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.
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Mezzo-soprano Luciana D’Intino made her debut as Azucena in Verdi’s Il trovatore and was a finalist at the Maria Callas International Competition after winning the International Singing Competition A. Belli in Spoleto. She has performed with conductors such as Semyon Bychkov, Myung-Whun Chung, Sir Colin Davis, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, and Riccardo Muti. Recently, she sang Verdi’s Don Carlo at the Bavarian Staatsoper, Opéra de Montecarlo, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and at the Opernhaus Zurich. In 2001 she made her debut at Berlin’s Staatsoper unter den Linden in Verdi’s Aida, and reprised the title role in Bizet’s Carmen at the Teatro Regio di Parma and in Las Palmas. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2004–05 season in Verdi’s Don Carlo.
Bass Orlin Anastassov was born in 1976 in Rousse (Bulgaria) to two opera singers. He began his studies early with Georgi Deliganev, and made his opera debut at age 19 in Verdi’s Aida. In the 1998–99 season he appeared as Ferrando in Verdi’s Il trovatore in Düsseldorf; Filippo II in Verdi’s Don Carlo in Sofia; and Ramfis in Aida in Wiesbaden. In June 1999 he made his debut at Teatro alla Scala as Basilio in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia under the baton of Riccardo Chailly. In July 2000 he made his debut at the Arena of Verona and at the Vienna Staatsoper in Aida and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in Verdi’s La battaglia di Legnano.
