Franz Welser-Möst

Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, and later studied under the composer Balduin Sulzer. As a youth in Linz, he studied the violin and had developed an interest in conducting. After suffering injuries in a car crash that led to nerve damage, he stopped his violin studies and shifted full-time to conducting studies.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/3645911/Why-all-those-insults-made-me-stronger.html|title=Why all those insults made me stronger|work=The Daily Telegraph|author=Ivan Hewett|author-link=Ivan Hewett|date=18 August 2005|access-date=13 January 2013}}

In 1985, Möst assumed the stage name Welser-Möst at the suggestion of his mentor, Baron Andreas von Bennigsen of Liechtenstein, in an homage to the city of Wels where he grew up.{{cite web | title="Was glauben Sie?" – Der Dirigent Franz Welser-Möst | url=http://religion.orf.at/projekt03/tvradio/ra_logos/ra_log060225.htm | language=de | publisher=ORF Religion | date=25 February 2006 | access-date=4 September 2007 | archive-date=8 February 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208132110/http://religion.orf.at/projekt03/tvradio/ra_logos/ra_log060225.htm | url-status=dead }}{{cite news | title=Der Auslandsösterreicher des Jahres 2001–Franz Welser-Möst | url=http://www.weltbund.at/pdf/rwr012003.pdf | work=RotWeissRot | language=de | publisher=Auslandsösterreicher-Weltbund | date=January 2003 | access-date=4 September 2007 | archive-date=10 November 2005 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051110012609/http://www.weltbund.at/pdf/rwr012003.pdf | url-status=dead }} In 1986, he was adopted by Bennigsen. In 1992, Welser-Möst married Bennigsen's former wife, Angelika.{{cite news | first=Norman | last=Lebrecht|author-link=Norman Lebrecht|title=Franz Welser-Möst — The conductor they loved to hate | url=http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/040212-NL-welsermost.html | work=La Scena Musicale | date=12 February 2004| access-date=4 September 2007}}{{cite news | last=Lebrecht | first=Norman|author-link=Norman Lebrecht|title=He might be smiling now... — Franz Welser-Möst Returns to Conduct the Proms | url=http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/000816-NL-welsermost.html | work=La Scena Musicale | date=16 August 2000| access-date=4 September 2007}}{{cite news|first=Ernst|last=Naredi-Rainer|title=Schwierige Annäherung an Wien|url=http://activepaper.tele.net/neuecoat/2007-06-27/Kultur_4.asp|work=Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung|language=de|date=27 June 2006|access-date=4 September 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929123621/http://activepaper.tele.net/neuecoat/2007-06-27/Kultur_4.asp|archive-date=29 September 2007}} His first major debuts were at the Salzburg Festival in 1985, followed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986 and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur in 1988.

Between 1986 and 1991, Welser-Möst served as the principal conductor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Sweden, and in 1990 he became principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO).{{cite news|author=Nicholas Kenyon|author-link=Nicholas Kenyon|title=A Young Conductor Starts at the Top|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CEED9163EF936A25750C0A964958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|date=15 March 1992|access-date=3 November 2007}} His LPO tenure was controversial, with the orchestral players in the London Philharmonic giving him the nickname "Frankly Worse than Most". He concluded his LPO tenure in 1996.

