75th Anniversary Concert - DVD

The Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra can rightly claim to be one of the most authentic ensembles for interpreting the music of the Strauss dynasty. In 1966 - nearly 120 years after Johann Strauss I had founded the Strauss Orchestra, the great demand for high-quality interpretations of light music led a group of musicians in Vienna who belonged to the small ensemble of the Austrian Radio Orchestra to found the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra. The aim of new orchestra was to cultivate the music of the Strauss dynasty, together with so-called 'light' Viennese music. It was formed of fortytwo musicians, that it to say the ensemble was the same size as that which, according to authentic accounts, was preferred by the members of the Strauss family.

Includes The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976)In 1930s America, when major league baseball was a whites-only sport, a squad of top Negro League players broke away from their teams' tight-fisted owners and made their way across the countryside. Led by charismatic star pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams), the team took on opponents of all races... but will their success also spell their league's demise? Fun-filled comedy/drama co-stars Richard Pryor, James Earl Jones, Stan Shaw; directed by John Badham. 110 min. C/Rtg PG Which Way Is Up? (1977)Richard Pryor offers his take on the Italian comedy InchThe Seduction of Mimi,Inch and the results are hilarious. He plays a fruit picker, a S*x-starved 88-year-old man and a freewheeling preacher who's raising Cain behind his pulpit. Co-stars Lonette McKee, Margaret Avery, Dolph Sweet. 95 min. C/Rtg R

Franz Welser-Möst has conducted The Cleveland Orchestra in a series of acclaimed video and audio productions, further enhancing the ensemble's storied recorded legacy. At the Anniversary Gala on September 29, 2018, documented in the present video recording, he programmed works touching on more than a century of Viennese musical traditions. Opening with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24, featuring soloist Lang Lang, a regular collaborator with the orchestra since 2000, it also includes works by Richard and Johann Strauss, concluding with Ravel's cataclysmic La Valse. The Cleveland Orchestra was founded in 1918. Over the ensuing decades, the Orchestra quickly grew from a fine regional organization to being one of the most admired symphony orchestras in the world. Seven music directors have guided and shaped the ensemble's growth and sound Nikolai Sokoloff, Artur Rodzinski, Erich Leinsdorf, George Szell, Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi, and Franz Welser-Möst. The opening in 1931 of Severance Hall as the Orchestra's permanent home brought a special pride to the ensemble and it's hometown, as well as providing an enviable and intimate acoustic environment in which to develop and refine the Orchestra's artistry. Touring performances throughout the United States and, beginning in 1957, to Europe and across the globe have confirmed Cleveland's place among the world's top orchestras. For this anniversary concert, The Cleveland Orchestra will be joined by none less than world famous pianist Lang Lang. Heralded by the New York times as Inchthe hottest artist on the classical music planet, Inch Lang Lang works with many of the best classical musicians of our time. He first appeared with The Cleveland Orchestra in 2000.