Neville Marriner, 100 today
OrchestrasNeville arrived late for lunch at our favourite Kensington restaurant. He was carrying a battered briefcase and I asked what was in it.
He pulled out a Walton score, symphony or concerto – I can’t remember.
‘Not really your sort of thing,’ I demurred. ‘Why are you learning it?’
He was 90 or 91 at the time.
‘A friend asked me, as a favour,’ he said.
One could hardly never say No to Neville. I once discharged myself from hospital to make a recording he was keen on. Here‘s a clip.
Neville Marriner, who did so much good in the world and never harmed another soul, would have been 100 today. Bless his soul.
For those who have forgotten, he made more commercial recordings than any conductor except that Berlin fellow (whom he loathed and admired in equal measure).
Wonderful! – is it possible to listen to the whole interview? I can’t find a link/access to it?
Thank you for this tribute to a marvellous man, and not least the photo in his classic rehearsal garb – white polo neck, garish striped shirt and, of course, a glint in the eye….
Some of us who used to sing in the ASMF Chorus are re-convening this evening to perform extracts from Creation as part of the concert at St Martin’s Church, being broadcast live on R3. This project is bringing back many happy memories of making music with Neville in the 70s and 80s.
And also of his sense of fun. Some of us took part in an ASMF performance, also of Creation, somewhere in Germany in the late 80s. In those days Neville had a distinct centre parting, and the tenors and basses thought it would be fun if we all came out for the 2nd half of the concert with our hair parted in the middle. Unfortunately (?!) Neville got wind of this, and strode onto the rostrum with his own hair parted on the side. It was hard to keep a straight face as the 2nd half began…..
RIP, to a man who was a musical giant, and so much more.
I suspect it is in large part due to his future fame as a conductor, but an old recording Neville Marriner made as a violinist of the Purcell “Golden” Sonata is easily found on YouTube and indeed may even be commercially available after all these decades. I knew it and owned it as part of a Purcell anthology LP release on the Vanguard label (presumably licensed from a British record company; mostly it was Alfred Deller singing as I recall). His violin playing showed many of the positive qualities of what was to come with ASMF and other orchestras.
How wonderful! He has been there ever since I was a music student. Happy birthday, Neville!
Happy Birthday Maestro. I had the pleasure of interviewing him in 1975 when he guest-conducted the Kansas City Philharmonic. I have never interviewed anyone more gracious than he. A marvelous man.
I met him briefly five or six years after you did, and I agree with your assessment completely. Yes, what a marvelous man!
Many probably know the old joke/cartoon (?) of a parrot in a cage, with a radio:
Radio: “You’ve just heard the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields…”
Parrot: “under the direction of Neville Marriner.”
Many happy memories of Sir Nev (of whom I never heard a bad word said) especially the thrill of having a piece premiered by the Academy at the Bath Fesival. Years before I had attended a recording session by them at the Kingsway Hall; what a thrill to hear that famous string sound – that I knew so well from their recordings – in the flesh. Magic!
No bloated ego with him, just musical talent of the highest order. Gone but certainly not forgotten.
I was lucky enough to have an amazing experience filming a PBS movie with Sir Neville and The Minnesota Orchestra in the mid 1980s. What a gentleman and beautiful musician. One of my treasured memories.
In 2015, a year before Neville Marriner died, I saw him conduct Holst Planets in Los Angeles at the Colburn music school. Bravo maestro.
I also saw him conduct The Planets, with the National Symphony in DC. Also on the program was a very young Leila Josefowicz. That was thirty years ago.
I regret that he recorded only one Mozart conerto with Yeol Eum Son.
I had the privilege of knowing him and working with him. The tribute above is fair and good. Two little points: he told me once that his all time favourite work was Verklarte Nacht: and once, during a rehearsal with one of the Academy outreach projects, he stopped the orchestra – a mix of Academy players and some local teachers/students – while they were playing the Thomas Tallis Fantasia, Neville gently urged them all ‘do you think it might be a good idea if we all tuned to the same note?’
His Walton film music recordings are top notch!
A lovely gentleman and a fabulous musician. He came to my college, California Institute of the Arts, in 1976 and led the student orchestra in two weeks of reading rehearsals, an unforgettable experience. During one rehearsal, he gently chastised the string section for not playing forcefully enough. “If you sit there playing so prim and proper, everyone’s going think you’re British!” he admonished with a simultaneous straight face and twinkle in his eye.
So good to see the achievements of this great conductor and great man celebrated. How fortunate we are to have his recordings to enrich our lives.
I believe that this is the first time EVER I’ve read only read positive comments. Not a single criticism or whinge! I wish my aging brain could remember what they played the one & only time I heard them in London. I still remember my excitement but not the program.
He grew a tree collection