Musical star power comes to Shanghai (2)

Maazel was a child prodigy and guest conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra on the radio at the age of 11. He worked as the music director at the Cleveland Orchestra in the US from 1972 to 1982. His emotional, rich interpretation of music can be found in the first complete recording of George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess.

Maazel has served as chief conductor or music director at many prestigious music institutions including Vienna State Opera and the New York Philharmonic.

This is Maazel's third visit to Shanghai Oriental Art Center. "The concert hall has extraordinary acoustic effect," Maazel says. "No extra efforts are needed to enrich or amplify the sound of the orchestra."

Munich Philharmonic was founded in 1893 and Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) himself directed the group in 1897 and premiered his symphonies No 4 and No 8 with the orchestra. His student Bruno Walter directed the posthumous premiere of Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde.

The concert hall at Shanghai Oriental Art Center has almost 2,000 seats, and 90 percent of the tickets have been sold two weeks ahead of the show, according to the public department of the center.