The Full Works Concert: Thursday 19 March 2015, 8pm

Tonight's Great Orchestra of the World is the Cleveland Orchestra, playing Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms.

Cleveland is the smallest city of the U.S.A.'s traditional Big Five orchestras, and musicians there are often treated as celebrities. As with sports heroes elsewhere, the orchestra's fans wait to get autographs after performances and greet musicians on the street.

From its foundation in 1918, the Cleveland Orchestra toured throughout the eastern United States, made radio broadcasts, and recorded numerous albums. George Szell's long reign as Music Director has been largely credited for the orchestra's rise to eminence. He reformed the orchestra in the late-1940s, giving it a distinctly, European sound. Szell pushed through an ambitious recording schedule, bringing the Cleveland Orchestra's music to millions worldwide. Szell's influence has continued, even decades after his death.

Among its principal conductors, the Cleveland has also worked under Pierre Boulez, Lorin Maazel, and Christoph von Dohnányi. Franz Welser-Möst has been Music Director since 2002 and is contracted to remain through the 2021-2022 season.

The orchestra is based at Severance Hall (pictured), built for the orchestra in 1931. During the summer months, the orchestra presents its annual Blossom Festival at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. It also has long-term performing relationships in Lucerne, Vienna, New York City, a residency in Miami, and has conducted multi-concert tours on the West Coast off and on since the 1960s.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.27 in B-flat major
Mitsuko Uchida directs the Cleveland Orchestra from the piano

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.8 in F major
George Szell conducts the Cleveland Orchestra

Johannes Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major
Violin: Joshua Bell
Christoph von Dohnanyi conducts the Cleveland Orchestra