Carnegie Hall

A jewel in the crown of America’s classical music scene, The Cleveland Orchestra has been named “America’s finest” by The New York Times and counted among the world’s top 10 orchestras by Gramophone. Beyond rankings, however, its disciplined work ethic, crystalline sound, and artistic refinement—carefully cultivated under a series of illustrious maestros—have given the Ohio-based ensemble an undeniable place in the pantheon.

As the orchestra gears up for its January return to Carnegie Hall in performances that launch the Hall’s Fall of the Weimar Republic: Dancing on the Precipice festival—here are five things worth knowing about The Cleveland Orchestra, from its inaugural performance to its pioneering role in the recording studio.

An Original Leading Lady

The orchestra’s origin story is a multifaceted lesson in female empowerment. Born in 1869, Cleveland socialite Adella Prentiss Hughes showed an early passion for the arts, pursuing a music degree at Vassar College and founding a banjo club. Her college friendship with Elisabeth Rockefeller, kindled over a shared love of concertgoing, led to important connections with wealthy benefactors and artists.

After touring Europe’s concert halls with her mother, Hughes returned to Cleveland and embarked on a journey that would shape the city’s cultural landscape. In 1901, she brought Victor Herbert to Ohio as a guest conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

This initiative inspired a series of high-profile concerts, featuring eminent conductors like Leopold Stokowski and Gustav Mahler. The local success of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in Cleveland, which she facilitated in 1915, and a subsequent large-scale presentation of Wagner’s opera Siegfried in 1916 solidified her regional influence.

In 1918, Hughes convinced Ukrainian American violinist Nikolai Sokoloff to conduct The Cleveland Orchestra’s inaugural concert. Her leadership as the orchestra’s general manager for the following 15 seasons shaped its trajectory and marked an important turning point in a male-dominated industry.

A Tale of Two Halls

The Cleveland Orchestra’s early years brought significant milestones, including tours in Pennsylvania, Michigan, New York, and Cuba that reflected the promotional savvy of its management. For their first performance at Carnegie Hall in 1922, Sokoloff led the orchestra through an ambitious program that included Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture and Brahms’s Second Symphony. The local press, however, was far more intrigued by the onstage female contingent, unusual for the times. “Of interest to New Yorkers,” noted The New York Times, “was the presence of one woman violinist and another as flutist among Cleveland’s 95 players.”

Meanwhile back in Ohio, the need for a dedicated performance space was becoming apparent. The orchestra’s first concerts at Grays Armory and later at the Masonic Auditorium were marred by scheduling conflicts. To resolve this, plans for a new venue were born.

In 1928, the local salt titan and arts philanthropist John L. Severance and his wife Elisabeth pledged $1 million for the construction of a music hall at a gala concert marking the orchestra’s 10th anniversary. When Elisabeth unexpectedly passed away, John built the hall in memory of her. Construction of Severance Hall began in 1929, culminating in its grand opening on February 5, 1931. Designed by local firm Walker & Weeks, the hall was an architectural marvel, combining art deco and Egyptian-revival styles. It has since undergone extensive renovations to enhance its visual appeal and acoustics.

Orchestral Innovators

From its early days, The Cleveland Orchestra has embraced pathbreaking musical technologies. This innovative spirit was on full display in November 1919, when the orchestra accompanied a self-playing Duo-Art player piano, programmed with pianist Harold Bauer’s pre-recorded rendition of Saint-Saëns’s Second Piano Concerto.

This bold experiment presented challenges for Sokoloff on the podium. But it electrified concertgoers and thrilled instrumentalists—even as they struggled to keep pace with the piano’s fast tempo. Recalled the conductor: “I was perspiring like a fountain.”

The orchestra’s innovative spirit was further channeled by its engagement with the theremin, an early electronic musical instrument known for its ethereal, space-age sounds. In 1929, the orchestra gave the world premiere of Joseph Schillinger’s First Airphonic Suite, specifically composed for the theremin. Later that same year, Sokoloff brought this groundbreaking work to Carnegie Hall for a performance that featured the instrument’s inventor, Leon Theremin, as soloist.

Icons on the Podium

For an ensemble of its cachet, The Cleveland Orchestra’s list of music directors is surprisingly short. This select group includes several of classical music’s most eminent conductors, including Erich Leinsdorf, Lorin Maazel, and Christoph von Dohnányi. Among them, the two music directors with the longest tenures stand out for their transformative contributions.

In 1946, George Szell arrived in Cleveland to helm the orchestra, which was recovering from the disruptions of World War II. His tenure marked a transformation. Under Szell’s guidance, The Cleveland Orchestra made its mark at esteemed venues nationwide, including dozens of legendary appearances at Carnegie Hall.

Szell was instrumental in improving the acoustics of Severance Hall and establishing the Blossom Music Center as the orchestra’s summer home. Yet no matter the place or the piece, Szell’s insistence on rigor and clarity sprang from his belief in the purity of musical expression. His legacy, cemented by numerous recordings and tours, shaped the orchestra’s direction even after his death in 1970.

Most recently, in 2002 the baton was passed to Franz Welser-Möst, an Austrian conductor known for his innovative and thoughtful approach. His directorship continues to this day. “Szell was obsessed with precision and balance,” Welser-Möst told The New York Times in 2020. “I’m a freak when it comes to certain colors and something I want in the phrasing, a singing sound.”

Under his direction, the orchestra has played residencies at the Musikverein in Vienna and made annual appearances in Miami. Welser-Möst has also revived the orchestra’s tradition of staged operas, including works by Mozart, R. Strauss, Janáček, and Bartók. This season, he leads an eagerly anticipated five-concert Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall.

Record of Achievement

The recorded history of The Cleveland Orchestra began in 1922 with its first radio broadcast. This heralded a long-standing practice of sharing performances beyond the concert hall. Szell’s recordings—particularly of Mozart, Schubert, and Beethoven—highlighted the orchestra’s versatility and captured his evolving approach to music making. Subsequent directors have added their distinct touch to the catalog.

Dohnányi’s recordings of the 1980s and 1990s are celebrated for their finesse. Welser-Möst has ushered in a new era, launching the orchestra’s own label to bring more live performances at Severance Hall to the world. “The philosophy is to allow the audience a glimpse of what we do here throughout the season,” he explained. “The well-known, the lesser-known, the unknown, new and old.”

Photography: Welser-Möst by Chris Lee; Hughes by The Cleveland News, courtesy of The Cleveland Orchestra Archives; Sokoloff and Hughes by Worldwide Photos, courtesy of The Cleveland Orchestra Archives; Theremin, Schillinger, and Sokoloff by Blank and Stoller, Inc., courtesy of The Cleveland Orchestra Archives; all other images courtesy of the Carnegie Hall Rose Archives.