Has any American conductor ever had a more astonishing career than Lorin Maazel, who passed away this morning at the age of 84? Following his debut at the age of 9 at the 1939 World's Fair, Maazel became the first American conductor at Bayreuth when he was 30, succeeded George Szell as Music Director of the Cleveland Orchestra, became the first American director of the Vienna Staatsoper, took his hometown Pittsburgh Symphony to new heights in the 80's, and enjoyed a five decade association with the Vienna Philharmonic, which made him an honorary member in 2002. (He also narrowly missed succeeding Herbert Von Karajan as director of the Berlin Philharmonic.) Maazel was also an accomplished composer, whose most notable achievement was his opera 1984, based on the George Orwell novel. He was, without qualification, one of the greatest musicians of our time.
Of course, we New Yorkers will remember him for his seven seasons at the helm of the NY Philharmonic, during which time I got to hear him conduct more than a dozen times. Maazel was both a master technician and a deep seeded romantic, elevating the orchestra to new standards of precision and expression. As I wrote after once of those concerts: "He knew how to keep things under control – and just when to pull the trigger."
Although Maazel recently resigned his position as Music Director of the Munich Philharmonic on the advice of his doctors, he never retired from the podium. At the time of his passing, Maazel was in final rehearsals at the Castelton Festival, which he founded with his wife Dietlinde in 2009 on the grounds of his Virginia farm, and which will no doubt become his most enduring legacy.
Below are highlights from our coverage of Maazel's performances here in New York. We welcome you to share your own thoughts and reflections in the Comments section.
- March 2012: Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie
- June 2009: Mahler Symphony No. 8, NY Phil
- June 2008: Bruckner Symphony No. 8, NY Phil
- May 2007: Brahms Symphonies 3 and 4, NY Phil
P.S. Maazel was also an inveterate blogger (who knew?), sharing his thoughts on everything from vegetarianism, to world peace, to Super Bowl halftime shows. They reveal a probing intellect and an avowed humanist, unafraid to speak his mind or go against the grain. Below is an example from earlier this year.
A Selfie That Says It All - Jan 21, 2014
I tripped at the airport last night, cracked my head, was taken to the emergency ward. Took a selfie after the wound was dressed.
Since I cannot fly for several days, I had to cancel the Crystal Award Ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, of which I was to have been one of four recipients. Below are the remarks I would have made had I been able to stand there and receive the award.
"Mr. Chairman, Members of the World Economic Forum, friends,
To be chosen as a Crystal Award recipient is a signal honor that carries with it the responsibility to continue as an artist to help 'improve the state of the world', the reason for which we are given this award by the World Economic Forum.
To improve the 'state of the world' is an undertaking of immense proportions. Global warming, environmental issues, social inequities, political instability, uncontrolled consumption of irreplaceable natural resources, the apparently unabated manipulation of the uninformed for economic gain by the entrenched few, the dumbing of our society through a tsunami of words without meaning, sounds without form, sights without relevance… sitcoms in place of Shakespeare, Rock in place of Beethoven.
The World Economic Forum defines itself as 'an impartial platform for transforming dialogue
into insights, insights into agendas, and agendas into action.' As I see it, fashioning an
agenda into action for the Crystal Awardees means setting up procedures that will offer a
viable alternative to the ubiquitous trashing of the Arts, a trashing set into motion by those who would usurp them for their own purposes.
The very young are as yet uncorrupted.
They sense the real thing when they encounter it.
In my modest arena of human action, I pledge to continue offering 'the real thing' to young
audiences, to initiate programs for young talent…singers, composers, conductors,
instrumentalists…as we do at the Castleton Festival…
…programs that inspire rather than numb, that enspirit, that give sense to life…the inner life that defines us all as humans, not simply mammals grubbing for food, machines making money.
I intend to increase my financial support of groups that further human…and animal rights… and to give my services for worthy causes.
The contribution of the World Economic Forum in creating the Crystal Award is immeasurable. It states without equivocation that the Arts and Artists have a vital role to play in shoring up our fragile world.
May I express my most profound respect for the WEF publicly recognizing this contribution.
Because of this recognition, the world will be forever in debt to the World Economic Forum."
– Lorin Maazel