and ‘30s was not widely accepted as ‘real’ art. Jazz musicians, black musicians, and minority composers were too often viewed as not having any value for society. So with this festival, we are featuring jazz music, and other music, including a classical piece by the African-American composer William Grant Still. What we are doing is looking at great music, at great art, that was marginalized for all the wrong reasons.”
Franz Welser-Möst on Schubert and Prokofiev: “It is important that we continue to perform works that are too often neglected or have been forgotten. I am pairing works of Schubert and Prokofiev because I feel both of them are well-known composers, yes, but there is also so much of their music that remains unknown. These masterpieces should be rediscovered. Next season, we will perform Schubert’s Third and Fourth Symphonies, as well as Prokofiev’s Third and Sixth Symphonies. These are all absolute jewels, which audiences should experience.”
Commissions, Premieres, Works by Living Composers
Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch continues as The Cleveland Orchestra’s tenth Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow in the 2019-20 season. As part of his existing fellowship, Okeanos (for organ and orchestra) will receive its United States premiere performances on March 14, 15, 16, and 17, 2019. In addition, Deutsch will participate in rehearsals and educational activities serving the Northeast Ohio community. For the 2019-20 season, the world premiere of a new work by Deutsch will be performed under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst alongside Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Igor Levit, and Mussorgky/Ravel’s Pictures at an Exhibition on May 28, 29, 30, and 31. The Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow program began in 1998. Works by the composers are commissioned by The Cleveland Orchestra through the Young Composers Endowment Fund, which was established a year earlier by a generous endowment gift from Daniel R. Lewis and Jan R. Lewis. For more information about Bernd Richard Deutsch, please visit www.boosey.com/composer/bernd%20richard+deutsch.
World Premieres
The 2019-20 season features a pair of world-premiere performances of two Cleveland Orchestra commissions: Piccolo Concerto by Oded Zehavi (April 30 and May 2) with Cleveland Orchestra principal piccolo Mary Kay Fink, and a new work by Bernd Richard Deutsch (May 28, 29, 30, and 31). Deutsch began his first year as The Cleveland Orchestra’s tenth Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow during the 2018-19 season.
Cleveland Orchestra Premieres
The 2019-20 season features a dozen works performed for the first time by The Cleveland Orchestra, five of which were written by living composers: Olga Neuwirth’s Masaot/Clocks without Hands conducted by Franz Welser-Möst (September 26 and 28); Thomas Adès’s Piano Concerto conducted by Alan Gilbert (October 11 and 12); Louis Andriessen’s Agamemnon with conductor Jaap van Zweden (October 17, 18, and 19); John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls (November 14, 16, and 17); Michael Tilson Thomas conducts his new work (February 20, 21, 22, and 23); Krenek’s Static and Ecstatic under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst (March 5, 7, and 8); Prices’s Symphony No. 4 (April 16, 17, 18 and 19); Martinů’s Jazz Suite and Antheil’s Ballet mécanique (May 15); Berg’s opera Lulu conducted by Franz Welser-Möst (May 16, 19, and 22); and Krenek’s Die Nachtigall and Schulhoff’s Symphony No. 5 led by Franz Welser-Möst (May 23).
Cleveland Orchestra Family of Artists
The 2019-20 season features conductors and guest artists with longstanding collaborative connections with the Orchestra, including pianists Yefim Bronfman, Kirill Gerstein, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yuja Wang; violinist, Leila Josefowicz; cellist Truls Mørk; vocalists Dashon Burton, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Barbara Hannigan, and Martina Janková; and conductors Herbert Blomstedt, Alan Gilbert, Jakub Hrůša, Jahja Ling, Nicholas McGegan, Matthias Pintscher, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.
Cleveland Orchestra Members Featured as Soloists
Two members of the Orchestra will be featured soloists during the 2019-20 season. Principal trumpet Michael Sachs will perform Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto in E Major on November 21, 22, and 23, and principal piccolo and flutist Mary Kay Fink will play the world premiere of Oded Zehavi’s Piccolo Concerto on April 30 and May 2.
Cleveland Orchestra Choral Ensembles
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, one of the few professionally trained, all-volunteer choruses sponsored by a major American orchestra, will be featured in a variety of performances throughout the season. Its members hail from nearly fifty Cleveland-area communities and together contribute more than 25,000 volunteer hours to the Orchestra’s music-making each year. In addition to performances in December for the annual Christmas concerts, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus — as well as members of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus and Cleveland Orchestra Children’s Chorus — sing as part of Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls on November 14, 16, and 17. The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus also performs as part of Mendelssohn’s Second Symphony (“Lobgesang”), March 5, 7, and 8.
Guest Conductors
Acclaimed guest conductors leading the Orchestra during the 2019-20 season include Herbert Blomstedt (conductor laureate, San Francisco Symphony), Alan Gilbert (chief conductor, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra), Jakub Hrůša (chief conductor, Bamberg Symphony), Jahja Ling (conductor laureate, San Diego Symphony Orchestra), Susanna Mälkki (chief conductor, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra), Nicholas McGegan (music director, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale), Matthias Pintscher (music director, Ensemble Intercontemporain), Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider (music director designate, Orchestre National de Lyon), Michael Tilson Thomas (music director, San Francisco Symphony; founder and artistic director, New World Symphony), and Jaap van Zweden (music director, New York Philharmonic; music director, Hong Kong Philharmonic).
Cleveland Orchestra Debuts
Eight guest artists are making their Cleveland Orchestra debut during the 2019-20 season, including conductors Philippe Herreweghe, Dima Slobodeniouk, Thomas Søndergård, and Lorenzo Viotti; soprano Christina Landshamer; tenors Julian Prégardien and Rainer Trost; and bass John Tomlinson. In addition, violinists Augustin Hadelich and Vilde Frang, and pianist Aaron Diehl make their Severance Hall debuts.
Subscription and Ticket Information
Subscriptions for the 2019-20 season are on sale now and start at only $54 for a three-concert package. Subscribers receive seating priority, ticket exchange privileges, and other benefits, including savings of up to $34 off individual ticket prices.
Cleveland Orchestra Memberships can be purchased at any time during the year. Memberships are designed to offer convenience and value for patrons who want to experience more Cleveland Orchestra concerts each season and include access to year-round concerts at both Severance Hall and the Blossom Music Festival. In exchange for a monthly membership fee of $35 (billed automatically), members can reserve a single ticket for $10 to any concert at any time. For more information about the Members Club, please visit www.clevelandorchestra.com/tickets/memberships/ and watch the following video: vimeo.com/158664413.
Tickets to individual performances go on sale in mid-August 2019. For more information about the variety of subscription packages offered, or for other questions, call Cleveland Orchestra Ticket Services at 216-231-1111 or 800-686-1141, or visit clevelandorchestra.com.
