Music lovers across Europe this season are spoilt for choice. To mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, a string of American orchestras are making the journey across the ocean to share their very distinctive craft with a very European family. The latest, the Cleveland Orchestra under chief conductor Franz Welser-Möst, whose concert in Dortmund’s Konzerthaus posed perhaps more questions than answers given.
The programme
In what could be viewed as one missed opportunity after another, and despite the very warm reception from a curious German audience eagerly googling Cleveland’s place on the map, their programme, consisting entirely of Austro-Hungarian/German Romantic music, soon morphed into the elephant in the room. Even the encore was an Austrian waltz. Whilst featuring the work of Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch on select dates elsewhere on the tour, for a conductor lauded in the past for his commitment to promoting contemporary composers, Welser-Möst and Cleveland’s failure to showcase one or more of the many fantastic emerging or established American composers and introduce their distinctive American language to the eager Dortmund audience cannot easily be forgiven.
Nothing on offer gave a window into the diverse US-American music scene. Instead, others such as the London Symphony Orchestra returning to Dortmund in January with Vikingur Ólafsson for an all-John Adams’ programme, and later in the season, American soprano Joyce DiDonato with her project Emily – No prisoner be, the brainchild of American composer Kevin Puts, will carry the mantle.
Moreover, at a time when American discourse often centres around musicians’ pay (an issue Cleveland thankfully resolved just days before setting off on tour after a union walkout led to the cancellation of their September 26th concert) the very real difficulties American composers face getting their work performed in the concert hall should not be forgotten. And especially in this celebratory year, when so many European institutions such as Konzerthaus Dortmund are throwing down the red carpet to welcome US ensembles with a whole series of concerts. In this context, Sunday’s concert felt rather like an own goal.
A little Liszt
All of the above, of course, would not have mattered quite so much if the orchestra had sparkled. However, opening horn octaves, creaking their way into existence, seemed to set the tone. Liszt’s Orpheus – the fourth of thirteen remarkable symphonic poems written whilst serving as Weimar Court Theatre music director – was very nice, but did not have a convincing tale to tell.
Golda Schultz joins the Cleveland Orchestra
In the same vein, with South-African soprano Golda Schultz joining the rather frail-looking Welser-Möst for Richard Strauss’ heart-wrenchingly beautiful Four Last Songs, all again seemed very nice, yet lacked any hint of distinctive colour palettes. Not until “Sommer lächelt” (Summer smiles) did the orchestra meet Schultz’s challenge. Welser-Möst seemingly unwilling to test the Dortmund acoustic and find true emotional connection in poetry which depicts a couple’s fading years as they look towards the sunset whilst contemplating their own death. Despite a beautiful violin solo, many players appeared emotionally detached. In response to Strauss’ question: ‘Is this death?’ posed by his transfiguration theme when first used sixty years earlier in his Death and Transfiguration, yes, this was death, just not as intended.
A little Brahms
Returning for Brahms’ Second Symphony, their very relaxed sound persisted in a reading which only came alive in the louder passages and seemed to lack intellectual curiosity. In this very modern age, it is easy to overlook Brahms’ symphonies in the false belief that his writing is staid, even reactionary. In the right hands though, rather like the symphonies of Schumann, Brahms can be incredibly exciting and rhythmically challenging. Sadly, under Welser-Möst, each movement sounded the same. The violins only finding voice in their sforzando spiccato moments, and rhythmically exciting syncopations and cross-rhythms. Cleveland’s reading lacked precision and vitality, finally summoning deep-rooted romanticism in the finale as fabulous antiphonal descending brass sequences held sway.
The future
With Welser-Möst stepping down at the end of the season, the post of chief conductor will become vacant. Videos of old portray a very different Cleveland Orchestra: one where musicians seem hungry, and eager to please. In the right hands and with support of management, those days can be revived and missed opportunities swept perhaps a distant memory.
This concert was reviewed on Sunday 4th October, 2026 in Konzerthaus Dortmund
Catch the Cleveland Orchestra on tour this October
Read more from Clare
Follow Clare Varney on Facebook or Instagram to read more about Music and Culture
