Lorin Maazel

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Commandeur Medal

Maestro Maazel with Guy Yelda, Consul General of France
Consul General of France, Guy Yelda, presents Maes...

Lorin Maazel receives the insignia of Commandeur of the Legion of Honor

On February 17, 2009, the Consul General of France, Guy Yelda, presented Maestro Maazel with the insignia of Commandeur of the National Order of the Legion of Honor in a private ceremony held at Carnegie Hall. Announcement of this high honor came in the form of a personal letter to Maestro Maazel from President Sarkozy of France. The ceremony, attended by family, friends, press and officials of Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic, preceded a Philharmonic concert that evening in the hall, with Maestro Maazel conducting an all-Ravel program: the one-act opera L'enfant et les sortilèges (which he recorded early in his career and is one of the benchmarks of both the Ravel and the opera discography) and the complete ballet Daphnis et Chloé. Maestro Maazel, who was born to American parents in the French town of Neuilly-sur-Seine, has a special appreciation for the culture, language and music of France, and served as Music Director of the Orchestre National de France in the 1980's. He gave his acceptance speech in both English and French.

The National Order of the Legion of Honor was founded by Napoleon Bonaparte to recognize outstanding achievement in the military as well as in the public and private sectors. The Order is made up of five ranks: chevalier, officier, commandeur, grand officier, and grand croix. Recipients are named by decree signed by the President of the Republic. While the Legion of Honor may be awarded to non-French men and women, it is quite rare for foreign citizens to receive the decoration, especially so at the rank Commandeur. American Legion of Honor recipeints include John Ashbery, Merce Cunningham, Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Barbara Streisand and Elie Wiesel. It is the highest award bestowed by the French government.