Thought so. When the Boston Symphony Orchestra said at the end of September that James Levine would be out for a couple of weeks for back surgery, I wrote "they're expecting Levine back to conduct Beethoven in late October, which seems mighty optimistic." Two weeks later they said he would only be back for part of the cycle, returning Oct. 28, and I wrote, "To me that still seems kind of quick, considering he had disc surgery a couple of weeks ago. " Now the Symphony sez that he'll miss the whole cycle; the Exhibitionist reports that Levine won't return to the podium here until Jan. 28. If I can figure out that four weeks is not enough time for a 66-year-old man to recover fully from disc surgery, you'd think everyone else could. The complete press release, including word on Loren Maazel filling in, is after the jump.
LORIN MAAZEL TO LEAD BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA IN FINAL TWO PROGRAMS OF BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY CYCLE, OCTOBER 30-NOVEMBER 7, AT SYMPHONY HALL
MAAZEL ALSO SCHEDULED TO LEAD BSO IN BEETHOVEN’S SIXTH
AND SEVENTH SYMPHONIES AT CARNEGIE HALL ON NOVEMBER 2
MAAZEL FILLS IN FOR BSO MUSIC DIRECTOR JAMES LEVINE WHO
CONTINUES TO CONVALESCE AFTER SURGERY FOR A
HERNIATED DISC IN EARLY OCTOBER
Lorin Maazel, one of the world’s most respected conductors, will lead the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the final two programs of the orchestra’s Beethoven’s cycle, including the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth symphonies, October 30-November 7, at Symphony Hall. Mr. Maazel will also lead the BSO in its upcoming Carnegie Hall program—Beethoven’s Sixth and Seventh symphonies, on November 2. Maestro Maazel steps in for BSO Music Director James Levine, whose doctors have advised him to postpone returning to his conducting schedule until he is more fully recovered from surgery that took place earlier this month for a herniated disc.
In his first performances with the Boston Symphony since 1972, Mr. Maazel will lead the orchestra in Beethoven’s Sixth and Seventh symphonies on October 30 and 31, repeating that program at Carnegie Hall on November 2. Mr. Maazel will also conduct Beethoven’s Eighth and Ninth symphonies on November 5, 6, and 7. Soloists for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony include soprano Christine Brewer, contralto Meredith Arwady, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and bass baritone Eike Wilm Schulte; the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, John Oliver, conductor, will also be featured. As previously announced, Julian Kuerti will conduct Beethoven’s Third and Fourth symphonies on October 27 and 29. All of the BSO’s Beethoven cycle concerts, October 27-November 7, at Symphony Hall in Boston are sold out, with no tickets remaining for those programs. Ticket information about the Carnegie Hall performance on November 2 appears on page 3 of this press release.
LORIN MAAZEL BIO
Lorin Maazel recently completed his seventh and final season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. He continues, now in his fourth season, as the first Music Director of the Santiago Calatrava-designed opera house in Valencia, Spain, the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofia,” and as the founder and Artistic Director of the Castleton Festival, launched to exceptional acclaim in 2009.
Maestro Maazel has been music director of the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio (1993 until summer 2002), music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony (1988–96); general manager and chief conductor of the Vienna State Opera (1982–84)—the first American to hold that position; 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 both the Israel Philharmonic and the Vienna Philharmonic, and is the recipient of the Hans von Bülow Silver Medal from the Berlin Philharmonic. His close association with the Vienna Philharmonic includes eleven internationally televised New Year’s Concerts from Vienna (often with Maestro Maazel making an added contribution to the festivities as violinist). He has conducted more than one hundred and fifty orchestras in no fewer than five thousand opera and concert performances. He has made over three hundred recordings, winning ten Grands Prix du Disques.
Maestro Maazel is also a highly regarded composer. His works include an opera, 1984, based on George Orwell’s literary masterpiece, a trilogy of concertos (for cello, flute and violin), a symphonic movement (“Farewells,” Op. 14), and several contributions to the repertoire of narrated texts with orchestra, including two children’s stories, “The Giving Tree” and “The Empty Pot.”
Alongside his prodigious performing activity, Maestro Maazel founded a major competition for young conductors in 2000. Through his Châteauville Foundation, in Castleton, Virginia, he has created a new festival and residency program for young artists, centered around fully staged productions of chamber operas. Committed to environmental and humanitarian causes, he has raised millions of dollars for the benefit of such entities as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Wide Fund for Nature, the Red Cross, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
JAMES LEVINE AND THE BSO’S 2009-10 SEASON
Mr. Levine will return to the BSO podium for his next scheduled concert of the 2009-10 Symphony Hall season on January 28, leading a program of works by Carter, Berlioz, and Ravel. In addition to the premiere of John Williams’s On Willows and Birches, Concerto for Harp and Orchestra (written as a gift for the BSO’s longtime harpist Ann Hobson Pilot, who retired from the orchestra at the end of the 2009 Tanglewood season), highlights of Mr. Levine’s 2009-10 season with the BSO include the premieres of commissioned works from Peter Lieberson (Farewell Songs for baritone and orchestra), Elliott Carter (Flute Concerto), and John Harbison (Double Concerto for violin and cello); Mendelssohn’s Elijah (in its first BSO performances since 1980); a Pension Fund Concert featuring all four Strausses (both Johanns, Josef, and Richard); and music of Berg, Brahms, Debussy, Mahler, Mozart, Schubert, and Stravinsky.
TICKET INFORMATION—THE BSO AT SYMPHONY HALL IN BOSTON
All of the Boston Symphony’s Beethoven cycle concerts, October 27-November 7, at Symphony Hall in Boston are sold out, with no tickets remaining for those programs. Tickets for other concerts in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s 2009-10 season, priced $29-$115 (Open Rehearsals are priced at $19, general admission), may be purchased by phone through SymphonyCharge (617-266-1200 or 888-266-1200), online through the BSO’s website (www.bso.org), or in person at the Symphony Hall Box Office (301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston). There is a $5.50 service fee for all tickets purchased online or by phone through SymphonyCharge.
American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Diners Club, and Discover, as well as personal checks (in person or by mail) and cash (in person only) are all accepted at the Symphony Hall Box Office. A limited number of rush tickets for Boston Symphony Orchestra subscription concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Friday afternoons are set aside to be sold on the day of a performance. These tickets are sold at $9 each, one to a customer, at the Symphony Hall Box Office on Fridays beginning at 10 a.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning at 5 p.m. Gift certificates are available in any amount and may be used toward the purchase of tickets (subject to availability) to any Boston Symphony Orchestra or Boston Pops performance at Symphony Hall or Tanglewood. Gift certificates may also be used at the Symphony Shop to purchase merchandise.
Patrons with disabilities can access Symphony Hall through the Massachusetts Avenue lobby or the Cohen Wing on Huntington Avenue. An access service center, accessible restrooms, and elevators are available inside the Cohen Wing entrance. For ticket information, call the Disability Services Information Line at 617-638-9431 or TDD/TTY 617-638-9289.
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