September 1, 2010 launches the Welser-Möst era at Vienna’s Staatsoper. But before the Austrian conductor begins his tenure as General Music Director of the “Opera House on the Ring,” his artistry can be experienced at LUCERNE FESTIVAL. Leading the Cleveland Orchestra, he will perform works by Schubert and Strauss, by Bruckner and Berg—and a world premiere by Toshio Hosokawa.

When the venerable Cleveland Orchestra named Franz Welser-Möst to the position of Principal Conductor in 1997—succeeding Christoph von Dohnányi—he enjoyed a surprise coup. Their decision indicated a courageous, well-informed, and unorthodox attitude. Many an “expert” hadn’t deemed the young Austrian to be a serious candidate—perhaps because he has no use for self-promotion or for media-savvy star power but instead cultivates the almost old-fashioned virtues which are highlighted in his book from 2007, “Cadences”: precision, discipline, and constant engagement with the masterpieces of the repertoire.

Welser-Möst’s tenure in Cleveland has lasted for eight seasons to date, and his contract has been extended through 2018. In the coming season he adds the position of General Music Director of Vienna’s Staatsoper to his duties; he will also conduct the Vienna Philharmonic in its legendary New Year’s Concert. Initially, in fact, his intention had been to study violin and piano. But a serious car accident at the age of 18 caused nerve damage in several fingers, frustrating these plans. Welser-Möst made the best of the situation and turned his attention to conducting. One year later he not only made it to the final stage of the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition but also earned the attention of its namesake. After that came one success after another. While Welser-Möst gained experience as an orchestral leader in Norrköping in Sweden and in Winterthur, he was already receiving invitations from prestigious ensembles and festivals. In 1990, when he’d just turned 30, he took over leadership of the London Philharmonic, and in 1995 he began his tenure at Zurich Opera. He has also been a regular LUCERNE FESTIVAL guest since 1999.

For this summer’s Cleveland Orchestra residency in Lucerne, Welser-Möst has selected three programs which could hardly be more different from one another. The first is a joint performance with star soprano Christine Schäfer on August 26 which underlines the festival theme of "Eros" by juxtaposing two Viennese masters. The power and the sorrow of love are the focus of three Franz Schubert lieder as well as of Alban Berg’s “Lulu” Suite.

The second concert, on August 27, is devoted to Anton Bruckner, a composer for whom Franz Welser-Möst has always felt a close affinity. As a boy, he sang in the chorus of the Church of St. Florian in his native Linz—the same abbey church where Bruckner himself had been active for a decade as organist and teacher. “There is quite a bit of him in me. I cannot deny that I was born in the same region, only about 10 km away,” Welser-Möst admits.

Finally, on August 28, the Cleveland Orchestra will abduct us into musical dream worlds: from the erotic day dreams of Claude Debussy’s “Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un Faune” and Richard Strauss’s fanciful self-idolization in “Ein Heldenleben” to Toshio Hosokawa’s brand-new orchestral work, “Woven Dreams.” “I once had a dream that I was in my mother’s womb. In the dream, I experienced the joy of being in the warm womb and the pressure and obsession that I must be born before long… In ‘Woven Dreams’ I have tried to transform these experiences into music,” writes the Japanese composer in his preface to the score, which is dedicated to Michael Haefliger. Doubtless the Clevelanders will reveal the full glory of their sound in this final concert of their residency.