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Yuja Wang conquers Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, and just as impressive is The Cleveland Orchestra’s powerful take on the same composer’s Fifth Symphony.

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Cleveland

25 Mar 2025

Yuja Wang stars in winning Cleveland Orchestra Tchaikovsky program

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Thomas Adès presents a bold, modernist vision with The Cleveland Orchestra

By Sam Jacobson, 22 February 2025

In a rewarding program of challenging, unfamiliar scores, Thomas Adès and The Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus tackle works by Sibelius, Ives, Saariaho, and Adès himself.

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Cleveland

26 Feb 2025

In Cleveland, Thomas Adès presents a bold, modernist vision

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Classical jazz from Stéphane Denève and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Frank Kuznik, 09 January 2025

A tribute to John Coltrane highlights an adventurous outing by The Cleveland Orchestra led by cosmopolitan conductor Stéphane Denève.

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Cleveland

11 Jan 2025

Classical jazz from Stéphane Denève and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Frank Kuznik

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Cleveland

Santtu-Matias Rouvali journeys across the Baltic in Cleveland Orchestra debut

By Sam Jacobson, 23 November 2024

Santtu-Matias Rouvali unexpectedly debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra, offering an early Sibelius symphony and a Tchaikovsky concerto with Stefan Jackiw.

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Cleveland

25 Nov 2024

Rouvali journeys across the Baltic in Cleveland Orchestra debut

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Klaus Mäkelä guides Cleveland Orchestra through monumental Mahler

By Sam Jacobson, 17 October 2024

Klaus Mäkelä helms Mahler’s Third Symphony, the composer’s longest work, in a journey to remember with inspired playing from instrumentalists and vocalists alike.

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Cleveland

20 Oct 2024

Mäkelä guides Cleveland Orchestra through monumental Mahler

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to Cleveland and introduces his Cello Concerto

By Sam Jacobson, 12 October 2024

After an absence of more than two decades, Esa-Pekka Salonen returns to The Cleveland Orchestra, conducting his own Cello Concerto, flanked by Ravel and Sibelius.

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Cleveland

14 Oct 2024

Salonen returns to Cleveland and introduces his Cello Concerto

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

A Romantic Cleveland Orchestra debut for Petr Popelka

By Sam Jacobson, 25 July 2024

In his Cleveland Orchestra debut, Petr Popelka skirts the warhorses: a Franck tone poem, a Dvořák symphony and Korngold’s Violin Concerto with James Ehnes.

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Cleveland

28 Jul 2024

A Romantic Cleveland Orchestra debut for Petr Popelka

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Oksana Lyniv makes a dazzling Cleveland Orchestra debut

By Frank Kuznik, 11 July 2024

Oksana Lyniv gets the best out of The Cleveland Orchestra, treating the audience to spellbinding versions of charming fables.

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Cleveland

12 Jul 2024

Oksana Lyniv makes a dazzling Cleveland Orchestra debut

By Frank Kuznik

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Cleveland

Paradise lost and found in Cleveland

By Frank Kuznik, 21 June 2024

An idiosyncratic outing at Chamberfest Cleveland recounts original sin in ragtime and finds redemption in a neglected wartime masterpiece.

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Cleveland

22 Jun 2024

Paradise lost and found in Cleveland

By Frank Kuznik

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Cleveland

"Fantastic Tales" come to life at Chamberfest Cleveland

By Frank Kuznik, 15 June 2024

Smart sophistication and creepy entertainment go hand-in-hand in an excursion to odd corners of the chamber repertoire.

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Cleveland

17 Jun 2024

"Fantastic Tales" come to life at Chamberfest Cleveland

By Frank Kuznik

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Cleveland

Odd couple: Goerne and Kissin are mismatched in Cleveland recital

By Cameron Kelsall, 14 April 2024

A program of Schumann and Brahms fails to cohere due to fussy mannerisms and tentative playing.

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Cleveland

15 Apr 2024

Odd couple: Goerne and Kissin are mismatched in Cleveland recital

By Cameron Kelsall

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Cleveland

Klaus Mäkelä captivates in vibrant and varied Cleveland Orchestra program

By Sam Jacobson, 13 April 2024

Klaus Mäkelä returns to Cleveland with a recent piece by Jimmy López Bellido, prefacing a pair of English works that feature Sol Gabetta, Thomas Hampson and The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.

