FEEL IT.STREAM
Lorin Maazel

Lorin Maazel

Sound

Biography

Lorin Varencove Maazel ( March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in the concert halls of Europe by 1960 but, by comparison, his career in the U.S. progressed far more slowly. He served as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic, among other posts. Maazel was well-regarded in baton technique and possessed a photographic memory for scores. Described as mercurial and forbidding in rehearsal, he mellowed in old age. Maazel was born to American parents of Russian Jewish origin in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. His grandfather Isaac Maazel (1873-1925), born in Poltava, Ukraine, then in the Russian Empire, for two decades was the first violinist in the Metropolitan Opera; he and his wife Esther Glazer (1879-1921), originally from Kharkiv, Ukraine, then in the Russian Empire, came to America in 1900 after the birth of their eldest son Marvin (1899-1988), who later became a pianist and composer. Maazel was brought up in the United States, primarily at his parents' home in the city of Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood. His father, Lincoln Maazel (1903–2009), was a singer, teacher of voice and piano, and an actor (he co-starred in George A. Romero's 1978 horror movie Martin); and his mother, Marion "Marie" Shulman Maazel (1894–1992), founded the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra. His grandfather Isaac was a violinist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for twenty years. Maazel was a child prodigy and had perfect pitch. He had his first conducting lesson at age seven with Vladimir Bakaleinikov, making his debut at age eight, conducting the University of Idaho Orchestra in Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony in Los Angeles in 1938. In the same year, he conducted the National High School Orchestra at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan. The following year, he conducted 11 concerts by the same orchestra at the New York World’s Fair. At the age of eleven, he guest-conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra on the radio. At twelve he toured the United States to conduct major orchestras. He made his violin debut at the age of fifteen. He attended the Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School at the University of Pittsburgh as a child, followed by Peabody High School and the University of Pittsburgh. Maazel studied briefly with Pierre Monteux in 1945. In the early 1950s, Maazel toured as the conductor with the Gershwin Concert Orchestra. The orchestra consisted of 25 members and a noted array of soloists. The orchestra was organized in cooperation with Ira Gershwin, to give the public a comprehensive Gershwin program. The list of soloists included George Gershwin's friend, Jesús María Sanromá, Carolyn Long and Theodor Uppman. In 1960, Maazel became the first American to conduct at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. He was chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1965 to 1971 and the Radio-Symphonie-Orchester (RSO) Berlin from 1964 to 1975. ... Source: Article "Lorin Maazel" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known For

Champs-Elysées
6.8

No description available.

Champs-Elysées

1982
Bambi
9.0

The Bambi, often called the Bambi Award and stylised as BAMBI, is a German award presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television to personalities in the media, arts, culture, sports, and other fields "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year", both domestic and foreign. First held in 1948, it is the oldest media award in Germany. The trophy is named after Felix Salten's book Bambi, A Life in the Woods and its statuettes are in the shape of the novel's titular fawn character. They were originally made of porcelain until 1958, when the organizers switched to using gold, with the casting done by the art casting workshop of Ernst Strassacker in Süßen.

Bambi

1948
Le Grand Échiquier
8.0

Le Grand Échiquier is a French variety television program created and presented by Jacques Chancel. It aired at 8:30 pm on the first channel of the ORTF from January 12, 1972 to July 12, 1972, then on the second color channel of the ORTF from September 1972 to December 1974, and finally on Antenne 2 from January 1975 to December 21, 1989. The program returned to France 2 on December 20, 2018 and is hosted by Anne-Sophie Lapix.

Le Grand Échiquier

1972
alfredissimo! Kochen mit Bio
6.0

No description available.

alfredissimo! Kochen mit Bio

1994
No image
N/A

No description available.

Blauer Panther

1989
No image
N/A

No description available.

Bei Bio

1983
Carmen
6.9

In the early 19th century, in Seville and the surrounding area, Carmen seduces the sergeant Don José, who deserts the army to be with her. But the beautiful gypsy falls in love with the bullfighter Escamillo, much to Don José’s despair.

Carmen

1984
Regina Roma
7.0

An aging couple search for peace and family harmony when their only son returns home after a long absence with his fiancee.

