Cleveland in the New Yorker

Last week's New Yorker has a delightful portrayal of the Cleveland Orchestra, who was scheduled to play in New York this past weekend. (I wish the New Yorker kept its articles online for more than a week so you can read it!)

But really, the article was about Cleveland as a city, the strength of its cultural institutions and how they are struggling to stay afloat when the engines of its economy (big industries) have now moved overseas. I love that Cleveland Orchestra is regarded as one of the Big 5 orchestras, and the most "European" of them all - New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago (is that right?). I also love that the orchestra's audience has been "trained" to be more accepting of new classical music than many audiences in bigger, metropolitan cities.

I put Cleveland up there with Pittsburgh. Having never been to either, both strike me as those American cities with tons of culture and a lot going for it, if only you give it a chance.