From 1995 to 2000, he was music director with the Zürich Opera House. He became general music director of the Zürich Opera in September 2005, with an original commitment to the Opera through 2011. However, he stood down from the Zürich post in July 2008, after having agreed to serve in the same capacity at the Vienna State Opera. Welser-Möst first conducted at the Vienna State Opera in 1987, as a substitute for Claudio Abbado in a production of Gioachino Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri. On 6 June 2007, the Austrian government announced the appointment of Welser-Möst as Generalmusikdirektor of the Vienna State Opera, effective September 2010, alongside Dominique Meyer as director (Staatsoperndirektor).{{cite web|last=Pelinka|first=Nikolaus|date=6 June 2007|title=Kulturministerin Claudia Schmied: "Dominique Meyer wird 2010 Direktor der Wiener Staatsoper"|url=http://www.bmukk.gv.at/ministerium/vp/pm/20070606.xml|access-date=4 September 2007|publisher=Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur|language=de}}{{cite news|last=Westphal|first=Matthew|date=6 June 2007|title=Vienna State Opera Appoints Dominique Meyer Its Next Director, with Franz Welser-Möst as Music Director|work=Playbill Arts|url=http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/6603.html|access-date=16 July 2007|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927191132/http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/6603.html|url-status=dead}} In September 2014, he announced his resignation from the Vienna State Opera, effective immediately.{{cite news|author=Zachary Lewis|date=5 September 2014|title=Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Most resigns from Vienna State Opera|work=The Plain Dealer|location=Cleveland, Ohio|url=http://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/index.ssf/2014/09/cleveland_orchestra_music_dire_5.html|access-date=3 October 2014}} Welser-Möst is an honorary member of the Wiener Singverein.{{cite web|author=Dr. Reiber|title=Wiener Singverein|url=http://www.singverein.at/mitglieddownl/7/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070728001712/http://www.singverein.at/mitglieddownl/7/index.html|archive-date=28 July 2007|access-date=30 August 2008|publisher=Wiener Singverein|language=de|format=Microsoft Word}} He conducted the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in its Vienna New Year's Concert in 2011, 2013 and 2023.{{cite news | title=Neujahrskonzert mit Franz Welser-Möst: Knapp am Klimaprotest vorbei! | url=https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000142218381/neujahrskonzert-mit-franz-welser-moest-knapp-am-klimaprotest-vorbei | work=Der Standard | author=Ljubiša Tošić | date=1 January 2023 | access-date=2 January 2023}}

Welser-Möst made his United States conducting debut with the St. Louis Symphony in 1989. He guest-conducted the Cleveland Orchestra for the first time in February 1993.{{cite news|date=16 September 2012|title=Cleveland Hails New Conductor|work=Sun-Sentinel|url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-09-16/news/0209160057_1_cleveland-orchestra-franz-welser-most-music-director|access-date=3 October 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006161426/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-09-16/news/0209160057_1_cleveland-orchestra-franz-welser-most-music-director|url-status=dead}} With the 2002–03 season, Welser-Möst became the seventh music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. His most recent contract extension is through the 2026–27 season.{{cite press release|url=https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/News-and-Updates/News-Releases/2019-releases/2019-09-21-fwm-2027/r|title=The Cleveland Orchestra and Music Director Franz Welser-Möst extend acclaimed partnership to 2027|publisher=Cleveland Orchestra|date=21 September 2019|access-date=29 September 2019}} During his tenure, Welser-Möst has led the orchestra's ongoing residency at the Musikverein in Vienna, which began with Welser-Möst's first European tour in 2003. In addition, under Welser-Möst, the orchestra initiated an annual residency at Miami's Carnival Center for the Performing Arts (later renamed the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts) in 2007.{{Cite web|title=A Century of Excellence: An Extraordinary Future|url=https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/from-the-archives/soundwave/|website=Cleveland Orchestra}}{{cite web | url=https://southfloridaclassicalreview.com/2017/03/cleveland-orchestra-slashes-2018-arsht-residency-with-no-explanation-to-miami/ | title=Cleveland Orchestra slashes 2018 Arsht residency with no explanation to Miami | work=South Florida Classical Review | author=Lawrence A. Johnson | date=24 March 2017 | access-date=4 January 2021}}

Under Welser-Möst, the orchestra began presenting regularly staged operas in 2009, reviving a practice by his predecessor Christoph von Dohnányi. These concert opera presentations have included a three-year cycle of the Mozart/Da Ponte operas, Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte, Richard Strauss's Salome (2011–2012), Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen (2013–2014 and 2017–2018), Strauss' Daphne (2014–2015) and Ariadne auf Naxos (2018–2019), Bartók's The Miraculous Mandarin and Bluebeard's Castle in the 2015–16 season (a collaboration with the Joffrey Ballet), and Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (2016–17).

