Conductor Lorin Maazel dies at 84

Conductor and composer Lorin Maazel has died at his home in Virginia while preparing for the annual Castleton Festival.
He was 84.
The festival says Maazel died today at Castleton Farms in Rapphannock County from complications following pneumonia. The festival announced Maazel's death in a statement posted on its website and Maazel's website.
Maazel founded the festival with his wife, Dietlinde Turban Maazel, in 2009.
He had served as artistic director of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, general manager of the Vienna State Opera, and music director of the Radio Symphony of Berlin, the Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic.

He also was a composer. His first opera, "1984," was based on George Orwell's novel.