Cleveland Orchestra

Since its establishment, the Cleveland Orchestra has stood as an enduring emblem of civic pride for Cleveland, ranking among the nation's foremost cultural assets and matching the caliber of any ensemble globally. In 2020 the group released a recording of works by Schubert and Ernst Krenek under Franz Welser-Möst on its own Cleveland Orchestra label.

Although chamber music had thrived in the city since the mid-nineteenth century, the orchestra itself came into being only in 1918. Adella P. Hughes, backed by the Musical Arts Association, drove its creation and appointed Nikolai Sokoloff as its first conductor. Sokoloff held the post through 1933, during which the ensemble undertook national tours, presented educational programs, issued commercial discs, and appeared on radio; his most lasting achievement remains Severance Hall, inaugurated in 1931 and instantly celebrated for its sonic and architectural distinction. Following a renovation begun in 1999, the hall reopened in 2000 to fresh praise. Artur Rodzinski then guided the orchestra from 1933 to 1943, after which Erich Leinsdorf took the podium until 1946. Both contributed to Cleveland's rising profile, yet the ensemble's defining era began with the arrival of George Szell in 1946.

A conductor of the old school, Szell maintained strict discipline, berated musicians he judged insufficiently committed, and reacted sharply to the slightest inaccuracies, ultimately forging America's finest orchestra. Under his direction the Cleveland Orchestra achieved luminous transparency, flawless accuracy, unified execution, and fervent expression while remaining remarkably versatile; Szell often remarked that its specialty was having none. The group recorded prolifically for Columbia—now Sony—embarked on international tours, and asserted itself as the leading member of the “Big Five” American orchestras. In 1968 it began a sustained collaboration with Pierre Boulez, and that same year Szell inaugurated the orchestra-owned Blossom Music Center, whose summer seasons have proven both artistically and financially rewarding. Szell’s death in 1970 ended a tenure he could have extended indefinitely. Boulez continued as musical advisor until 1972, when Lorin Maazel assumed the music directorship. Although Maazel’s technical command remained high, the orchestra had not been fully involved in his selection, his readings struck many as exaggerated, and he never gained the affection of Cleveland audiences.

Christoph von Dohnányi’s appointment as music director in 1982 ushered in another period of distinction; he retained the Szell-era clarity of sound while expanding the repertory to encompass additional contemporary scores and twentieth-century classics. Franz Welser-Möst succeeded him in 2002, with Dohnányi thereafter serving as music director laureate. Welser-Möst led the orchestra’s 100th-anniversary concert in 2018, televised on Great Performances. That same year the ensemble issued A New Century, followed in 2020 by recordings of Schubert’s Great Symphony and Krenek’s Static and Ecstatic, both appearing on the Cleveland Orchestra label. To the degree orchestras admit ranking, the Cleveland Orchestra is broadly regarded as the nation’s finest, and the city sustains it accordingly.