There is no finer orchestra that exists within the United States, if the world. I haven't been to London or Vienna, but from the performances I have experienced, the Cleveland Orchestra takes the music to a level unimaginable. I saw Mitsuko Uchida, Marc Hamelin, Brahms guest conduced, the film composer John Williams, and several other performances this season but it was the last concert which was part of the Prometheus series that made me leave imagination to find the reality of how music should perform to an audience. Franz Welser-Most took the ninth symphony and gave it a performance that only the best could perform. Beethoven's 9th symphony is what motivated to begin to refine my skills at the piano when I was very young and appreciate classical music when Backstreet Boys and Brittany Spears dominated. The 'Ode to Joy' became the foundation of my skillset and basis of what music is. I have listened to this performed by almost every composure possible through YouTube and keeping an eye open on programs when I am traveling. Always shocking but that doesn't begin last Friday. The first pieces were Franz showing that he has complete control of the music, his rhythm and movement demanded that he be commanded as the music had to be right. Then begun the 65 minute Ninth Symphony. The piece told the story of camaraderie and perseverance that several authors have documented the piece being predicated upon and then mov 4. The choir reaching its point with unfounded accuracy to the tempo of the jubilant sounding.
If you do not get to see the Cleveland Orchestra under FW-M, it is hard to say your experience of Beethoven or live performances of music has not reached its potential and you really should get to Cleveland. It is the simply, the best.