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Cleveland

14 Apr 2024

Klaus Mäkelä captivates in vibrant and varied Cleveland program

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Fabio Luisi leads lush Brahms – and a piccolo concerto – in Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson, 09 March 2024

Fabio Luisi leads The Cleveland Orchestra in works of Brahms and Weber, along with a new concerto for piccolo by Oded Zehavi.

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Cleveland

10 Mar 2024

Luisi leads lush Brahms – and a piccolo concerto – in Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Ax, Kavakos and Ma band together for life-affirming Beethoven

By Sam Jacobson, 01 February 2024

Three leading performers join forces for a Beethoven program in Cleveland, all cultivating the highest level of playing from their respective instrument, but the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

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Cleveland

05 Feb 2024

Ax, Kavakos and Ma band together for life-affirming Beethoven

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Takács Quartet explores folk-inflected repertoire with Marc-André Hamelin

By Sam Jacobson, 23 January 2024

At the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, the Takács Quartet collaborates with Marc-André Hamelin in works by Price and Dvořák.

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Cleveland

25 Jan 2024

Takács Quartet explores folk-inflected repertoire in Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Protean Prokofiev in Cleveland

By Frank Kuznik, 18 January 2024

An uneven performance takes the edge off an evening of innovative music in Cleveland.

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Cleveland

19 Jan 2024

Protean Prokofiev in Cleveland

By Frank Kuznik

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Cleveland

Marc-André Hamelin’s bracing Ives anchors memorable Cleveland recital

By Sam Jacobson, 19 November 2023

Marc-André Hamelin opens his recital with the uncompromising demands of Ives’ Concord Sonata, followed by suites of Schumann and Ravel.

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Cleveland

21 Nov 2023

Hamelin’s bracing Ives anchors memorable Cleveland recital

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Renée Fleming and friends bid adieu to the Emerson String Quartet

By Sam Jacobson, 15 October 2023

In one of their final performances, the Emerson String Quartet comes to Cleveland to present André Previn’s Penelope, featuring Renée Fleming and other special guests.

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Cleveland

18 Oct 2023

Renée Fleming and friends bid adieu to the Emerson String Quartet

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Welser-Möst, Keenlyside and The Cleveland Orchestra show Mahler in darkness and light

By Sam Jacobson, 13 October 2023

The Cleveland Orchestra offers a compelling take on Maher’s variegated and enigmatic Seventh Symphony, while Sir Simon Keenlyside prefaces with a fine selection of Lieder.

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Cleveland

15 Oct 2023

The Cleveland Orchestra shows Mahler in darkness and light

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Weilerstein’s bracing Barber highlights varied Cleveland Orchestra program

By Sam Jacobson, 04 May 2023

Alisa Weilerstein is a powerful soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra in Barber’s Cello Concerto, while a new work by Allison Loggins-Hull and a rarely-heard Prokofiev symphony are intriguing but less convincing.

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Cleveland

08 May 2023

Weilerstein’s bracing Barber highlights varied Cleveland program

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Maria João Pires exudes elegance and grace in Cleveland recital

By Cameron Kelsall, 03 May 2023

The semi-retired pianist offered a generous program of Schubert and Debussy that showcased her technical prowess and interpretive gifts.

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Cleveland

04 May 2023

Maria João Pires exudes elegance and grace in Cleveland recital

By Cameron Kelsall

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Cleveland

Master Mahlerian: Michael Tilson Thomas and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Sam Jacobson, 13 April 2023

Michael Tilson Thomas couples Mahler and Debussy at The Cleveland Orchestra, close contemporaries but worlds apart stylistically. Leif Ove Andsnes illuminates the latter’s sole work for piano and orchestra.

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Cleveland

16 Apr 2023

Master Mahlerian: Michael Tilson Thomas and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Thomas Adès and The Cleveland Orchestra conjure tempests old and new

By Sam Jacobson, 30 March 2023

Having often been featured as a composer on Cleveland Orchestra programs, Thomas Adès makes his podium debut with the orchestra, leading his own music coupled with analogous works of Sibelius.

