Precision and controlled beauty from the Cleveland Orchestra in Prom 69

Works by Crumb, Ruggles, Barber and Gershwin offer four distinct ideas of what American music can sound like in Barbara Hannigan’s explorative Cleveland Orchestra program.

Following a polished account of Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, Shostakovich’s Eleventh erupted with visceral force, as Franz Welser-Möst led The Cleveland Orchestra in a performance of gripping intensity.

Asmik Grigorian leads a strong quartet of soloists and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus shape the performance at Carnegie Hall. 

Mozart and Shostakovich make an uncomfortable fit in a program designed to highlight their differences.

Yuja Wang does double duty in demanding piano concertos by Ravel and Ligeti, while conductor Petr Popelka shows his chemistry with the orchestra in Pictures at an Exhibition.

Tugan Sokhiev memorably debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra to lead a recent concerto for English horn and Mahler’s Tragic.