When New York Philharmonic Music Director Lorin Maazel retired last year, he left behind a checkered legacy. A longtime punching bag for classical critics, Maazel’s conducting and personality were both frequently described as aloof, his concerts often compared to a sausage factory. Maazel’s $1 million conducting fees were reputed to be the highest in the world, which would explain how he paid for the 550-acre estate in Virginia’s horse country where he now resides. It is from here that he hosts the Castleton Festival, an annual opera festival featuring some of the hottest rising stars in chamber music. Safely removed from the haters, the maestro will emerge to conduct two interwar-era librettos: a puppetista show by de Falla inspired byDon Quixote, and Stravinsky’s diabolical The Soldier’s Tale.

MAAZEL WILL CONDUCT L’HISTOIRE DU SOLDAT AND MASTER PEDRO’S PUPPET SHOW AT 7:30 P.M. AT THE THEATRE HOUSE, 663 CASTLETON VIEW ROAD, CASTLETON, VA. SOLD OUT. (866) 974-0767.