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Cleveland

03 Apr 2023

Thomas Adès and The Cleveland Orchestra conjure tempests old and new

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra serve hearty Austro-German program

By Sam Jacobson, 25 February 2023

Franz Welser-Möst leads The Cleveland Orchestra in three stylistically distinct works, all of which put to test the orchestra’s new concertmaster, David Radzynski.

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Cleveland

28 Feb 2023

Welser-Möst and Cleveland Orchestra serve hearty Austro-German program

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

A Mahler 5 to remember from Klaus Mäkelä and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Sam Jacobson, 11 February 2023

Klaus Mäkelä returns to Cleveland for a program of extremes in contrast and character: Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and a concerto for orchestra by Unsuk Chin.

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Cleveland

14 Feb 2023

A Mahler 5 to remember from Klaus Mäkelä and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Víkingur Ólafsson makes Cleveland debut in mesmerizing recital

By Sam Jacobson, 30 November 2022

Víkingur Ólafsson offers remarkable interpretations of major works of Mozart, placed alongside lesser-known pieces by four of the composer’s most important contemporaries for a memorable recital.

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Cleveland

03 Dec 2022

Víkingur Ólafsson makes Cleveland debut in mesmerizing recital

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Søndergård and The Cleveland Orchestra serve up a shimmering Firebird

By Sam Jacobson, 25 November 2022

Thomas Søndergård make his Cleveland debut with the unabridged 1910 version of Stravinsky's score, while Britten’s Violin Concerto opened with an excellent Stefan Jackiw.

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Cleveland

27 Nov 2022

A shimmering Firebird from Søndergård and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Harding, Tamestit and The Cleveland Orchestra thrill in Widmann and Strauss

By Sam Jacobson, 22 October 2022

Daniel Harding and Antoine Tamestit impress in their Cleveland Orchestra debuts, tackling the complexities of a Widmann concerto and a Strauss tone poem.

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Cleveland

24 Oct 2022

The Cleveland Orchestra thrills in Widmann and Strauss

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Evgeny Kissin makes long-awaited return to Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson, 24 April 2022

Kissin’s Cleveland recital featured works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven – and predictably, a hearty helping of Chopin.

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Cleveland

25 Apr 2022

Evgeny Kissin makes long-awaited return to Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

The Cleveland Orchestra presents Beethoven and Bartók with guests new and familiar

By Sam Jacobson, 16 April 2022

For his Cleveland Orchestra debut, Kahchun Wong offered Bartók paired with the Beethoven Violin Concerto and Christian Tetzlaff.

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Cleveland

19 Apr 2022

Kahchun Wong makes Cleveland Orchestra debut

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Cleveland Orchestra makes powerful statement in bracing British works and Sibelian swansongs

By Sam Jacobson, 12 March 2022

Works of Adès and Walton – both of special significance to The Cleveland Orchestra – precede a lush Sibelius 5 at Severance Music Center.

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Cleveland

16 Mar 2022

Bracing British works and Sibelian swansongs in Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Gustavo Gimeno and The Cleveland Orchestra serve French-inflected feast

By Sam Jacobson, 26 November 2021

Gustavo Gimeno conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in works by Ravel and Franck, along with a recent Bryce Dessner concerto featuring the Labèque sisters.

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Cleveland

29 Nov 2021

Gimeno and The Cleveland Orchestra serve French-inflected feast

By Sam Jacobson

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Cleveland

Tom Borrow makes brilliant Cleveland Orchestra debut with Ravel's G major concerto

By Timothy Robson, 11 November 2021

Conductor Thierry Fischer steps in at short notice to conduct an early work by Messiaen, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major – a triumph for all concerned.

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Cleveland

13 Nov 2021

Tom Borrow makes brilliant Cleveland Orchestra debut with Ravel

By Timothy Robson

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Cleveland

Sheku Kanneh-Mason makes highly successful debut with The Cleveland Orchestra

By Timothy Robson, 04 November 2021

Jakub Hrůša conducts the program, which also includes stirring performances of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s rarely heard orchestral Ballade and Dvořák’s Symphony no. 6.

