Lorin Maazel: How fitting that he came from Pittsburgh, as the former Pittsburgh Symphony (and many other posts) music director continues to be the conductor of steel. The latest proof: an 82-year-old Maazel stepping in for a massive international tour:

LORIN MAAZEL TO REPLACE
MUSIC DIRECTOR RICCARDO MUTI ON PORTION OF UPCOMING
CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TOUR TO ASIA

Bank of America is the Global Sponsor of the CSO

CHICAGO—The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA) announced today that Music Director Riccardo Muti is unable to participate in the Orchestra's upcoming tour to Asia.

Substituting for Maestro Muti on this tour is Lorin Maazel (music director, Munich Philharmonic) for the concerts in Hong Kong, China and Korea. The CSO is working closely with the presenter in Taiwan and expects to announce plans for the concerts in Taipei within 24 hours.

After returning to Italy last week suffering from the flu, Maestro Muti sought further medical care. He was subsequently diagnosed with an inguinal hernia, which requires surgical treatment as soon as possible. His doctors determined that to delay the surgery until after the scheduled tour to Asia could lead to complications.

CSOA President Deborah F. Rutter commented, "The thoughts and good wishes of the entire CSO family are with our beloved Maestro Muti as he undergoes surgery. Naturally, we are disappointed that he was not able to lead the Orchestra here in Chicago and will be unable to join us on our tour beginning next week. However, we completely understand that this is a health situation beyond his control and eagerly await his return to Chicago in April. The CSO family is deeply grateful to Maestro Maazel for assisting the CSO on this tour.

 The Pittsburgh Symphony just announced the full details of its late summer, early fall tour to Europe. It is essentially to places it has gone to many times (The PSO played Lucerne, Bonn, Berlin and London in 2011), with the exception of a concert in Romania. Here is the press release:

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) today announced that Music Director Manfred Honeck will lead the PSO on a 12-concert European Festivals Tour from Aug. 26 to Sept. 15, 2013.The tour will take the orchestra to Austria, Germany, Romania, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The tour opens at the Grafenegg Festival in Austria, where Honeck will lead the PSO in two concerts on Aug. 29 & 30. The PSO performed in Grafenegg for the first time in September 2011. The PSO will next perform at the popular Berlin Festival on Aug. 31, before traveling to Bucharest, Romania, to debut at the George Enescu International Festival on Sept. 3.The orchestra will perform in Paris (Sept. 6), and Dusseldorf (Sept. 7) and Frankfurt, Germany (Sept. 8) before traveling to Switzerland for two concerts at the Lucerne Festival on Sept. 10 & 11. The tour concludes with concerts at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Germany, on Sept. 12 & 14. An additional concert in the United Kingdom will be announced at a later date.

The PSO performed in Lucerne, Bonn, Berlin and London in 2011.

Famed violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter will appear with the PSO in Grafenegg, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Lucerne, while piano virtuoso Yuja Wang will be in Grafenegg, Bucharest, Paris, Dusseldorf and Bonn. Percussionist Martin Grubinger will be the guest soloist at the PSO performances in Lucerne on Sept. 11, and Bonn on Sept. 14.The tour program will feature Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5, a suite from Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa, Ravel's Bolero and Rapsodie Espagnole, and Witold Lutoslawski's Chain 2 for Violin and Orchestra. Mutter will perform Dvořák's Violin Concerto; Wang will play Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1. Grubinger is scheduled to be the guest soloist when the PSO performs John Corigliano's "Conjurer" concerto.

@pghsymphony Former Pittsburgh Symphony music director Mariss Jansons will be back in the U.S. this Feb, touring with his Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. Here's the details, if you want to check it out:

@pghsymphony The Pittsburgh Symphony has yet to release the details of its next European tour, but I am obligated to publish this one because it was released. The PSO will perform at the prestigious Lucerne Festival in Sept. Two concerts, actually, one with Anne-Sophie Mutter (Dvorak VC, Op. 53) and Heldenleben (!). More details will come, but -- and I know I always seem to be beating this drum -- it's yet another sign of how good and well-regarded the PSO is world-wide.