Franz Welser-Möst
As Musical Director of the Cleveland Orchestra, Franz Welser-Möst has moulded the orchestra’s unmistakable sound for 21 years. During his term of office, the orchestra was frequently lauded for its musical excellence by the international critics. Innovative projects and cooperative ventures continuously targeted and involved a young public. Today, 20% of all concertgoers are under 25. Welser-Möst brought back numerous world premières and opera productions to the Severance Hall. Besides terms as resident conductor in the USA, Europe and China, Franz Welser-Möst appears with the Cleveland Orchestra at all the leading festivals. He will be the musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra until 2027. As guest conductor, Franz Welser-Möst has a particularly close and productive artistic partnership with the Vienna Philharmonic. He conducted the New Year Concert three times, and regularly conducts the orchestra in subscription concerts at the Wiener Musikverein and on tour in Japan, China, Australia and the USA. He also conducted the historic Sarajevo and Versailles Memorial Concerts. From 2010 to 2014 Franz Welser-Möst was general music director of the Wiener Staatsoper, where he not only covered the repertoire as a whole but particularly focused on 20th century operas, including Janácek’s »Kátja Kabanová«, »From the House of the Dead« and »The Cunning Little Vixen«, and Hindemith’s »Cardillac«. He has worked intensively on the oeuvre of Richard Strauss in both Vienna and Cleveland, with performances of »Salome«, »Die Frau ohne Schatten«, »Der Rosenkavalier«, »Ariadne auf Naxos« and »Arabella«. Franz Welser-Möst is a regular guest conductor at the Salzburg Festival, and sets pioneering new standards of interpretation as an opera and concert conductor, including »Rusalka«, »Der Rosenkavalier«, »Fidelio«, »Die Liebe der Danae«, Aribert Reimann’s opera »Lear« and Richard Strauss’ »Salome«, with which he made festival history in 2018. As a result of its incredible success, »Salome« was encored in the 2019 Festival programme. In 2020 he is conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in the opening concert of the Salzburg Festival and the première of Richard Strauss’ »Elektra«. Among other distinctions, Franz Welser-Möst is an honorary member of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna, and was awarded the Vienna Philharmonic Ring of Honour, the Kilenyi Medal of the Bruckner Society of America and the Kennedy Center Gold Medal in the Arts. Franz Welser-Möst has made numerous CD and DVD recordings, many of which have received international awards, including the recordings of performances of Der Rosenkavalier and Salome at the Salzburg Festival. The latest live recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra include a 3 CD Box Set »The Cleveland Orchestra – A New Century«, with works by Beethoven, Varèse, Strauss, Prokofiev, Johannes Maria Staud and Bernd Richard Deutsch.
Performances with Franz Welser-Möst
Ariadne auf Naxos
Dress Rehearsal
with Andrea Eckert, Michael Nagy, Kate Lindsey, Daniel Behle, Jörg Schneider, Serena Sáenz, Golda Schultz, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Ariadne auf Naxos
Cast on Thursday 19. November 2026
Ariadne auf Naxos
Premiere
with Andrea Eckert, Michael Nagy, Kate Lindsey, Daniel Behle, Jörg Schneider, Serena Sáenz, Golda Schultz, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Ariadne auf Naxos
Cast on Sunday 22. November 2026
with Andrea Eckert, Michael Nagy, Kate Lindsey, Daniel Behle, Jörg Schneider, Serena Sáenz, Golda Schultz, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Ariadne auf Naxos
Cast on Wednesday 25. November 2026
Abo 10
Ticket information
Einen Wochentag und Lieblingsplätze wählen und fünf Vorstellungen in einer Saison genießen.
In diesem Abo sind folgende Vorstellungen enthalten:
| 17. September 2025 | Tannhäsuer |
| 22. Oktober 2025 | Kallirhoe (Ballett) |
| 12. November 2025 | Faust |
| 25. März 2026 | Le grand macabre |
| 20. Mai 2026 | Les Pêcheurs de perles |
| 16. September 2026 | Don Carlo |
| 21. Oktober 2026 | Die Entführung aus dem Serail |
| 25. November 2026 | Ariadne auf Naxos |
| 28. April 2027 | Die tote Stadt |
| 02. Juni 2027 | Woolf Works |
with Andrea Eckert, Michael Nagy, Kate Lindsey, Daniel Behle, Jörg Schneider, Serena Sáenz, Golda Schultz, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Ariadne auf Naxos
Cast on Saturday 28. November 2026
with Andrea Eckert, Michael Nagy, Kate Lindsey, Daniel Behle, Jörg Schneider, Serena Sáenz, Golda Schultz, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Ariadne auf Naxos
Cast on Tuesday 1. December 2026
Zyklus »Strauss«
Ticket information
Mit Salome revolutionierte Strauss die Oper, mit Ariadne auf Naxos schrieb er mit Hofmannsthal Wiener Uraufführungsgeschichte, mit Arabella schufen sie ein berührendes Meisterwerk. Alle drei Opern vereint dieser Zyklus – inklusive Neuproduktion von Ariadne.
with Andrea Eckert, Michael Nagy, Kate Lindsey, Daniel Behle, Jörg Schneider, Serena Sáenz, Golda Schultz, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Ariadne auf Naxos
Cast on Saturday 5. December 2026
with Ludwig Mittelhammer, Julia Kleiter, Alexander Grassauer, Patricia Nolz, Jörg Schneider, Adrian Eröd, Nikola Hillebrand, Michael Niavarani, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Die Fledermaus
Cast on Thursday 31. December 2026
with Ludwig Mittelhammer, Julia Kleiter, Alexander Grassauer, Patricia Nolz, Jörg Schneider, Adrian Eröd, Nikola Hillebrand, Michael Niavarani, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Die Fledermaus
Cast on Friday 1. January 2027
with Ludwig Mittelhammer, Julia Kleiter, Alexander Grassauer, Patricia Nolz, Jörg Schneider, Adrian Eröd, Nikola Hillebrand, Michael Niavarani, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Die Fledermaus
Cast on Sunday 3. January 2027
with Ludwig Mittelhammer, Julia Kleiter, Alexander Grassauer, Patricia Nolz, Jörg Schneider, Adrian Eröd, Nikola Hillebrand, Michael Niavarani, Conductor: Franz Welser-Möst
Die Fledermaus
Cast on Wednesday 6. January 2027