Lorin Maazel
A child prodigy whose career as a conductor has survived, and thrived, beyond his early precocity and his death.
His musical talent became apparent at the age of five, when he began playing the violin, while at seven he was discovered conducting Haydn's Surprise Symphony playing on his parents' record player. He was the first American and youngest conductor, at the age of 30, to conduct Wagner at Bayreuth.
After a career which has included prestigious posts at the Vienna, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York. He passed away at his Virginia farmhouse in 2014.
Thoughts on Lorin Maazel?
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | June 1, 2025 9:36 PM
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Sometimes his recordings were top-tier, but most of the time he recorded the same Romantic pieces over and over again.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | June 1, 2025 8:35 PM
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His Mahler 4 with Vienna and Kathleen Battle is generally regarded as the best thing he ever recorded.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | June 1, 2025 8:36 PM
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Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony with Vienna
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | June 1, 2025 8:37 PM
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A great example of how talent doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with taste and/or good judgment.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | June 1, 2025 8:44 PM
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R7 Very true. It is not that his recordings were bad per se, but I can always think of five "better" recordings
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | June 1, 2025 8:48 PM
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R9 For example, Maazel recorded a Mahler Cycle in Vienna, but of Mahler, there are better cycles,; Bernstein, Abbado, Ozawa, Walter, etc.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | June 1, 2025 9:05 PM
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The only truly indispensable recording he made (never bettered by anybody else) is Ravel's L'ENFANT ET LES SORTILEGES, made in Paris in 1960.
But his PORGY & BESS and LA RONDINE are great by virtue of the singers, primarily. Other than that, nothing "legendary."
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | June 1, 2025 9:36 PM
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