Less emotional in his choice of works, but more virtuosic and full of spirit was the young Lorin Maazel, who four years later jumped in...

Less emotional in his choice of works, but more virtuosic and full of spirit was the young Lorin Maazel, who four years later jumped in to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic. Maazel proved his touch with the sentimental and grotesque contrasts of the High and Late Romantics by presenting an unusual programme that featured Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony and Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel as its cornerstones. Beethoven's First Piano Concerto formed a moment of repose in the centre of the programme, a work that Maazel, the orchestra and the soloist Géza Anda savoured in the loveliest spirit of unanimity.