Rosenberg’s first 10 years at the paper were dominated by Dohnányi’s tenure at the Cleveland Orchestra. Rosenberg had a close, personal relationship with Dohnányi dating back to the profile he had written for the Akron paper. The two men socialized together with their families. Rosenberg seemed to his editors, however, to cover the orchestra fairly and the friendship was never the subject of any performance review or evaluation of Rosenberg’s work. In 2004, Plain Dealer Editor Clifton nominated Rosenberg for a Pulitzer for criticism.

In the spring of 2000, Rosenberg published a book, The Cleveland Orchestra Story. It was well received and benefited his reputation. New Yorker writer Alex Ross called the book “absorbing.” [1] The orchestra had given Rosenberg exclusive access to its archives to research the book, which took three years to write. Such favorable treatment from an organization he covered did raise some eyebrows in the newsroom, recalls Debbie Van Tassel, then- Plain Dealer business editor. “I do think that getting that kind of access put him under some kind of debt of obligation to the orchestra,” she adds. But no editor said anything.

At the time, the Plain Dealer had no written ethics policy. Questionable behavior was judged on a case-by-case basis. Unrelated to Rosenberg’s book, Editor Clifton in October 2000 decided to put in writing a policy that addressed at least journalistic conflict-of-interest, as well as right-of-reply. In October 2000, he sent out a memo to all newsroom staff:

It is not enough to simply have good intentions and honest motives. Plain Dealer staff members must avoid any conflict of interest or even the appearance of a conflict of interest or an abuse of the power of the press… Plain Dealer journalists will approach assignments with an open mind. Appropriate efforts should be made to understand all relevant points of view and to tell every story completely… Generally, we should publish responsible comments submitted by persons or organizations criticized in the Plain Dealer . Whenever possible, serious allegations should be described to the subject and we should let the subject respond in detail in advance of publication. [2]

Meanwhile, Rosenberg in 2001 was elected president of the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA), an organization founded in 1956 to uphold the standards of professional music criticism. Its 105 members included music critics with the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, National Public Radio, and the Wall Street Journal . After serving a two-year term, Rosenberg in 2003 was re-elected for a second term. He also helped organize MCANA’s annual conference, which included professional development seminars for music critics.

New conductor. Rosenberg, like many in Cleveland, was curious when the Cleveland Orchestra in 1997 announced that Dohnányi would retire in 2002: who would replace him? The answer was announced in 1999—Franz Welser-Möst, then-music director of the Zurich Opera, would take over in 2002. Welser-Möst came with a reputation. After an impressive run as guest conductor to many of the world’s major orchestras, the Austrian in 1990 was named principal conductor of the London Philharmonic. His tenure was controversial, and critics gave him the nickname “Frankly Worse than Most.”

Welser-Möst had an unconventional personal life as well. In 1986, at age 26, he was adopted (although his own parents were alive) by Baron Andreas von Bennigsen of Liechtenstein. In 1992, he had a falling-out with Bennigsen, and in 1994 the conductor moved in with Bennigsen’s young estranged wife, Angelika. The baron and his wife divorced and, in 1995, she and Welser-Möst married. This was the 42-year-old conductor who, in 2002, arrived in Cleveland ready to take over the leadership of the city’s esteemed orchestra.