James Loughran 1931-2024

[Petrushka]

Sad to see that James Loughran has died at the age of 92. I saw him conducting the Halle many times in Manchester and Hanley. He was completely unflashy but was a serious musician and I heard some terrific Elgar, Bruckner, Brahms, Walton and RVW amongst much else from him. There are lots of good memories there of my early concert-going years in the mid-1970s.

RIP James Loughran

[Roger Webb]

Sad to see that James Loughran has died at the age of 92. I saw him conducting the Halle many times in Manchester and Hanley. He was completely unflashy but was a serious musician and I heard some terrific Elgar, Bruckner, Brahms, Walton and RVW amongst much else from him. There are lots of good memories there of my early concert-going years in the mid-1970s.

RIP James Loughran

Similar happy memories of the late 70s - early 80s of Loughran 'on tour' in Bristol and the 'new' St David's Hall in Cardiff.

[Barbirollians]

An excellent conductor who steadied the Halle ship after Barbirolli's death and made many fine recordings with them . A much underrated set of Beethoven symphonies, an outstanding set of the Brahms, a very good Rachmaninov 2 and I have a lateBruckner 7 from Aarhus which is also very good . A great shame he appeared to conduct so little later in his career in the UK.

RIP indeed.

[smittims]

Yes, the Halle years certainly seem to have been his peak. I remember his beginning a Thursday Season with the Grosse Fuge played without double basses, followed by the Fifth with all the repeats in the third movement : I can still hear those basses in the trio. Some years later he brought the Halle to the Festival Hall and gave a passionately committed Bruckner 9 in contrast to a rather routine rendering by... er,, another orchestra. I met him once and had the impression of a quiet, serious man.

[CallMePaul]

More info: https://www.thenational.scot/news/24...loughran-dies/

Like most northern-based classical music lovers, I saw Loughran conduct the Hallé on many occasions. I also have, on LP, his Brahms cycle which, like most of his recordings with the Hallé, appears to have been deleted. I also have his recording of Belshazzar's feast, which contimues to hold its own even if it is deleted (I've not checked).

RIP James

[Barbirollians]

Rather sad to see so few responses to this thread too. Been listening to his Brahms tonight . An exceptionally fine Tragic Overture , a soaring Alto Rhapsody with Bernadette Greevy and a very coherent and compelling Brahms 1 .

[makropulos]

Rather sad to see so few responses to this thread too. Been listening to his Brahms tonight . An exceptionally fine Tragic Overture , a soaring Alto Rhapsody with Bernadette Greevy and a very coherent and compelling Brahms 1 .

I've been doing exactly the same this evening – again with the Brahms cycle. I went to so many Loughran concerts during my student years in Manchester – they were a very mixed bag, but the best of them were thrilling.

[MickyD]

I seem to recall him doing a Last Night of the Proms and being very popular with the audience. In the 70's, I suppose ?

[HighlandDougie]

I worked and part-time studied in Manchester from 1974 to 1976 so attended various Hallé concerts in the FTH. I can visualise Loughran on the podium but cannot remember any particular performances, other than, with the snobbery of foolish youth, being appalled at the inclusion of a suite from ‘Carousel’ by Richard Rodgers in a prom concert. Or maybe it was ‘Oklahoma’ but the conductor, orchestra and I suspect most of the audience were clearly enjoying it. I always thought that JL was rather taken for granted and a bit patronised in Manchester.

[Pulcinella]

Like many others, I had the CfP Brahms symphonies etc.
Maybe Warner will now reissue them?

The Belshazzar (not a great performance iirc) was released in a 2CD (CfP Silver Doubles) set called The Best of England, with some excellent other recordings: amongst them, the Britten Violin concerto with Rodney Friend (LPO/Pritchard) and Tippett Concerto for double strings (LPO/Handley).
Outrageously expensive new but some s/h copies also available:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-England-Ralph-Vaughan-Williams/dp/B000025VIM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1OGJ756PQMAV0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.RRV vpa2TCNurBo1lOMEIOVvSUJ51vc6dXrqhRzd2jj_otz1UpsBEs e76ht7wAKVojTKHnsZMZwcasqe9Tuzkofq5IdqDSkvuhtRXMGm Lv4qiliAIj9kotUPAJfb6rI41Ud97urGSz5dP2HwPlHeWN_DbU 4NyzOGKBOqh6iewg8kBjBptZJj1L-Br7M5CVDant1zhKW6cuV2XjwAENgaJUXCVUYvkz1-m1ejABUOzSAc.MIJKdb_YLU3joB-XiRYAUu_ygOj8nELFRiSU8i0tvDM&dib_tag=se&keywords=b est+of+england&qid=1719299364&s=music&sprefix=best +of+england%2Cpopular%2C60&sr=1-1

[LMcD]

I seem to recall him doing a Last Night of the Proms and being very popular with the audience. In the 70's, I suppose ?

He conducted the Last Night 5 times between 1977 and 1984.
He was the first British conductor to head a major German orchestra - the Bamberger Symphoniker.

[MickyD]

I thought as much, thanks for clarifying that.

[Barbirollians]

His Elgar symphonies we were discussing only the other week . I should dig those out too.

[mopsus]

We have an LP of him conducting the Symphonie Fantastique with the Hallé. What I recall about it is that the disc has the most tasteless sleeve artwork of any in our collection.

[Master Jacques]

As for several other contributors, 'Jimmy' Loughran was an integral part of my years growing up in Manchester - he lived near me, in Bowdon - and it is true that we rather took him for granted. The main problem was, that he had the most difficult act to follow, at a time when the Hallé's standards were beginning to show signs of decline.

In retrospect, he certainly "steadied the ship" (as Barbirollians nicely puts it) and although his concerts rarely achieved the magical level of which his great predecessor was capable, nor did they ever fall below a high technical standard.

I shall always be grateful for his continued commitment to British music, in particular, and his impeccable musical taste, at what was a tough time for the orchestra.