“Translated reviews of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra’s recent appearances in Europe are starting to roll in, and they are uniformly positive,” writes Zachary Lewis in Friday’s (6/28) Plain Dealer (Cleveland). “We now have evidence that critical approval of the orchestra and a special student octet was widespread.… The group wasn’t only featured in print. The youth orchestra’s tour website also includes clips from … television segments highlighting the orchestra and Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst, who conducted a performance near his hometown of Linz.” Vinay Parameswaran, music director of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, is leading the bulk of performances during the tour; the musicians next travel to Budapest, Hungary, and Bratislava, Slovakia. Excerpts from reviews in Austrian newspapers included in the Plain Dealer article state, “ ‘Perfection in sound and dynamics suggests that the coaching masters have thoroughly prepared these youngsters, who perform as a single unit.… The encounter with this American youth orchestra left the audience at St. Florian audibly impressed, as demonstrated by long-lasting applause.’ ‘The Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra … is not [just] any youth orchestra. … discipline, fierce intent, and committed dedication … were impressive.”
Posted June 28, 2019
In photo: Cleveland Orchestra Music Director Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra during the group’s recent visit to the Abbey of St. Florian near Linz, Austria. Photo by Gerhard Flekatsch / Cleveland Orchestra
