Programming matters: What an orchestra plays can be just as important as the quality of the playing. It can even be the difference between a concert that feels endless, and one you don’t want to ever end. As if to offer a case study, the Cleveland Orchestra opened Carnegie Hall’s season on Thursday and Friday with two contrasting programs. In both, the players were virtually flawless under the reliably commanding baton of their music director, Franz Welser-Möst. Yet one concert never quite took flight, while the other soared in a showcase of the Clevelanders at their most magnificent.

Source: New York Times October 06, 2019 18:22 UTC