Welser-Möst published his autobiography, Als ich die Stille fand: Ein Plädoyer gegen den Lärm der Welt, in 2020; it was published in English in May 2021 under the title From Silence: Finding Calm in a Dissonant World.{{Cite press release|title=Franz Welser-Möst's new book, From Silence: Finding Calm in a Dissonant World, to be published in the U.S. in May|url=https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/press-resources/press-releases/2021-releases/2021-04-02-fwm-from-silence/|date=2 April 2021|access-date=8 January 2023|publisher=Cleveland Orchestra}}{{cite book | last=Welser-Moest | first=Franz | title=From Silence | publisher=Clearview | date=29 June 2021 | isbn=978-1-908337-60-3 | page=}} In October 2023, Welser-Möst had a cancerous tumor removed and canceled his conducting performances from late October through the end of 2023.{{cite web | title=Cleveland Orchestra conductor has cancerous tumor removed | website=AP News | date=8 September 2023 | url=https://apnews.com/article/cleveland-orchestra-conductor-cancer-dfd1d71fed71a40a5b041907d87ce872 | access-date=24 December 2023}} In January 2024, The Cleveland Orchestra announced that Welser-Möst is to conclude his tenure as its music director at the close of the 2026-2027 season.{{cite press release | url=https://www.clevelandorchestra.com/globalassets/editorial/press-releases/2024/2024fwmannouncement.pdf | title=Franz Welser-Möst announces the conclusion of his tenure as Music Director of The Cleveland Orchestra in 2027 after 25 years of artistic innovation, deep-rooted community engagement, and international acclaim | publisher=The Cleveland Orchestra | date=11 January 2024 | access-date=2024-01-13}}{{cite news | title='Everything Has a Time': Cleveland's Longest-Serving Conductor Plans His Departure | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/11/arts/music/franz-welser-most-cleveland-orchestra.html | work=The New York Times | author=Joshua Barone | date=2024-01-11 | access-date=2024-01-12}}

During his tenure with the LPO, Welser-Möst had established an exclusive recording contract with EMI. His 1996 recording of Franz Schmidt's Symphony No. 4 received the Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Recording. The CDs of Anton Bruckner's Mass No. 3 and Te Deum and works of Erich Wolfgang Korngold both received Grammy Award nominations for "Best Classical Album." EMI struck a similar deal with Welser-Möst to record performances at the Zürich Opera and has released a number of DVDs of his Zürich opera productions. In 2008, EMI reissued many of Welser-Möst's earlier recordings in an eight CD set. In October 2007, Deutsche Grammophon released the first commercial recording featuring Welser-Möst with the Cleveland Orchestra, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.{{cite news|first=Anastasia|last=Tsioulcas|title=Cleveland Orchestra partners with DG|url=http://www.gramophone.co.uk/newsMainTemplate.asp?storyID=2770&newssectionID=1|work=Gramophone|date=6 March 2007|access-date=4 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070325001627/http://www.gramophone.co.uk/newsMainTemplate.asp?storyID=2770&newssectionID=1|archive-date=25 March 2007|url-status=dead}} This recording was soon followed by a disc of Richard Wagner Lieder performed by the orchestra and soloist Measha Brueggergosman. Several DVDs have been issued as well, including Bruckner's 7th and 8th symphonies, at Severance Hall, and the 5th and 4th at the St. Florian Monastery. In 2020, Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra released a three-disc recording featuring works from the past three centuries, The Cleveland Orchestra: A New Century, the first recording on the orchestra's own in-house label.{{cite news|url=https://www.cleveland.com/arts/2020/03/cleveland-orchestra-launches-in-house-recording-label-with-a-new-century-album.html|title=Cleveland Orchestra launches in-house recording label with 'A New Century' album|work=The Plain Dealer|location=Cleveland|author=Zachary Lewis| date=13 March 2020|access-date=4 January 2021}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite book | last=Rosenberg | first=Donald | title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story | location=Cleveland | publisher=Gray & Company | year=2000 | isbn=1-886228-24-8}}

• [http://www.clevelandorchestra.com/about/musicians-and-conductors/franz-welser-most/ Franz Welser-Möst biography] at the Cleveland Orchestra
• [http://www.bruceduffie.com/welser-most.html Interview with Franz Welser-Möst], 19 May 1998

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{{succession box | title=Principal Conductor, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra | before=Okko Kamu | years=1986–1991 | after=Junichi Hirokami}}

{{succession box | title=Chief Conductor and Generalmusikdirektor, Zürich Opera | before=Ralf Weikert (chief conductor) | years=1995–2005 (chief conductor),
2005–2008 (Generalmusikdirektor) | after=Daniele Gatti (chief conductor)}}

{{succession box | title=Generalmusikdirektor, Vienna State Opera | before=Seiji Ozawa | years=2010–2014 | after=Philippe Jordan}}

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Category:1960 births

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Category:21st-century Austrian conductors (music)

Category:20th-century Austrian conductors (music)

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