ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
Symphony No. 8 (1884-1887; rev. 1890)
Fresh from the unprecedented success of his Seventh Symphony, it seemed as though Bruckner had finally come into his own, and immediately plunged into what would become his largest symphony. On his 63rd birthday, he sent the score to Hermann Levi, a real champion of Bruckner’s earlier works and in many ways his musical godfather. But this symphony didn’t sit right with him, and he rejected it. So downcast and depressed was the composer by this news that he set out to revise not only the Eighth, but several of his earlier symphonies as well. No movement remained untouched as Bruckner changed what he thought Levi objected to. And others had a hand in the process as well. To this day, disputes exist as to the legitimacy of any one edition. Dedicated to the Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria, it was premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic under the great Hans Richter in Vienna in 1892 near Christmas, and had a resounding success. The composer Hugo Wolf wrote that this symphony was “the creation of a giant, surpassing in spiritual dimension and magnitude all the other symphonies of the master.” Like the music of his hero, Richard Wagner, the sonorities are rich and powerful, with strong emphasis on the low brasses (including four Wagner Tubas—a hybrid of tuba and French horn). The beauty of this symphony is its scale and magnificent unfolding. Memorable moments abound in this expansive masterpiece—such as the climax towards the end of the first movement showcasing the brass and ending with soft timpani rolls. After an energetic, ferocious Scherzo, a gorgeous Adagio follows—filled with the most ravishingly lyrical passages. Culminating the entire work is a Coda that summarizes the splendors that have gone before and ends in a radiant blaze of C major glory. The great conductor Wilhelm Fürtwängler said about this often misunderstood composer: “Bruckner is one of those geniuses who have appeared but seldom in the course of European history, whose destiny it was to render the transcendent real and to attract, even to compel, the element of the divine into our human world.”

Lorin Maazel, who has led more than 150 orchestras in more than 5,000 opera and concert performances, became Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in September 2002. His appointment came 60 years after his debut with the Orchestra at Lewisohn Stadium, then the Orchestra’s summer venue. As Music Director he has conducted seven World Premiere–NewYork Philharmonic Commissions, including the Pulitzer Prize– and Grammy Award–winning On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams; Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3; and Melinda Wagner’s Trombone Concerto. He has led cycles of works by Brahms, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky; and he conducted the Orchestra’s inaugural performances in the DG Concerts series — a groundbreaking initiative to offer downloadable New York Philharmonic concerts exclusively on iTunes.

Mr. Maazel has taken the Orchestra on numerous international tours, including the historic visit to Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in February 2008 — the first performance there by an American orchestra, and an event watched around the world. Other recent tours have included Asia 2008 — to Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing; the May 2007 Tour of Europe; the November 2006 visit to Japan and Korea; the Philharmonic Tour of Italy in June 2006, sponsored by Generali; the two-part 75th Anniversary European Tour to thirteen cities in five countries in the fall of 2005; and residencies in Cagliari, Sardinia, and at the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival in Colorado.

In addition to the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Maazel is music director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain. A frequent conductor on the world’s operatic stages, he returned to The Metropolitan Opera in January 2008 for the first time in 45 years to conduct Wagner’s Die Walküre.

Prior to his tenure as New York Philharmonic Music Director, Mr. Maazel led more than 100 performances of the Orchestra as a guest conductor. He served as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1993–2002), and has held positions as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988–96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna Staatsoper (1982–84); music director of The Cleveland Orchestra (1972–82); and artistic director and chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1965–71). He is an honorary member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic. On February 17, 2009, he will be named a Commander of the Legion of Honor by the government of France.

A second-generation American, born in Paris, Mr. Maazel was raised and educated in the United States. He took his first violin lesson at age five, and first conducting lesson at seven. Between ages 9 and 15 he conducted most of the major American orchestras. In 1953 he made his European conducting debut in Catania, Italy.

Mr. Maazel is also an accomplished composer. His opera, 1984, received its world premiere on May 3, 2005, at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It was revived in the 2007–08 season at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and has been released on DVD by Decca.