Andre Previn has died...

[DracoM]

If the BBC NEWS plays that ERic Morecambe Funny' again to MARK the death of ANDRE PREVIN, I shall SCREAM!! - it's a total insult to Previn!

[ardcarp]

As Dovers says upthread, another great name gone. A multi-talented musician.

[Bryn]

If the BBC NEWS plays that ERic Morecambe Funny' again to MARK the death of ANDRE PREVIN, I shall SCREAM!! - it's a total insult to Previn!

Not at all. I feel sure he would be all too happy to be thus remembered by the general populace.

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, his RVW recordings are wonderful. Incredibly rare for a non-British conductor to champion RVW and I think his interpretations rank among the best.

[HighlandDougie]

Tonight’s LSO concert at the Barbican dedicated, very appropriately, to his memory. The superb performance of the Rachmaninov Paganini Rhapsody (Simon Trpčeski) would, I think, have brought a smile to AP’s lips.

[LMcD]

I remember an episode of his 'Music Night' which began with AP sitting in the front row of the studio audience and assuring the viewer that the orchestra, which was playing - if memory serves - the opening of Strauss's 'Don Juan'. wouldn't cope without him and that the performance would fall apart at any moment. Needless to say, they carried on regardless. A great musician and communicator who never stood on his dignity. His passing is indeed a great loss to devotees of classical music, jazz and Hollywood musicals alike.
Thanks to bluestateprommer (#30), I had time to set my TV to record the programme referred to, but it's on BBC2, although originally broadcast on BBC4.
There was very perceptive if brief assessment of his impact on British musical life from Petroc on the BBC News Channel earlier in the evening.
RIP - and thank you!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Just announced on In Tune. Very, very sad news.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who contributes to this forum whose early interest in serious music was nurtured by 'Andre Previn's Music Night'.
RIP, Maestro and thank you for all you did for music in The UK.

I have only just heard this deepy sad news - no finer conductor of Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Walton, but magnificent, too, in Ravel, Strauss, Gershwin, RVW, and the Brahms German Requiem ... and so much more. And, yes - "nurtured" by his television programmes.

A great loss.

[Flay]

Sad news, but what a wonderfully long and productive life!

[cloughie]

I remember an episode of his 'Music Night' which began with AP sitting in the front row of the studio audience and assuring the viewer that the orchestra, which was playing - if memory serves - the opening of Strauss's 'Don Juan'. wouldn't cope without him and that the performance would fall apart at any moment. Needless to say, they carried on regardless. A great musician and communicator who never stood on his dignity. His passing is indeed a great loss to devotees of classical music, jazz and Hollywood musicals alike.
Thanks to bluestateprommer (#30), I had time to set my TV to record the programme referred to, but it's on BBC2, although originally broadcast on BBC4.
There was very perceptive if brief assessment of his impact on British musical life from Petroc on the BBC News Channel earlier in the evening.
RIP - and thank you!

I think he illustrated it by getting them to play Beethoven 5 but demonstrated how conductors copped out or copped in with the sudden start of Don Juan - I just wish I had an ounce of his musical genius!

[LMcD]

I think he illustrated it by getting them to play Beethoven 5 but demonstrated how conductors copped out or copped in with the sudden start of Don Juan - I just wish I had an ounce of his musical genius!

I'm sure you're right, cloughie. Having recently reached the age of 25 for the 3rd time I'm starting to get … damn it what IS that word? (I remember it's 'oublier' and 'vergessen' over on the mainland...)

[Pulcinella]

One (or even both) of his Britten Sinfonia da requiem recordings will get a spin here today in his memory.

RIP Mr Preview: a loss indeed, but what happy memories and lasting recordings to treasure.

[oddoneout]

If the BBC NEWS plays that ERic Morecambe Funny' again to MARK the death of ANDRE PREVIN, I shall SCREAM!! - it's a total insult to Previn!

Good thing you don't listen to Breakfast then.....At least on telly you get the full picture.

[BrianWilks]

I visit these Forums daily but very rarely post. However, the passing of Mr Previn has brought me out for one of my infrequent appearances. This extraordinary musician has been around for all my life (he approaching 90 and me having just passed 66) and has brought me so much pleasure over the years. For me the Rachmaninov 2 (symphony, of course) and VW 5th are some of the most treasured recordings in my collection. And this evening in Florida, I downed a glass and shed a tear as 'that' climax in the Romanza of the VW5 generated waves of homesickness for the land of my birth. So strange that an American could so accurately find the heart of such a British (am I allowed to say English?) work. Thank you sir and congratulations on a long life well lived.

[LMcD]

I visit these Forums daily but very rarely post. However, the passing of Mr Previn has brought me out for one of my infrequent appearances. This extraordinary musician has been around for all my life (he approaching 90 and me having just passed 66) and has brought me so much pleasure over the years. For me the Rachmaninov 2 (symphony, of course) and VW 5th are some of the most treasured recordings in my collection. And this evening in Florida, I downed a glass and shed a tear as 'that' climax in the Romanza of the VW5 generated waves of homesickness for the land of my birth. So strange that an American could so accurately find the heart of such a British (am I allowed to say English?) work. Thank you sir and congratulations on a long life well lived.

British? English? It doesn't matter, but I'm sure many, many people on this side of 'the pond' will echo your sentiments. And for many, many people his recording of Walton's 1st symphony remains a benchmark. (A movement from his Rachmaninov 2nd is to be broadcast on Radio 3 in the next 20 minutes or so)

[Cockney Sparrow]

Turned on to hear Nic Kenyon telling an amusing anecdote** on R4 "Today", about 8.35. Also Tom Stoppard saying that Previn, having been constrained by very old age, had gone into overdrive composing, and they had worked together and seen a lot of each other in the last year.

** On going into the pit at Vienna State Opera, New Year's Eve, Die Fledermaus. The leader asked Previn "are you going to conduct, or shall we just play?".