A maestro so popular they put him on a banknote
mainThe death of Walter Weller has brought an outpouring of sympathy and fond memories from players in the many orchestras he conducted. Nowhere more so than in the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, where Weller’s credit ran so high in the 1990s that the Scots put his image on a £50 note.
That’s real money you see below, worth $75.
Old-fashioned in the best musical sense of the term, he was an inveterate smoker. He preferred pipes during the day – he carried a set of six – and a cigar after dinner. He would always offer cigars to the rest of the company.
A well-deserved tribute. A musicians-conductor in the truest sense of the word. Happy that so many orchestral musicians commemorate him.
Walter Weller was incomparable in Strauss (Richard as well as the family).When he conducted the RSNO the sound changed,particularly the strings. There was also his very public intervention when the orchestra was having problems with its then chief executive Christopher Bishop was creating mayhem. Weller ,just appointed,flew in to Glasgow to indicate,very quietly.where his support lay-with the musicians as opposed to the bureaucrat,or perhaps autocrat.
he had a loyal following in Scotland as a great musician and man.