24 FLAC Discount
Long acclaimed among the world's greatest orchestras, The Cleveland Orchestra recently celebrated 100 years since its creation by local impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes. Now looking ahead to its second century of musical excellence, the Orchestra launches its own record label with a three-part album featuring performances conducted and curated by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, whose tenure was recently extended to a quarter century to become the longest-serving artistic leader in the ensemble's history. Recorded in the intimate acoustics of Severance Hall, the first volume of A New Century pairs Beethoven's Opus 132 late string quartet with Edgard Varèse's big-hearted and hard-hitting 1928 orchestral portrait of New York City, Amériques. String Quartet No. 15 is performed by the entire string section The Cleveland Orchestra in a stunning display of precision and chamber music warmth. Welser-Möst writes, "The experience of performing works by such well known composers as Beethoven in a new way helps magnify your understanding of what that music can be. For this recording, we have paired it with Varèse's daringly invigorating modern tone poem from the early 20th century. Thus we hear how music evolves across generations, how the new repertoire affects our understanding of how older works can be viewed today."
