Mourning for leading British conductor
RIPThe family of James Loughran, long serving conductor of the Halle Orchestra, have announced his death in a care facility at the age of 92.
Loughran headed the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1971 and the Halle from 1971 to 1983. Abroad, he was in charge of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra from 1979 to 1983 and of Denmark’s Aarhus Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 2003. He was also permanent guest conductor of the Japan Philharmonic.
A hard-working Scot, Loughran avoided the temptations of glamour and controversy. His period in Manchester was comparatively subdued but he was highly esteemed in Germany and Denmark.
James Loughran was a successful conductor at he Last Night of the Proms and produced some excellent recordings with the Halle, including a fine Brahms cycle. One of the many British conductors of his generation, rather undervalued in his home country.
He was the one who introduced Auld Lang Syne at the Proms, adding a touch of Scottishness. Lovely man, fine conductor but totally unflashy. Sad news.
Maestro Loughran was a wonderful, profound musician and had a lot of respect for those who actually played, while he was conducting… As a former orchestra player I played my very first Mahler 5 under his direction some 30 years ago.There was nothing „revolutionary” about his approach, but it was full of humanity, wisdom and love. We all felt that we played the symphony exactly how each and everyone of us wanted – a very rare quality for a conductor to enable these feelings in a group of 100 musicians. I will never forget this lesson! James Loughran represented a generation of conductors that is almost extinct now… He did not care about the „surface” and the glamour. It was music first and everything else second for him. RIP dear Maestro
I heard him many times with the Halle. He raised playing standards and was terrific in classical repertoire (Beethoven, Brahms etc). I also remember an absolutely gorgeous Bruckner 8 in Leeds. RIP Maestro.
Some wonderful recordings with the Halle. His Brahms symphony set is sublime and full of energy.
Another legend leaves us. Thank you for your wonderful Brahms cycle as well as your other exceptional work. RIP, Maestro.
He had the misfortune to succeed Barbirolli with the Hallé at a time when the orchestra’s nuts-and-bolts needed tending to. I heard impressive Bruckner and a full-length Rachmaninoff Second with them early in his tenure. Serious musician. RIP.
I didn’t realise Maestro James Loughran was still alive. He did great work with the Halle & was a fine interpreter of Beethoven & Brahms.
Loughran was indeed one of the UK’s unsung heroes. I heard several concerts in Scotland and saw his Traviata at Scottish Opera, a rather simple production that saw too much competition for ‘downstage star’ time between Franco Bonisolli and the considerably overweight Clarice Carson. Orchestrally it was very fine.
I think we need also to be fair in that very occasionally he could find himself in circumstances that were not ideal for him and the orchestra he was directing. I recall in particular one concert in Hong Kong prior to a Japan tour with the Vienna Symphony in the 1980s. I am not sure how often or otherwise he had conducted that orchestra but it was clear the Beethoven Fifth had not had adequate rehearsal.The orchestra was unable to follow his opening beat. The result was that the symhony started pah-pah-pah-pah paaaah. I assumed the management had regarded that Hong Kong date as just a rehearsal for the more important concerts in Japan.
As an amateur I was privileged to play under his baton in the late 60s and he was superb. Very clear and undemonstrative
RIP to another vastly under-rated conductor (in the UK, at least). I recall some fine Sibelius under his baton at a time when the composer did not enjoy the popularity he does today.
Being a Sibelius fan I don’t think I heard this very fine musician play his music, licve or on record. My loss. RIP.
As a young schoolboy I heard my first live classical music from the Halle under his baton in the cheap seats at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester in the 70s. It was my first steps in a lifetime of the privilege of enjoying live classical music For that reason I hold fond memories of him
Jimmie, my dear friend and colleague, was a truly great conductor.
As with all exalted artists he despised short term gimmickry and affectation, eschewing fashion and publicity in favour of remaining totally loyal to the composer’s original inspiration and thus to those lucky enough to be among his many devoted audiences. I have been soloist with him in over 130 concerts since 1965 in many countries and he remained a powerful, visionary force for all who participated in his appearances.
His warm, lively and enthusiastic personality made instant contact with his performers and public alike and it’s no surprise that his concerts were always full.
When Sir John Barbirolli passed away, the Hallé chose Jimmie to replace him and again his concerts were all packed.
