Letter to Lorin Maazel from Terry Johns

[Zucchini]

Since it seems to be de rigueur for forum members to be interested in french horns, here is a beautifully written account of an incredible incident involving Maazel, the BBCSO & Terry J:

http://www.terryjohns.net/letters-lines-spaces/letter-to-lorin-mazel/

http://www.terryjohns.net/letters-lines-spaces/letter-to-martin-shillito-1972/

I actually felt a fragment of sympathy for Maazel until I read one of the reader replies, detailing how he deliberately destroyed a choir in a Berlin performance of Britten's War Requiem.

[Tevot]

Hello there Zucchini,

Many thanks for the link. What an interesting website!

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[Richard Tarleton]

Thanks for posting this Zucchini, it sheds light on a puzzling (at the time) incident. I can't work out the date of the letter but unless it happened twice it refers to a concert in 1972 which I attended - I was seated in the RFH stalls, not far from the stage.

Maazel (whom I saw a number of times in the 1970s) was, I remember, wearing a beautiful brown crushed velvet tuxedo that night. He gave the offstage horn cue, and of course nothing happened. He waggled an anxious left pinkie at the stage door - you couldn't miss his little finger, it had an enormous gold signet ring with a large gemstone on it - and still nothing happened. He jabbed a finger at the onstage horn section (led by Alan Civil, if memory serves) and with great presence of mind the latter picked up the cue and played the offstage horn part. The performance missed a beat or two at most - some in the audience may not have realised anything was wrong. A back desk first violin scuttled offstage presumably to see what was, or was not, going on.

The other curious feature of that performance was that the two lady singers were seated at the front of the choir, and Heather Harper remained seated for her first entry - unlike the mezzo. There may have been a perfectly good reason for this, but it looked odd.

I'm looking forward to seeing Maazel conduct the VPO in Bruckner 8 at the Proms.

[Nick Armstrong]

it refers to a concert in 1972 which I attended - I was seated in the RFH stalls, not far from the stage.

Maazel (whom I saw a number of times in the 1970s) was, I remember, wearing a beautiful brown crushed velvet tuxedo that night. He gave the offstage horn cue, and of course nothing happened. He waggled an anxious left pinkie at the stage door - you couldn't miss his little finger, it had an enormous gold signet ring with a large gemstone on it - and still nothing happened. He jabbed a finger at the onstage horn section (led by Alan Civil, if memory serves) and with great presence of mind the latter picked up the cue and played the offstage horn part. The performance missed a beat or two at most - some in the audience may not have realised anything was wrong. A back desk first violin scuttled offstage presumably to see what was, or was not, going on.

The other curious feature of that performance was that the two lady singers were seated at the front of the choir, and Heather Harper remained seated for her first entry - unlike the mezzo. There may have been a perfectly good reason for this, but it looked odd.

Tremendous kudos for your powers of recall, Richard! (Do you eat a lot of fish?)

The 'brown crushed velvet' (I suppose it was the early 70s... ) and 'enormous gold signet ring' details are pure magic

[Richard Tarleton]

Around 1970 Maazel conducted a concert in London (which I wasn't at ) in which he played the solo part in a Mozart violin concerto, and was panned by the critics who said he certainly would not have been engaged for the concert on the strength of his violin playing. Not long afterwards he was the guest on a John Amis radio programme discussing his forthcoming activities, and Amis asked innocently if he'd be playing the violin. Maazel asked testily if that was supposed to be a provocative question. The interview went downhill from there.

[Parry1912]

"conducting is not so much a vocation or a profession as a manifestation of a mental illness"

[salymap]

All this offstage, holding open doors business often comes unstuck.

Don't any of our horn or trumpet MBers have views on this.? One of the Beethoven overtures requires
offstage trumpets, doesn't it? Leonora 3?

[DracoM]

So why does Maazel still have a hold on NYC audiences - apparently? Recently saw him conducting Don Carlos at the Met and he was cheered.

Not by me - it was far and away the most turgid and tedious performance of the opera I've seen in years largely due to his leaden pacing and mucking around with the tempi.

[Nick Armstrong]

All this offstage, holding open doors business often comes unstuck.

Isn't there a famous story of an off-stage player (Mahler 7 post-horn?) being asked to play in a large cupboard at the back of the RFH... but during the performance, someone on another floor called what was in fact a goods lift, leading to the most perfect diminuendo ever devised.... earning the player congratulations from the conductor? Or is that totally apocryphal?

[salymap]

Isn't there a famous story of an off-stage player (Mahler 7 post-horn?) being asked to play in a large cupboard at the back of the RFH... but during the performance, someone on another floor called what was in fact a goods lift, leading to the most perfect diminuendo ever devised.... earning the player congratulations from the conductor? Or is that totally apocryphal?

Morning Cali, oh lovely, I've not heard that one. There was a Beecham story, forget the details but the punchline was Tommy offering to hold the door open himself

[amateur51]

Isn't there a famous story of an off-stage player (Mahler 7 post-horn?) being asked to play in a large cupboard at the back of the RFH... but during the performance, someone on another floor called what was in fact a goods lift, leading to the most perfect diminuendo ever devised.... earning the player congratulations from the conductor? Or is that totally apocryphal?

I do hope it's true Cali - tho' it does have a touch of Blake Edwards of Pink Panther-fame to it

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

caps on for the host

Surely it should be caps off for Cali*?

* = other Hosts are available,

[amateur51]

Surely it should be caps off for Cali*?

* = other Hosts are available,

he prefers Caliban to caliban, I'm sure

[EnemyoftheStoat]

Isn't there a famous story of an off-stage player (Mahler 7 post-horn?) being asked to play in a large cupboard at the back of the RFH... but during the performance, someone on another floor called what was in fact a goods lift, leading to the most perfect diminuendo ever devised.... earning the player congratulations from the conductor? Or is that totally apocryphal?

Would there also have been a doppler effect? Prompts one to wonder what that solo (Mahler 3 post-horn maybe?) would sound like on the soprano trombone.

[salymap]

Would there also have been a doppler effect? Prompts one to wonder what that solo (Mahler 3 post-horn maybe?) would sound like on the soprano trombone.

I know that biglift atthe back of the RFH. Yonks ago Sargent promised us tickets for a concert. Friend and I were ushered into that big lift. - half way up lift man remarked that Sir M didn't say anything about tickets when he came in with the royal party.

Cali may remember the rest - we made our escape as quickly as possible.