Monday (4/1) on the Plain Dealer online (Cleveland), Zachary Lewis writes, “Franz Welser-Most, music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, is recovering at his home in Austria after collapsing Sunday during a performance at the Vienna State Opera. A spokeswoman for the orchestra confirmed that Welser-Möst was stricken by acute lower back pain and seen by a physician during intermission at a performance Sunday of Wagner’s Parsifal at the Vienna State Opera, where the conductor also serves as general music director. She said Welser-Möst, 52, was taken to a hospital in Vienna and treated for the back pain as well as low blood pressure. She said the conductor is now recovering at his home and was in good spirits during a phone conversation Monday morning with Gary Hanson, the orchestra’s executive director. … Back pain is unfortunately nothing new for Welser-Möst. The conductor has dealt with pain in his upper body ever since his youth, when he was involved in a serious car accident. Whether Welser-Möst will be able to conduct the Cleveland Orchestra next week at Severance Hall remains uncertain. Currently, the maestro is slated to lead four performances of Orff’s Carmina Burana April 11-14.”
Posted April 2, 2013
