André Previn

[cloughie]

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[Alf-Prufrock]

I too have many happy memories of Andre Previn, especially with the LSO in the seventies, and also on TV at that time. But I do think he has done some sterling work since; I particularly admire his Richard Strauss CDs with the Vienna Philharmonic. And what superb sound Telarc gave him too! And I see they are going for less than £5 each on Amazon. (I paid full whack some time ago - grrr!)

[Dave2002]

I went to see him with ASM a few weeks ago at the Barbican. Sadly he's not very sprightly now.

[Nick Armstrong]

Previn still seems to be a largely underrated conductor. I have a huge amount of time for him and have rarely heard a duff performance or recording from him.

Excellent interview with Previn in a December 1975 edition of Parkinson re-broadcast on BBCFour on Saturday evening and available for 30 days:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0026zg4/parkinson-david-attenborough-and-andre-previn

I don’t recall ever seeing it before. It underlines what a wise and dedicated musician he was. I miss him.

[smittims]

Tragically, and shamefully, I think, for those who believed so, his 'popular' side militated against his serious work and since his death I feel he's been dismissed by some as shallow or superficial. Much the same thing happeed to Liszt, and to others. It's a gross misrepresentation. On his night he was unbeatable and had something to offer his art that no-one else could or did.

I'm reminded that conductors seem prone to this sort of controversy: Furtwangler and Toscanini, so diferent from each other, both acclaimed as supreme masters by some and dismissed as showmen by others.

[LMcD]

Excellent interview with Previn in a December 1975 edition of Parkinson re-broadcast on BBCFour on Saturday evening and available for 30 days:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0026zg4/parkinson-david-attenborough-and-andre-previn

I don’t recall ever seeing it before. It underlines what a wise and dedicated musician he was. I miss him.

As do I (and many others, I suspect).

[Roger Webb]

I too have many happy memories of Andre Previn, especially with the LSO in the seventies......

I've started to play again the VW syms he recorded, the Gold Seal reissues of which I collected in the early 80s, and very fine they sound - remarkably clean pressings too (remastered DMM teldec Hamburg). Walton 1 too. And his Tarangalila a landmark.

I saw him (I think in the early 90s) with the LSO, Shostakovitch 5 in the second half, and a lovely Beethoven VC in the first, played by?.....his future wife Anne-Sofie Mutter.

[gradus]

I had forgotten the Parkinson interview, generously coupled with an entertaining first half with David Attenborough. Splendid TV.

[rauschwerk]

He was a wonderful chamber musician and Mozart pianist. His recordings of the Mozart piano quartets (I think there is more than one set, but I have the one with the Vienna Musikverein Quartet) have given me enormous pleasure for many years.

[Roslynmuse]

The EMI Rachmaninov symphonies etc are my go-to set, and I have enjoyed his RVW too. There's another RCA disc of Strauss which has one of the finest Don Juan recordings I know. The famous Gershwin LP with Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris and the Piano Concerto was a favourite when I was a teenager, although the music itself appeals less these days. Wonderful recording of Daphnis and Chloe, and his accompaniments to Ashkenazy's Rachmaninov Concertos are fabulous too. The BBC documentary about Janet Baker included an excerpt of him accompanying her on the piano in Handel, IIRC.

[richardfinegold]

I have a few of the RVW set, an Alpine Symphony with the VPO, and I think that’s it. I’m a bit surprised by his underrepresentation on my shelves because I certainly regarded him well.

[Nick Armstrong]

He's still one of my musical heroes because not only is he a good conductor and a very good pianist & chamber music player, he's also a very good raconteur - I could listen to him yarning away for hours.

So true - I could have happily done with a full hour of him, rather than the programme being shared with St. David…

[Pulcinella]

One of my favourite Previn LPs (subsequently obtained on CDs, differently coupled) was one of his very first recordings:
Copland: The Red Pony
Britten: Sinfonia da requiem
St Louis Symphony Orchestra

https://www.discogs.com/release/27964917-Previn-St-Louis-Symphony-Orchestra-Copland-Britten-Copland-The-Red-Pony-Britten-Sinfonia-Da-Requiem

Of course, he recorded the Britten again later, for EMI, with the LSO:

https://www.discogs.com/release/7555092-Britten-Holst-André-Previn-London-Symphony-Orchestra-Sinfonia-Da-Requiem-Sea-Interludes-Passacaglia

[LMcD]

He also dealt admirably with the consequences of Thomas Allen's misfortune during Carmina Burana at the Proms in 1974.

[pastoralguy]

He also dealt admirably with the consequences of Thomas Allen's misfortune during Carmina Burana at the Proms in 1974.

Seeing his Music Night programme as a repeat on BBC 2 was a huge moment in my life. Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé and the Third piano concerto with Martha Argerich was, in many ways, my introduction to classical music. Both works have been available on different dvds and the magic has not dimmed after nearly 50 years.

I really wished I could have met him and shaken his hand.