Christoph von Dohnányi, longtime music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, has died at 95.

He first conducted here in 1981 and was named music director designate in 1984. During his tenure, Dohnányi presented the first fully staged opera at Blossom Music Center — Mozart’s "The Magic Flute" in 1985.

He also established a residency at the Salzburg Festival in 1992, which led to their first tour of mainland China. In 1994, Time magazine honored the ensemble as “the best band in the land."

He pushed to restore Severance Hall’s Norton Memorial Organ in 2000. The next year, the Orchestra released a 10-disc retrospective of his tenure. He stepped down in 2002 , when he was named music director laureate, and later conducted London’s Philharmonia Orchestra for over a decade.

In a statement,

See Full Page