I was greatly privileged to have had such a close and unique friendship with him as well as the challenge and pleasure of working with him as soloist in so many concertos.
In this materialistic age of mostly inverted standards, I suppose it’s to his credit that he was so grossly underestimated. That won’t change his standing or his great achievements. His unique combination of rare qualities of the highest distinction can never be replaced.
As John said, Jimmie was not only a dear friend but a very great and, in many ways, shamefully overlooked conductor. His Brahms and Beethoven interpretations were astonishing. I remember hearing him conduct Brahms 3 at a concert in the Free Trade Hall in the 1980s and, although I have heard hundreds of interpretations before and since both on record and in the concert hall, nothing has ever measured up to that performance. A huge loss.
I was there…as a schoolboy (concert began with Havergal Brian) I was impressed to see the soloist..Alfred Brendel go to the side circle for the Brahms and stood to hear the whole piece.
What wonderful words from a great musician to the memory of an esteemed colleague and great friend. I was lucky enough to see him many times in London when I was a youngster and even when I knew very little I was always amazed at how he seemed to be so at ease with music and how crucially faithful to it he was. I watched him in rehearsal and he didn’t micro manage, he did something that all conductors should remember; the music comes first and let the orchestra play.
Lovely tribute John. I remember well your concerto debut at Carnegie Hall in November 1975, and the recording you made in Glasgow around New Year in 1975/6. I also have photographs by Alain Franosch from that time.
RIP Jimmie.
These sentiments apply equally to your own ethos and playing, Mr Lill. The recordings you and he created together are truly sublime. Thank you.
Very sad to hear this. He had a wonderful smile and a very charismatic presence. Will always treasure the memories of great concerts when he brought the band over the Pennines to play in t’Huddersfield Town Hall. A very worthy successor to Glorious John!
His recording of Elgar 2 is amazing. One of my favourites.
I attended my first Symphony concert ever aged 6. Loughran and the Halle on Sheffield City Hall. My mother took me down to the Green Room afterwards. He was utterly charming, kind and humorous.
I was hooked; and never forgot him.
I heard my first ever Mahler 5 with Loughran and the Halle, in the Victoria Hall at Hanley. An electrifying performance. I also remember his Mahler 3 at the Free Trade Hall, which was repeated at the Proms. Perhaps the BBC could release it. These were the days when still relatively few British conductors programmed Mahler, and Loughran was a fine Mahlerian. I still return often to his CFP Brahms Symphony cycle, which I think is perhaps the finest recorded cycle by a British conductor, and in the EMI catalogue stands not far behind Jochum. Again it should be re-released. I remember buying the original vinyl discs in Woolworths in Sandbach. Remember those days for a young collector in a small town?!
He was one of the few conductors to have recorded Beethoven 5 with the extended scherzo.
From: Richard Stanbrook.
Date: 24th June 2024.
Alas, another truly great conductor has passed on. Maestro Loughran will live on in his recording legacy, especially the fine set of Brahms’ symphonies with the Halle Orchestra. If my memory is correct, these were made in the 1970s and released on EMI’s budget label, Classics for Pleasure. Now would be an ideal time to re-release them as part of a commemorative boxed set. How about it, Warner Classics?
Lux Aeterna.
It is little known that he started his career as assistant and later associate conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony during the Silvestri era. He even kept that Silvestris bonbon, Enescu’s 1st Rhapsody, in his permanent repertoire. Of course, Loughran’s style was opposite from that of that of Silvestri.
There was a recent question on this site about naming one Scottish conductor. Here’s one we shamefully forgot.
RIP Maestro.
This is truly sad news. If I may be briefly indulged, James Loughran and the Hallé introduced me to my first live Mahler 9 at the Royal Festival Hall in May 1982 around the height of the Tennstedt/Abbado/ Sinopoli years, and you never forget that first hearing, however many I might have heard since. As I recall it was extraordinary.
Moving north there were many fine Loughran concerts to be heard at the Free Trade Hall, and records to be bought at Forsyths. On one occasion I stumbled across him conducting in Thurso, but perhaps most moving was Jimmy’s return to Manchester in April 1997, shortly after the opening of the Bridgewater Hall. The Protecting Veil with Wallfisch and a powerful Walton First Symphony – “all raw tension and energy” said The Manchester Evening News, and they were not wrong.
