Lorin Maazel returns to the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
Lorin Maazel has been entertaining music lovers for 75 years. Think about that for a minute. The American, Paris-born conductor, composer and former Music Director of the New York Philharmonic will turn 83 on March 6. He started violin lessons at age 5. Conducting lessons began two years later. He appeared before an audience, baton in hand, when he was just 8 years old.
All that experience was brought to bear Thursday night in a concert that saw Mr. Maazel offer his last program with his former orchestra...at least for a little while. (He is not on the schedule for 2013-2014.)
The concert opened with one of Mr. Maazel's trademarks, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy that was also the first success of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In this performance, conductor and orchestra showed that there is more here than just the famous "love theme"--it is an effective retelling of the play that boils Shakespeare's tragedy down to a lean 20 minutes.
by Paul J. Pelkonen
 |
| Once more, with feeling. Lorin Maazel conducts the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall. Photo by Chris Lee © 2009 The New York Philharmonic. |
All that experience was brought to bear Thursday night in a concert that saw Mr. Maazel offer his last program with his former orchestra...at least for a little while. (He is not on the schedule for 2013-2014.)
The concert opened with one of Mr. Maazel's trademarks, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy that was also the first success of Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In this performance, conductor and orchestra showed that there is more here than just the famous "love theme"--it is an effective retelling of the play that boils Shakespeare's tragedy down to a lean 20 minutes.
