Estimated duration

2 h 15 min., incl. intermission

Organizer

Helsingin tapahtumasäätiö sr

The Cleveland Orchestra, one of the world’s most renowned symphony orchestras, will perform at Helsinki Festival.

The Cleveland Orchestra, one of the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras, one of the “Big Five” of the most renowned orchestras in the United States, returns to Finland after decades of waiting. The orchestra, which has rarely visited the Nordic countries, last performed in Finland in 1965.

Founded in 1918, the orchestra has been led for the last 22 years by top Austrian conductor Franz Welser-Möst, who also led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in a memorable performance at the 2015 Helsinki Festival.

The Cleveland Orchestra is still regarded as one of the world’s best active orchestras, and in 2020 the New York Times named it the best in America. Under Welser-Möst, the orchestra has been honed to its technical and artistic peak.

The Cleveland Orchestra will perform Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto and Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony in the concert at Helsinki Music Centre. The concerto is Schumann’s only piano concerto and one of the most beloved solo concertos of the Romantic era. The soloist is perhaps the most famous piano superstar of the moment, Icelandic pianist Vikingur Ólafsson. At the 2023 Festival, Ólafsson performed a solo recital to a sold-out audience.