Lorin Maazel (1930-2014)

[eschiss1]

Lorin Maazel, composer, conductor not only of mainstream repertoire and Vienna New Year concerts but of modern opera (premiered works by Tobias Picker and others), Zemlinsky (Lyric Symphony), Mercadante (flute concerto with Galway, BBC), - not the widest range I suppose but certainly not the narrowest among the (current or recent) well-known conductors; and a really good conductor - died today. Will be missed.

[Alan Howe]

A great conductor indeed. Not universally admired: sometimes suspected of conducting 'for effect', at his best very few could come near his combination of vision and control. 

[mbhaub]

And I was just reading an update on his health on Slippedisc. A huge loss - one of the last of his generation. His conducting ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous, but what a musician! He didn't venture too often into obscure music, but he did bring us the first recording of Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony. There are many recordings from him that are still tops:

Ravel, operas
Gershwin, Porgy and Bess
Prokofieff, Romeo and Juliet
Mahler, Symphonies 1, 3, 6 on Sony
Rimsky-Korsakov, Capriccio Espanola
Franck, Symphony (Berlin recording)

I met him almost 40 years ago when he was on tour with Cleveland. He was very congenial, warm and friendly, and I still have the program with his autograph. I really enjoy his opera 1984, although most people on this site don't. Too bad he never commercially recorded his symphony. RIP. You will be missed.

[Mykulh]

I clearly remember a broadcast performance of Maazel and the Cleveland Orchestra of Vincent D'Indy's Symphony No. 2. I thought for sure an LP was imminent. However, in those days (the 70s) rare repertoire didn't often appear from major orchestras under contract to major labels.A real missed opportunity.

[eschiss1]

Well, I guess that's why I sort-of hesitated posting about this- he didn't venture much into obscure Romantic music. I would demur about him not having ventured much into obscure music (words unqualified, though)- rather a bit of the modern repertoire, etc., that he performed still counts as lesser-known and under-played (especially in concerts in the USA) (undeservedly so in certain cases- in my opinion, of course.

(Hrm, just checked. I do have at least a recording or two or three of his (just looking to see what to listen to for an in memoriam, it seems appropriate), including, indeed, a premiere of a symphony by an American composer who was at the time in his 60s...

Nothing of his own music, though maybe some radio station somewhere might broadcast a little- wouldn't mind hearing a whole piece of his over the radio, see what it's like in small and large scale (a problem with one-minute samples, of course, is you only get the sound, not the structure, or anything else.) (Hrm. And a websearch shows a New World Records recording with Maazel conducting works by Druckman, A.R. Thomas, and others. Of course, again, not to all tastes- maybe not to mine either, maybe yes maybe no, will see if I can find it at the U library and give it a try- but - well, again, there's a different culture, I think, here in the US than there was in Britain decades back (and maybe still is too, judging from remarks I see) - there I gather staying safe is programming and recording modern things, here it isn't. Give or take and generalizing as one must in making, well, general statements.)

Mykulh- only irregularly now, too, it seems, though...

[minacciosa]

A conductor i respected rather than admired. Of all the things I've heard of his, I think I have a single recording: his Rite Of Spring with Cleveland O on Telarc, and that was more for the sound. He did do D'Indy's 2nd Symphony; I heard a broadcast and I thought it very fine.

[FBerwald]

My 1st Maazel was the Mahler Symphony No. 5. Never liked any other version afterwards!

[DennisS]

My favourite Maazel is the double CD of the complete music of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet.

[mbhaub]

Maazel made a movie, A Day in the Life of a Conductor, that is quite hilarious. I don't know if it's available for viewing. He had a great sense of humor, for sure.

[adriano]

I admired Maazel! In his younger years he was great, but once gone old rather boring and doing just routine. His complete Mahler Symphonies, although he was given the best orchestra for such a repertoire - counts amongst the most uninspired ones, alongside with that of Ozawa. Maazel's Decca recordings of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius are great; his Porgy and Bess too. With the Cleveland Orchestra he also did a great Respighi LP and the complete Romeo and Juliet ballet. Ther are also some earlier DGG LPs which are excellent and Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony with Fischer-Dieskau and his wife is my preferred version! On DGG he also did the Rachmaninov Symphonies with the Berlin Philharmonic - not a real revelation, but wonderfully played. On Telarc there is a wonderful version of Chausson's Concerto, op.21 for piano, violin and string quartet, in which Maazel plays the violin part and his former wife Israela Margalit the piano.

[JimL]

People tend to forget what a fine violinist he was.  I used to own an LP of him playing and conducting (I think the Cleveland Orchestra) Mozart's 3rd and 5th concertos.

[semloh]

I never thought of Lorin Maazel as outstanding, when placed alongside the other great conductors. Most of his records were of 'mainstream' music that I already had, or preferred, conducted by someone else. That said, my only Maazel recording is the one of non-mainstream music by Lloyd-Webber, father and son, and it is stunningly good! 

[Alan Howe]

His Telarc/Cleveland Tchaikovsky 4 is still my favourite version. Superb control of dynamics in the first movement in particular - never heard the climaxes thrust home with such power. He was a bit of a magician in front of an orchestra, I feel.

[Amphissa]

I have in my collection a number of his Telarc LPs that I think very highly of. His "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Respighi "Rome" recordings were very good. His Sibelius cycle was good overall.

While living in NY, I had occasion to attend quite a few concerts he conducted. The performances were mostly routine, but occasionally, rarely, he'd be "on" and magic would happen.

One of my favorite of his performances, which I have on BluRay, is a live performance of his own compilation called "Wagner Without Words." I detest most concoctions of that sort, but I must say that his effort was coherent and a lot better than I expected. I actually listen to it. (Since I do not have enough hours remaining in my life to spend listening to the endless Wagnerian rambling operas, this highlights recording is just fine for me.)

[Alan Howe]

I have the same BluRay. It's The Ring made into a tone poem transcendentally played by the BPO and effortlessly conjured into life by Maazel.