Cleveland Orchestra resolves strike, goes to Florida!

The Cleveland Orchestra musicians went on a short strike last Monday that was resolved Tuesday and today we begin our 9-day residency in Miami. Most of the concerts will take place at the Knight Concert Hall, part of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. We will also perform at the Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Hialeah. I'm really enjoying the break from the Cleveland weather! Composers to be performed include Beethoven, Brahms, Verdi, Ades, Strauss, and Bernstein. If you are going to Miami in the next few days here is a link for tickets http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/calendar.aspx.

Just before leaving I got a Cleveland Heights under contract, so I'll have something to work on when I get back!

Cleveland Orchestra in Vienna

Last night we performed our first concert in the famous Musikvereinsaal, the home of the Vienna Philharmonic and the site of the famous New Year's Day concert with Walter Cronkite. With it's beautiful decorations, history, and fantastic acoustics, it's always a treat for musicians to play there. Last night's program was Mozart Symphony #28, Debussy's "Iberia", and Beethoven's 7th Seventh symphony. We had curtain after curtain call and the normally reserved Viennese audience was very extroverted! Tonight is Ligeti's "Lontano" ( a very beautiful modern work) and the Bruckner Ninth Symphony. Since both our conductor and Bruckner are Austrian, the Viennese audience should love it. Tonight's concert is also being taped and will be made into a commercial DVD.

Today I rested but tomorrow we have most of the day off so I hope to going hiking in the Vienna woods. Vienna is an incredibly beautiful city with a rich history, great museum, fantastic shopping, and great food. I highly recommend it! I hope you have a nice week! NOW GO SELL HOUSES!!!!

Cleveland Orchestra- Luxembourg & Cologne

We just finished 1 concert in Luxembourg and 2 in Cologne. Luxembourg is a very nice banking city which obviously has lots of wealth. There are large pedestrian malls with beautiful shops. On our free day some of us rented cars to get out of the city and visit some castles. We enjoyed the rebuilt castle at Vianden and the partially-rebuilt castle in La Brouchette. I would highly recommend visiting both if you are in the area. The concert hall in Luxembourg, which we opened two years ago, has excellent acoustics but is a little boomy because of the extremely high ceiling. Nevertheless, the hall has lots of wood in it and has the classic "shoebox" shape, which is so important for a good concert hall. The concerts in Cologne were extremely well received, although the hall is not that great. It's a little dry-sounding and you really have to work to get a great sound. Last night the local presenter treated us to dinner at a restaurant specializing in German cuisine, and it was tasty! The beer was flowing quite freely during dinner and everyone had a great time.

Tonight's performance of the Mahler 2nd symphony was the best so far and the audience loved it...MANY curtain calls and lots of ovations. They seem to like us here so I know we'll be back in 2 years. Tomorrow we fly to Friedrichshafen for a concert at 3pm and them on to Vienna, which is the holy grail for symphony musicians. I write again from there. Have a great weekend!

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