Lorin Maazel and the CSO (馬捷爾與芝加哥交響樂團)

The Cultural Centre played to a packed audience last night. The reason? Lorin Maazel and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing Mozart's Symphony No. 41 (the Jupiter) and Brahm's Symphony No. 2  in D, Op 73.

Maazel is now almost 83 but he still appears in full control not only of his own physique but also the CSO. A Russian Jew born in France and raised in Pittsburgh, son of singer and pianist teacher and grandson of a violinst grandfather, he started conducting at the age of 8m appearing as a violinst at 15 and has since been actively involved in conducting various world famous orchestra, having been  the chief conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin(965 -1971) and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (1965 -1975), music director of Cleveland Orchestra (1972-1982), chief conductor of Vienna State Opera (1982-1984), music director of Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (1988 to 1996) chief conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (1996-2003 ), music director of NY Philharmonic (2002-2009),music director of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana (2006-11) chief conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra since 2011. He has also conducted the music for three operatic films, Don Giovanni (1979), Carmen (1984), and Otello (1986) and written an opera of his own "1984" based on George Orwell's novel of the same name. ompleted his Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, on 10 August 1788.[1] It was the last symphony that he composed, and also the longest.

The HKPO has also done the Jupiter recently but Maazel has a slightly different interpretation of this last symphony of Mozart in which Mozart put everything he knew about orchestration into it, including playing around with different motifs in the fugal form The 4 movements in Allegro vivace, 4/4,  Andante cantabile, 3/4 in F major;  Menuetto: Allegretto - Trio, 3/4 and  Molto allegro, 2/2 , is one of the most popular works by Mozart. Maazel has made it quite romantic, emphasizing and bringing out the very subtle tonal textures of the different sections of a small baroque style chamber orchestra. One doesn't find the usual verve and spark which one has come to expect, rightly or wrongly, of Mozart, in Maazel's very personal interpretation of the piece. I like it. It feels very intimate. I wonder if age has anything to do with such an interpretation.

Next we had a rather heavier piece, Brahm's No. 2 in D. The first movement was based upon a lullaby theme which was varied in different ways, the second is a bit contemplative and has a plaintive melody, its third in Scherzo form is much less langorous and much more lively and the final movement has two themes which intertwine until they merge in the final climactic finale. Although written in a period when Brahms was feeling quite happy the piece also has its sadder moments. There are certain passages of very tender reminiscences which doesn't seem to take away from its emotional power. To me, this piece seems to fit Maazel's style much better. To reward our enthusiastic applauses, we had two encores including a Hungarian Dance..