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Cleveland

06 Nov 2021

Kanneh-Mason makes highly successful debut with Cleveland Orchestra

By Timothy Robson

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Cleveland

The Cleveland Orchestra shows off all its talents in Korngold's sole symphony

By Timothy Robson, 21 October 2021

Franz Welser-Möst delivered a first-rate account of the Symphony in F sharp major, which was panned at its premiere but has seen a recent spike in popularity.

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Cleveland

23 Oct 2021

The Cleveland Orchestra shows its talent in Korngold's sole symphony

By Timothy Robson

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Cleveland

The Cleveland Orchestra makes a triumphant return to Severance Hall

By Timothy Robson, 14 October 2021

After 19 months without live performances, Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra opened the 2021/22 season with brilliant performances of works by Strauss and Prokofiev, plus a new concerto by Joan Tower, written especially for cellist Alisa Weilerstein.

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Cleveland

16 Oct 2021

The Cleveland Orchestra makes a triumphant return to Severance Hall

By Timothy Robson

Cleveland

Karina Canellakis makes a strong impression in her debut with The Cleveland Orchestra

By Timothy Robson, 15 August 2021

The rising American conductor led works by Dvořák and Tchaikovsky, along with a fine performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto no. 1 with Behzod Abduraimov and Michael Sachs as soloists.

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Cleveland

16 Aug 2021

Karina Canellakis debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra

By Timothy Robson

Cleveland

Best of summer: Blomstedt, Beethoven and The Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom

By Timothy Robson, 01 August 2021

At age 94, Herbert Blomstedt led a superb all-Beethoven concert with the Cleveland Orchestra at the Blossom Music Center, with Garrick Ohlsson an exemplary soloist in the Fourth Piano Concerto.

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Cleveland

02 Aug 2021

Best of summer: Blomstedt, Beethoven and The Cleveland Orchestra

By Timothy Robson

Cleveland

Jane Glover and Conrad Tao headline a superb all-Mozart concert in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson, 11 July 2021

Conductor Jane Glover capitalized on The Cleveland Orchestra’s affinity for Mozart in a Sunday evening concert at the Blossom Music Center, with the versatile pianist Conrad Tao.

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Cleveland

12 Jul 2021

A superb all-Mozart concert in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson

Cleveland

Cleveland Orchestra closes inaugural In Focus season with another celebration of the strings

By Sam Jacobson, 17 June 2021

As with so many performances this season, the Cleveland strings took front and center in works of Grieg and Korngold.

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Cleveland

21 Jun 2021

Cleveland Orchestra closes inaugural In Focus season

By Sam Jacobson

Cleveland

Cleveland Orchestra musicians present youthful works of Ravel and Britten

By Sam Jacobson, 06 May 2021

Ravel’s Sonatine – performed in transcription for oboe – prefaced a lush reading of Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge.

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Cleveland

11 May 2021

Youthful works of Ravel and Britten in Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson

Cleveland

The Cleveland Orchestra illuminates contrasts in Dvořák and Corigliano

By Sam Jacobson, 22 April 2021

Franz Welser-Möst conducts The Cleveland Orchestra in works by Dvořák and Corigliano, the latter featuring principal percussionist Marc Damoulakis.

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Cleveland

27 Apr 2021

The Cleveland Orchestra illuminates contrasts in Dvořák and Corigliano

By Sam Jacobson

Cleveland

From solo flute to thunderous pipe organ: a concise yet substantial program in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson, 08 April 2021

TCO principal flute Joshua Smith stood out in seminal works for solo flute by Debussy and Takemitsu. Organist Paul Jacobs was a capable soloist in Poulenc’s concerto, while Franz Welser-Möst led imaginatively orchestrated segments of Prokofiev’s Visions fugitives.

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Cleveland

10 Apr 2021

From solo flute to thunderous pipe organ in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson

Cleveland

Cleveland Orchestra delivers emotionally charged Shostakovich and Messiaen

By Sam Jacobson, 25 March 2021

The Cleveland Orchestra offered stark contrasts of feeling in Shostakovich’s bleak Chamber Symphony and the luminous closing movement of Messiaen’s Éclairs sur l’au-delà.

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Cleveland

28 Mar 2021

Emotionally charged Shostakovich and Messiaen in Cleveland

By Sam Jacobson