Regina Roma

1982
Turandot
8.0

Internationally acclaimed Chinese film-maker Chen Kaige delivers an opulent staging of the fairy-tale story of Chinese Princess Turandot, who will only marry a prince capable of solving her riddles. With sumptuous costumes and palace sets designed in China, Kaige's production adds a compellingly authentic accent to Puccini's exotic orchestral palette. Zubin Metha and his brilliant Orquestra de la Comunitet Valenciana offer "genuine foreworks of sound" (Wiener Zeitung), Maria Guleghina triumphs as Turandot. Recorded in 2008 at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia. Zubin Mehta (conductor).

Turandot

2008
1984
6.0

Inspired by one of the twentieth century's greatest novels, composer Lorin Maazel evokes Orwell's totalitarian nightmare, where "Big Brother" is always watching, and those guilty of "thoughtcrime" are condemned to face their worst fears in the infamous "Room 101". Filmed during world premiere performances of Robert Lepage's spectacular and psychologically gripping Royal Opera production and conducted by the composer, an international cast brings George Orwell's dark vision to shattering operatic life.

1984

2008
Aida
6.7

La Scala went all out for its 1986 production of this grandest of grand operas, with a strong cast and, most important for a video recording, a larger-than-life staging. The Triumph Scene in Act II is by no means Aida's only attraction, but it is the part that makes the strongest and most lasting impression and it is the visual and musical climax of this production. Stage director Luca Ronconi brings on a procession to dwarf all processions: looted treasures, heroic statuary, miserable captives struggling under the lash of whip-bearing slave drivers. On par with these visuals is Lorin Maazel's first-class performance of the popular Grand March with the outstanding La Scala chorus and orchestra. In Act III, the contrasting tranquility of the Nile Scene also gets a visual treatment to match the music's qualities.

Aida

1985
Verdi: La Traviata
5.2

Live from La Scala Saturday 07 July 2007. In this live performance of Giuseppe Verdi's opera, Violetta, a courtesan much wooed by Parisian society, organises a grand party that is attended, amongst others, by the young Alfredo Germont. He confesses his feelings to Violetta, who is already suffering from consumption. She vacillates between genuine affection and a realistic assessment of her situation as a "fallen woman", which precludes any lasting relationship with a man.

Verdi: La Traviata

2007
La Valse
N/A

La Valse is dance a film by Thierry De Mey based on the choreography created on Maurice Ravel’s La Valse as the final part of ZOO’s performance Accords. Created as part of the triptych Equi Voci, the film La Valse exists in versions for one or three screens.

La Valse

2010
Wagner's Ring Without Words Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra
N/A

To inaugurate the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra's 2023-2024 season, Aziz Shokhakimov conducts an audacious interpretation of Richard Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung in Lorin Maazel's version. A symphonic journey bringing together the main leitmotifs of the full tetralogy in one hour of glorious music.

Wagner's Ring Without Words Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra

2023
Andrew Lloyd Webber: Requiem
N/A

The premiere of Requiem, Andrew Lloyd Webber's pivotal and most personal of compositions took place on February 24, 1985 before one thousand specially invited guests at St. Thomas's Episcopal Church, New York. Requiem won the 1985 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition and the accompanying album reached number one in the Billboard charts in the US. Requiem is conducted by Lorin Maazel with soloists Placido Domingo, Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston together with the choirs of Winchester Cathedral and St. Thomas, and the orchestra of St. Lukes.

Andrew Lloyd Webber: Requiem

1986
The New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Pyongyang Great moments in music
N/A

That year, political tensions between the two enemy states had eased, and the aim was to deepen their cultural relationship. This event became a musical highlight, significant for the bond it forged between these two cultures.

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Pyongyang Great moments in music

2025
Madama Butterfly
9.0

Opera at La Scala Milan

Madama Butterfly

1986
Verdi Requiem
N/A

The production itself is quite beautiful: recorded in the Basilica di San Marco in Venice in November 2007, it highlights the cathedral's splendor, the reverent audience, the soloists, orchestra and chorus with near-perfect cinematography. The soundtrack is also acceptable, which may have been quite a task to achieve, given the Basilica's over-reverberant acoustics. Alas, the performance itself does not rise to the occasion. Despite the occasional minor insecurity in ensemble and a visible lack of joy, the Symphonica Toscanini musicians play well, the Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino members sing equally well, and the soloists are more than adequate, almost tangibly trying to excel.

Verdi Requiem

2007
No image
10.0

Live from La Scala Sunday 03 February 1991

La Fanciulla Del West

1991
La Traviata
N/A

No description available.

La Traviata

2007