Editing Cleveland Orchestra (section)

===George Szell (1946–1970)===
In 1946, Szell was appointed as the orchestra’s fourth music director.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=227–229}}</ref>  From the start of his tenure, Szell's intention was to transform the orchestra into “America’s finest” symphonic ensemble and developing an orchestra that was “second to none.”<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=229}}</ref> He spent much of his early time in Cleveland changing personnel in an effort to find musicians who were capable of creating his ideal orchestral sound.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=229–230}}</ref><ref name="time2">{{cite magazine|date=February 22, 1963|title=The Glorious Instrument|magazine=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828034,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930035047/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828034,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 30, 2007|access-date=July 15, 2007}}</ref> Szell’s stringent standards and expectations for musical precision were reflected in his contract with the Musical Arts Association, which gave him complete artistic control over programming, scheduling, personnel, and recording.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=227}}</ref>

In the 1950s and 1960s, Szell was instrumental in the achievement of several orchestra milestones:
* He led the orchestra on its first European tour, in 1957, across Europe and behind the Iron Curtain.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=291–294}}</ref>
* Szell pushed to change Severance Hall's acoustic properties, which he considered to be too “dry.” Major renovations were made during the 1958–59 season, including the construction of the “Szell Shell”, which was designed to project the orchestra's sound in a manner that created better balance among musicians and a clearer string section.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=299–302}}</ref> 
A second European tour took place in 1965, and included a significant tour of the [[Soviet Union]], with performances in [[Moscow]], [[Kiev]], [[Tbilisi]], [[Yerevan]], [[Sochi]], and [[Leningrad]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Shakarian|first=Pietro A.|title=Cleveland Orchestra Tour of the USSR|encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History|publisher=[[Case Western Reserve University]]|url=https://case.edu/ech/articles/c/cleveland-orchestra-tour-ussr|date=August 8, 2022|access-date=May 7, 2023}}</ref> Two years later, the orchestra became the first American orchestra to be invited to three premiere festivals, in [[Salzburg Festival|Salzburg]], [[Lucerne Festival|Lucerne]], and [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe|Edinburgh]], in the same summer.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=372–375}}</ref> Szell also oversaw the opening of the orchestra's summer home, [[Blossom Music Center]], in 1968, which provided the ensemble’s musicians with year-round employment.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=347–360}}</ref> In 1970, after a tenure of 24 years, shortly after a tour of the Far East during the spring of 1970, which included stops in [[Japan]], [[Korea]], and Alaska,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=392–393}}</ref> Szell died.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=397–398}}</ref>

Two days after Szell’s death, the orchestra played its scheduled program at Blossom Music Center with [[Aaron Copland]] taking the podium as guest conductor.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=402–403}}</ref>  [[Louis Lane]], one of Szell’s assistant conductors, was appointed resident conductor.  [[Pierre Boulez]], who had been named the orchestra's principal guest conductor in 1969, was appointed musical advisor.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|pages=377; 402}}</ref>