There is a lovely story about him conducting in Sweden. The piano soloist in a Brahms concerto was the legendary John Ogdon. Before the rehearsal of the concerto was about to begin, Ogdon called to him from the piano “which Brahms concerto is it, Jimmy?”
Saw him many times with the Haa
Halle at City Hall Sheffield when I first started going to concerts aged 18. I’ll never forget a performance of Rach 2 that gripped the audience from first note to last and left many in tears, me included. Loved that work ever since. RIP Sir James.
James Loughran was a conductor I first came across as a teenaged horn player and I was fortunate enough to have met him a few times and he was always so charming and encouraging. Some concert memories will always be a stirring Elgar 1 with the Hallé in Corby Festival Hall in the 1970s, of all places, which I thought was a definitive performance; aswell as a brilliant Dvorak 8 at the Proms with the BBCSO. I always admired his style and still love his many recordings and echo the appreciations in other comments of his first-rate Brahms’s Symphonies cycle with the Hallé – the art work on each LP sleeve is equally memorable – as well as his Beethoven Symphonies Cycle and his recording of the uncut Rachmaninov 2nd Symphony; which is one of my favourites, alongside André Previn’s celebrated full version with the LSO. Strangely enough, I’ve just recently taken his recordings of the Brahms Piano Concertos with John Lill off of my shelves to listen to again. Another favourite recording of mine from those teenage years is his very exciting account of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast with Michael Rippon and the Hallé Orchestra and Choir. An overlooked recording and well worth looking out! Let’s hope both he and the late Sir Andrew Davis receive their due worthy tributes at this year’s Last Night of the Proms to which they added so much! Thanks for all you gave us and Bravo, Maestro! RIP and condolences to his family and friends.
I bought his Brahms cycle on the MFP budget label.
It remains a favourite. I also have his Bruckner 7 live from Aarhus Cathedral, another flowing example of a great musician. Yes underestimated here because he never courted a glamorous personality like many foreigners of his generation.
His loss will be felt keenly by many people.
RIP. He conducted the first recording of Havergal Brian’s symphonies (10 and 21), which were my introduction to Brian’s music. Gratitude and respect!
@Ricardo.
I had the abject misery of participating in those ghastly Havergal Brian recordings. A terrible composer.
Loughran only conducted the 10th symphony.
I hardly know the name, never a column in musical press, but when it came to renew my cd collection, I would always keep his classic for pleasure cds, I remember an excellent Tchaikovsky 5th that I still have. And the competition is stiff … Coming after sir John was probably not easy…
Why wasn’t he knighted?
The same perhaps could be said about Raymond Leppard, Vernon Handley, Richard Hickox, Bryden Thomson, David Lloyd-Jones…
Particularly Tod Handley. Loved and revered in Liverpool. I heard Barbirolli and Boult conduct Elgar, and would rate Tod the finest of the three.
His set of Brahms symphonies with the Halle was much more than the sum of its parts. A cherished memory.
Since student days at the RSAMD Glasgow, I have admired James Loughran, for the outstanding musician he was. As a fellow Scot, I would have relished the opportunity to work with him, but sadly the opportunity never materialised.
I think that I was introduced to my first orchestral concert at the Winter Gardens Bournemouth in 1962 conducted by James Loughran. At that time he was associate conducter of the BSO with Constantin Silvestri> As far as I can recall the programme included Chabrier’s Espana and the Grieg piano concerto with Shura Cherkassky. Following this I attended concerts on a weekly basis, a large proportion of which were conducted by James. Thank you for introducing me to the gift of a lifetimes music.
I’ve no wish to be out of tune with the prevailing sentiment of comments here – Loughran’s Halle was my introduction to concert going as a teenager some 50 years ago – but, the longtime leader of the Halle in those years was an alumnus of the school I attended. He took particular interest in the (few) who studied music A-level there. When said leader, ahead of retirement, sat in on Loughran’s auditions for his successor, after one candidate had led the orchestra Loughran asked his opinion. The reply being: ‘good.’ Loughran’s next question: ‘yes, but with a bad conductor?’ The reply? ‘As I said, good.’