The San Fransisco Chronicle published a scathing rebuke on the Cleveland Plain Dealer's demotion of Donald Rosenberg. Rosenberg, who had covered the Cleveland Orchestra for the paper for 16 years, has been a harsh critic of Franz Welser-Möst since his installment as music director at the esteemed organization in 2002. Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg demoted him in place of Zachary Lewis for the 2008-2009 season.

Joshua Kosman of the Chronicle wrote yesterday:

In September, he was summoned into the office of editor Susan Goldberg and told that he would no longer be covering orchestra concerts for the Plain Dealer. Rosenberg wasn't fired, mind you - they're keeping him around to cover other musical events - but responsibility for reviewing the city's main cultural institution has been transferred to a former freelancer, Zachary Lewis.

There are a number of ways you could describe a development like that. The most concise would be "disgraceful."

In a single step, Goldberg - who until last year was executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News - has announced to the world that honest discussion of Cleveland's musical life is no longer welcome in her pages. From here on out, the Plain Dealer is best understood not as a newspaper but as a fanzine.

Make no mistake, Rosenberg's criticism of the orchestra under Welser-Möst's tenure has been pretty severe - especially by contrast with his praise for Welser-Möst's predecessor, Christoph von Dohnányi.

And added:

Cleveland is about to learn what happens when that principle is abandoned, and the sacrificial victim, unfortunately, will be Zac Lewis. Lewis (who is also, coincidentally, on the MCANA board) is a talented and conscientious writer who I know will do his best to cover the orchestra fairly.

But who's going to believe a word he writes? In the pages of a paper where expressing the wrong opinion is known to be a firing offense, it's impossible to imagine how a positive review will have any credibility at all.

For a change I actually side with the Plain Dealer brass on this one. Rosenberg had become far too harsh in his criticism of Cleveland's great music institution, and in doing so became unreadable. The Orchestra deserves criticism when it it due, but 6 years of the same rehashed garbage does get old after awhile. That is not to say that Lewis, who replaces Rosenberg, should not criticize Welser-Möst when it is called for. It was time for a changing of the guard and I believe it will be welcomed by most who follow the paper.

The Cleveland Free Times wrote an excellent piece on the matter in 2005. They wrote:

It's no secret to Plain Dealer readers that the paper's classical music critic, Donald Rosenberg, is not a fan of Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst. Ever since the Austrian conductor assumed the post in 2002, Rosenberg has spilled copious ink lamenting the orchestra's supposed error in judgment. After the end of Welser-Möst's first season, Rosenberg wrote a year-end review listing Welser-Möst's numerous perceived failures. Observers in the music community were taken aback by the vociferousness of the criticism, especially so early in Welser-Möst's tenure.

The years seem to have increased, rather than tempered, Rosenberg's choler. In a June 19 column, Rosenberg released another fusillade, this time questioning the conductor's worthiness to continue through 2012, the length of his recently extended contract.

The Cleveland Orchestra wins praise from around the globe from music critics. Getting Rosenberg to say one nice thing since 2002 about the orchestra was like pulling teeth. I respect free speech, but fairness is paramount in journalism. Rosenberg frankly had been blinded by his hatred of Welser-Möst which led to his ultimiate demise.