Franz Welser-Möst
Franz Welser-Möst born (1960) is the seventh and current Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra. He has also served tenures with the London Philharmonic, the Zurich Opera, the Vienna Philharmonic, and other orchestras.
Early career
Welser-Möst was born in Linz, Austria and studied under the composer Balduin Sulzer.
His first major debuts were at the Salzburg Festival in 1985, followed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986. Other guest conductor appearances comprised the first five years of his career: his American debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1989, performances with the orchestras of Atlanta, Boston, New York, Chicago, plus frequent returns to the London Philharmonic.
In 1990, Welser-Möst accepted the London Philharmonic's invitation to become its Music Director. From 1995 to 2000 he was Music Director with the Zurich Opera. While there, he led 27 new performances as well as numerous revivals. His most noteworthy performances there included the complete Ring Cycle. He became General Music Director of the Zurich Opera in September 2005, making a commitment to the Opera that extends through 2011. Among his performances at the Zurich Opera for the 2005-06 season, Mr. Welser-Möst conducted d’Albert’s Tiefland, Britten’s Peter Grimes, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Schubert’s Fierrabras. During the 2006-07 season, he will lead performances of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Richard Strauss’s Arabella and Der Rosenkavalier, and Verdi’s Don Carlo and La Traviata, plus staged performances of Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s “Faust.”
Cleveland
Welser-Möst first guest-conducted The Cleveland Orchestra in 1993. The orchestra announced he would replace Christoph von Dohnányi as Music Director in 1999, and he began his post as Music Director in September 2002. His long-term commitment to the Orchestra extends through the 2011-2012 season.
Highlights of Mr. Welser-Möst’s concerts during the 2006-07 season will include major works from the central repertoire, among them Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Brahms’s Symphony No. 2. His concerts also will feature works infrequently performed by The Cleveland Orchestra, such as Ginastera’s Variaciones concertantes, Haydn’s Symphony No. 103 (“Drum Roll”), Ligeti’s Atmosphères, Sibelius’s Tapiola, and concert performances of Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, as well as works new to its repertoire, including Osvaldo Golijov’s Last Round, Haydn’s Mass No. 14 (“Harmoniemesse”), the world premiere performances of new works by Julian Anderson and Richard Sortomme, and the United States premiere of a new work by Hanspeter Kyburz titled toché.
Under Franz Welser-Möst’s direction, The Cleveland Orchestra has toured extensively, to critical acclaim. In Europe, the Orchestra now has biennial residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna, the first of their kind by an American orchestra, and regular appearances at European festivals, including annual residencies at the Lucerne Festival. In the United States, Mr. Welser-Möst and the Orchestra have toured from coast to coast, and have performed frequently at Carnegie Hall. In January 2007, the Orchestra will begin its 10-year residency project at Miami Performing Arts Center, consisting of three weeks of concerts and educational collaborations each winter.
Additional highlights of Mr. Welser-Möst’s concerts with The Cleveland Orchestra during his first four seasons as Music Director include the world premieres of works by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Susan Botti, Chen Yi, Georg Friedrich Haas, Hanspeter Kyburz, Kaija Saariaho, and Rolf Wallin, and eight United States premieres, including works by Julian Anderson, Uri Caine, Olga Neuwirth, and Matthias Pintscher, as well as several works new to the Orchestra’s repertoire, including works by Adès, Dahl, Dutilleux, Gruber, Haydn, Kurtág, Ligeti, Prokofiev, Rouse, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, and concert performances of Verdi’s Don Carlo and Falstaff. Mr. Welser-Möst’s wide-ranging programming also included works infrequently performed by the Orchestra, among them concert performances of Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Richard Strauss’s Elektra. In 2003, Mr. Welser-Möst made his first of regular appearances at the Blossom Festival.
In Cleveland, Mr. Welser-Möst participates in a number of community concerts and educational programs. In addition to partnerships with area colleges and universities, he also is involved with the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.
Cleveland's major newspaper The Plain Dealer regularly gives rave reviews following his performances. More significantly, a lengthy February 2005 article in The New Yorker profiled the conductor and his orchestra and gave both high praise.
Recordings
The significantly large number of recordings featuring Welser-Möst continues to grow. From the start of his career he has heavily emphasized the importance of recording his work.
While conducting the LPO he established an exclusive recording contract with EMI. This move produced several great successes and awards. His 1996 recording of Franz Schmidt's Symphony No. 4 received the Gramophone Award for "Best Orchestral Conducting." The CDs of Anton Bruckner's Mass No. 3/Te Deum and works of Erich Korngold both received Grammy Award nominations for "Best Classical Album." Welser-Möst struck a similar deal with EMI to record various performances at the Zurich Opera.
References
- Rosenberg, Donald. The Cleveland Orchestra Story. Gray & Company Publishers, 2000. ISBN 1886228248.
- Lebrecht, Norman. "He might be smiling now...". La Scena Online, August 16, 2000. Retrieved June 20, 2005
- EMI Classics | Biographies | FRANZ WELSER-MÖST. March 2001. Retrieved June 20, 2005
- "Franz Welser-Möst Music Director". Cleveland Orchestra website. September 24, 2004. Retrieved July 3, 2005