Around the Music Festival

When Franz Welser-Möst, who is currently on hiatus from his activities due to cancer treatment, canceled his conducting of the Cleveland Orchestra, which he is the music director of, Igor Levit, who was scheduled to perform as the soloist, also withdrew. Welser-Möst and Levit were scheduled to perform all of Beethoven’s piano concertos from November 6th to 17th.

According to the announcement, the five concertos will be performed by five pianists, with Stephen Hough, Yunchan Lim, Garrick Ohlsson, Minsoo Sohn and Orion Weiss taking over as substitutes. All the concerts will be conducted by Daniel Reith, the orchestra’s assistant conductor.

Mest was born in Linz, Austria, and is 64 years old. In September 2023, he announced that he needed to undergo 12 to 16 months of cancer treatment and temporarily suspended his activities, but he returned to the stage in January 2024. After completing a European tour with the Cleveland Orchestra from August to September, he has been inactive for three months since the start of the new season.

PHOTO：Carnegie Hall　/　Steve J. Sherman