JAHJA LING AROUND THE WORLD:
CLEVELAND, AUGUST 2014
Jahja Ling’s 30th anniversary concert with The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall on August 15 featured an all-Beethoven program with the Overture to Prometheus, Symphony No. 4 and Choral Fantasy with Orion Weiss as piano soloist and the Blossom Festival Chorus. On August 16, Yo-Yo Ma joined Ling and the orchestra in a rare appearance at Blossom Music Center which seats 5,700 in the pavilion and 6,000 on the lawn bringing the weekend attendance to 13,800 which includes those attending the Severance Hall performance. Among the audience members were past and present members of the board of directors, former executive director Thomas Morris as well as many longtime donors of the orchestra. Yo-Yo Ma played Elgar’s Cello Concerto followed by an encore of Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile with the orchestra. Ling opened the program with Smetana’s Overture to The Bartered Bride and concluded the concert with Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6.
At the end of the concerto, Yo-Yo gave Jahja the “high-10” three times representing Ling’s 30th anniversary, and the musicians paid tribute to Ling with a solo bow after he led the Dvořák Symphony for this special occasion. Altogether, there were three standing ovations from the exuberant crowd for the Elgar, Tchaikovsky and Dvořák works.
During the dress rehearsal break, The Cleveland Orchestra musicians and staff presented Ling with a 30th anniversary cake celebrating his unprecedented tenure and close relationship with this esteemed orchestra.
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