For those Cleveland Orchestra lovers following this thread, below
is another intriguing press release from The Columbus Dispatch.
The paragraph in parenthesis is particularly intriguing --

   CLEVELAND CHOICE; CALCULATED, BUT RISKY

   By Barbara Zuck
   For The Dispatch
   Sunday, June 13, 1999

   To outsiders, the announcement Monday that Franz Welser-Moest will
   become the seventh music director of the Cleveland Orchestra may have
   seemed like a hasty move aimed at putting Cleveland first in the
   current Pick-A-Maestro Sweepstakes under way at some of the world's
   greatest orchestras.

   In fact, the selection of the 38-year-old Austrian conductor was
   highly calculated, a management-inspired choice that was years in
   the making.  Welser-Moest's appointment even flies in the face of
   that Cleveland tradition of "triumphant concert quickly followed by
   contract," which is what occurred with George Szell and Christoph
   von Dohnanyi, the orchestra's most respected and successful leaders.

   In 1982, Dohnanyi had one remarkable week with the orchestra (some
   still remember the electricity of his Dvorak Eighth) and was quickly
   named music director-designate.  He took over the podium in 1984.

   Welser-Moest has appeared with the orchestra each of the past six
   seasons.  He may be an unfamiliar face to the U.S.  musical community
   at large, despite being a guest conductor with other American
   orchestras, but he is not an unknown quantity in Cleveland.  Moreover,
   he will conduct the orchestra each season until he actually assumes
   the post, in September 2002.

   All of this adds up to the possibility that, in Cleveland, the
   honeymoon between orchestra and maestro may be over before cohabitation
   begins.

   Three other internationally renowned orchestras are searching for
   leadership in the new millennium.  Kurt Masur, Wolfgang Sawallisch
   and Claudio Abbado all are poised to step down from the New York
   Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic,
   respectively, around 2002.

   What the Welser-Moest appointment may suggest as much as anything
   is the panic some of the top symphonies, especially those in
   less-than-glamorous locales, may feel in an era in which experienced,
   inspiring, internationally acclaimed maestros of an appropriate age
   (some time before dotage or death) are in short supply.  Talented
   and deserving conductors may exist in the shadows, which still includes
   much of the United States, but few have passed muster where it really
   counts, and none has risen to stardom.  The giants -- the Bernsteins,
   the Karajans -- are long gone.

   Some close to the Cleveland Orchestra, for instance, feel that the
   orchestra -- often declared the best in the United States, if not
   the world -- is playing at such a level of technical accomplishment
   and interpretive sophistication that no conductor presently available
   could carry them higher.

   Which prompts comment on another dimension:  the difficulty of leading
   an orchestra that is not always easy to lead.  Besides being considered
   one of America's finest, the Cleveland Orchestra has another, less
   widely known, reputation:  It is a confident (some say arrogant)
   ensemble that has been known to unravel many a maestro.  As one person
   with some experience at the helm of that orchestra observed, "You
   have to prove yourself on an ongoing basis.  This is an orchestra
   with a mind of its own.  It talks back."

   (In the early 1990s, Dohnanyi had an especially dark period with the
   orchestra and actually took his analyst to rehearsals.  The mind-medic
   is said even to have accompanied him on tour.)

   Will Welser-Moest have the stuff to succeed in Cleveland?

   First, he has a tough act to follow, just as Lorin Maazel did in
   1972, after the heady Szell years.  Even though Dohnanyi's honeymoon
   with the orchestra ended some time ago, the musicians still have
   enough respect, either for him or for themselves, to rise to most
   occasions..  Dohnanyi is credited with restoring the renowned ensemble
   to pre-eminence.  He certainly fine-tuned personnel:  Virtually every
   seat he filled added distinction to an already distinguished group.
   And recent tours have earned kudos for him, as well as for his band.

   Second, Welser-Moest is comparatively young.  At 38, will he have
   the experience to lend a personal stamp to interpretations, let alone
   teach the Clevelanders something new? It is difficult enough to
   command respect at an institution with such an illustrious history,
   that is held in such universally high regard and with such a high
   opinion of itself, without being a comparative youngster in your
   profession.

   Third, he already has had a less-than-stellar track record at the
   one orchestra he has served as music director, the London Philharmonic.
   Those familiar with the London situation, though, say that difficulties
   there are customary.

   Finally, his reception in Cleveland, apart from the expected public
   expressions of enthusiasm, has been mixed.  Assessments from those
   who've heard him conduct range from "wonderful" to "boring."

   Some wonder why Christoph Eschenbach, outgoing music director of the
   Houston Symphony and at one point a candidate, wasn't tapped instead.
   Eschenbach may be idiosyncratic at times but he is known for power
   and excitement, descriptive terms not often associated with
   Welser-Moest.

   For better or worse, Cleveland has made its choice.  In the end, what
   will matter most?

   The music-making, of course.  All that has transpired so far really
   won't count if Welser-Moest makes it, because everything can be
   forgiven and forgotten in the face of great artistry.

   Cleveland Orchestra lovers can only hope that that will continue in
   the cultural capital up north.

Mark Seeley <[log in to unmask]>