Maestro bows out with a hint: Mission Impossible

There were tears in the aisles as the Frenchman Louis Langrée conducted his last performance on Sunday after 11 years as music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

At the close Langrée, 63, was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his impressive achievement over more than a decade, commissioning no fewer than 65 new works.

The concert contained music by Beethov en, Anthony Davis, Dukas and Ravel. But the clincher was a piece Langrée first heard during a Cincinnati Pops concert – Lalo Schifrin’s theme for Mission: Impossible.

It went down with a blast. But one does have to wonder whether the departing maestro was not making a subtle remark on the role of the music director in the next quartile of the 21st century.

Report here.