Written during the final months of World War II, Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 was described by the composer as “a symphony of the greatness of the human spirit, a song of praise of free and happy mankind.” While these words must be taken with a grain of salt — more likely to have been generated by an apparatchik than Prokofiev himself — melody, rhythmic invention, and unfettered delight abound within this beloved work.

The Cleveland Orchestra will release a new audio recording of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F minor on Friday, December 1, 2023. Led by Music Director Franz Welser-Möst, the recording will be available worldwide for digital streaming and download in spatial audio on all major platforms. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 was recorded live at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, the home of The Cleveland Orchestra, during two community appreciation concerts in the fall of 2021.

Written in the final year of his life, Schubert’s Mass No. 6 in E-flat major is often regarded as the composer’s own requiem. In this recording, The Cleveland Orchestra is joined by soprano Joélle Harvey, mezzo-soprano Daryl Freedman, tenors Julian Prégardien and Martin Mitterrutzner, bass-baritone Dashon Burton, and The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus.

The new album features Schubert’s greatest symphonic masterpiece, his “Great” C-major Symphony (D.944) paired with a uniquely modern work by 20th-century composer Ernst Křenek, Static and Ecstatic. Both pieces were recorded live at Severance Hall with Music Director Franz Welser-Möst in March 2020, and mark The Cleveland Orchestra’s final performances prior to performing arts groups being shuttered around the world due to the coronavirus.