Lorin Maazel
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Lorin Varencove Maazel (born March 6, 1930) is a conductor, violinist and composer.
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[edit] Early life
Maazel was born to Jewish-American parents in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France and brought up in the United States. Raised by a musical family (his grandfather Isaac was a violinist in the Met Orchestra), Maazel was a prodigy, taking his first conducting lesson at age seven and making his debut at age eight. At the age of eleven, he guest conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra on the radio. At twelve he toured America to conduct major orchestras. He made his violin debut at the age of fifteen. He later studied at the University of Pittsburgh.
[edit] Career
In 1960 he became the first American to conduct at Bayreuth. He was conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1965 to 1971 and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1975.
In 1972, Maazel began his tenure as music director at the Cleveland Orchestra, succeeding George Szell. Maazel's emotional, rich interpretation of music greatly differed from Szell's characteristic crisp, defined precision in performance. One of his most notable recordings during this time was the first complete recording of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, using an all African-American cast (except for the chorus). He held the post until 1982. He has not conducted the Cleveland Orchestra since his departure, although Maazel cancelled a scheduled return engagement in 2006 because of illness.[1]
Maazel then served at the Vienna State Opera from 1982 to 1984 as general manager and chief conductor. From 1984-1988, he was the music consultant to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and its music director from 1988 to 1996. From 1993-2002, he was chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich.
He has conducted the orchestra for three operatic films - Don Giovanni (1979), Carmen (1984), and Otello (1986).
In 2000, Maazel made a guest-conducting appearance with the New York Philharmonic in two weeks of subscription concerts after an absence of over twenty years,[2] which met with positive reaction from the orchestra musicians.[3] This engagement led to his appointment in January 2001 as the orchestra's next music director, starting in 2002, succeeding Kurt Masur.[4] [5] He is scheduled to relinquish this position with the New York Philharmonic in 2009 to Alan Gilbert.
In 2004, Maazel became the music director of the Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic. In March 2006, Maazel toured Asia with violinist Lidia Baich, conducting orchestras such as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and NSO of Taiwan. Since September 2006 Maestro Maazel has been the musical director of the orchestra of the opera house of the Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències (City of Arts and Sciences), Valencia, Spain.
Maazel conducted the New York Philharmonic once again on their landmark visit to Pyongyang, North Korea on February 26, 2008. He led the orchestra in renditions of the North Korean and United States national anthems, Dvorak's New World Symphony, a selection including George Gershwin's An American in Paris and closed with the traditional Korean folk song Arirang.
Maazel has also composed an opera, 1984, based on the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.
[edit] Family
Maazel has been married three times. His first two marriages, to pianists Miriam Sandbank and Israela Margalit, ended in divorce. His third wife is the German actress Dietlinde Turban. They have two sons and a daughter.
[edit] Notable recordings
- Serge Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, the complete ballet, with the Cleveland Orchestra (Decca)
- Georges Bizet: Carmen, with the Orchestre National de France and the Radio France Chorus, featuring soloists Julia Migenes (mezzo-soprano), Plácido Domingo (tenor), Faith Esham (soprano), Ruggero Raimondi (baritone), Lillian Watson (soprano), Susan Daniel (mezzo-soprano), et al. (Erato New DVD CDR10530)
- Sergei Rachmaninoff: Complete symphonies (1-3), Isle of the Dead, and The Rock, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. (Deutsche Grammophon 419314)
- Jean Sibelius: Complete symphonies (1-7), with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. (Decca 430778)
- Gustav Mahler: Complete symphonies (1-9 plus the Adagio of Symphony No. 10), with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. (CBS/SONY)
- Maurice Ravel: L'enfant et les sortilèges, with the French National Radio Orchestra and the Radio France Chorus, featuring soloists Françoise Ogéas (soprano), Jeannine Collard (alto), Jane Berbié (soprano), Sylvaine Gilma (soprano), Colette Herzog (soprano), Michel Sénéchal (tenor), Heinz Rehfuss (baritone), et al. (DG 423718)
- Andrew Lloyd Webber Variations with Julian Lloyd Webber (cello) and the London Philharmonic Orchestra (Philips 420 342)
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Fidelio, with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera Concert Choir, featuring soloists Birgit Nilsson (soprano), James McCracken (tenor), Kurt Böhme (bass), Tom Krause (baritone), Graziella Sciutti (soprano), Donald Grobe (tenor), et al. (Decca 448104)
- Modest Moussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel) and Night on Bald Mountain (orch. Rimsky-Korsakov) with the Cleveland Orchestra (Telarc CD-80042)
[edit] References
- ^ Donald Rosenberg, "Maazel cancels". Cleveland Plain Dealer, 8 May 2006.
- ^ Martin Kettle. "The show goes on", The Guardian, 26 Jan 2001. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
- ^ Ralph Blumenthal and Doreen Carvajal. "Musicians Sing Out and Philharmonic Listens", New York Times, 5 February 2001. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
- ^ Ralph Blumenthal. "Maazel Is to Lead Philharmonic; Will Succeed Masur as Director", New York Times, 30 January 2001. Retrieved on 2008-04-29.
- ^ Norman Lebrecht. "At last, I've made my father happy", Telegraph, 31 May 2001. Retrieved on 2007-04-27.
[edit] External links
- Lorin Maazel official website
- Lorin Maazel Biography
- Lorin Maazel at Allmusic
- Lorin Maazel biography at the New York Philharmonic
- Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències
- The Châteauville Foundation was established at Castleton Farms, VA in 1997 by Lorin and Dietlinde Maazel. The Foundation’s mission is to nurture young artists, foster collaborative artistic enterprise and create opportunities within the community for shared cultural experience.
- USA Today Q&A with Lorin Maazel about leadership
| Preceded by Ferenc Fricsay |
Principal Conductor, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin 1964–1975 |
Succeeded by Riccardo Chailly |
| Preceded by Sir Colin Davis |
Chief Conductor, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra 1993–2002 |
Succeeded by Mariss Jansons |
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