Lorin Maazel (1930-2014) was the most cosmopolitan conductor of his generation, fluent in five languages, a brilliant mathematician and a musician with the ears of a lynx, the score-reading skills of a hawk, the creative gift of a composer, the stylistic sense of a haute couture designer and the polish of an international diplomat.

The variety of orchestras represented here – German, French, British, American and Italian – is just one testament to Lorin Maazel’s ability to adapt his talents to all manner of repertoire and situations. For once, the term ‘class act’ is appropriate when considering his multifaceted career.

This 18-CD set captures the brilliant versatility and stylistic breadth of Lorin Maazel across his complete recordings in the Warner Classics, Erato and Nonesuch catalogs. Spanning four decades of recording activity from 1962 to 2002, this collection highlights Maazel’s unique ability to draw exceptionally precise, vivid playing from the world's finest orchestras.

● Features monumental interpretations of late-Romantic symphonic cornerstones, including Bruckner’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and nearly iconic early recordings of Richard Strauss and Debussy & Ravel with the Philharmonia.

● Collaborations with legendary soloists such as Sviatoslav Richter (Brahms, Bartók, and Prokofiev), Emil Gilels (Tchaikovsky’s complete piano concertos), and Frank Peter Zimmermann (Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev violin concertos).

● Includes landmark complete opera recordings, notably Verdi’s Otello from the soundtrack of Franco Zeffirelli’s acclaimed film, Bizet’s Carmen, both featuring Plácido Domingo, and Massenet’s Thaïs staring Berverly Sills, where Maazel additionally showcases his own talents as a solo violinist.

● Showcases the historic world-premiere recording on Nonesuch of John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls (commissioned to honor the victims of the September 11 attacks) with the New York Philharmonic, which swept three Grammy Awards in 2005.