May 2009

André Previn: An 80th Birthday Celebration *** 1/2

ANDRE PREVIN, VARIOUS
RCA Red Seal 88697-47250-2
11 tracks - 67:53

The only person to rival André Previn in his breadth of talent may be Leonard Bernstein. A master conductor,
talented composer and fine musician, Previn has had a memorable career in the classical and jazz fields, and
with his 80th birthday this year, many celebrations are planned. If you want a good taste of the three facets of
André, you can pick up this sampler of wonderful musical moments including the first CD release of the 1971
world premiere recording of his Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra, featuring guitarist John Williams.
Representing Previn’s film compositions, there’s The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, with that other
John Williams (of film composing fame) conducting, and The Subterraneans, featuring violinist Itzhak
Perlman and a jazzy arrangement by Terrance Blanchard. Although most of these pieces can be found
elsewhere, this album is a fine introduction to newer fans and a reminder to all that Previn’s artistry is
boundless.

By Cary Wong
 May 31, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-ca-previn31-2009may31,0,2353692.story

CLASSICAL MUSIC

André Previn's place in L.A. Philharmonic history

Los Angeles Times

COMPLEX FIGURE: André Previn, a consummate musician whom Los Angeles helped shape, rehearses
with the philharmonic in 1986, a year after he became music director.

By MARK SWED, Music Critic

Sir André, come home.

I know we're not really supposed to call him that. As an honorary knight of the British empire, he is entitled
to be known as André Previn, KBE. Still, I think "Sir André" has a certain ring. The former film composer,
former music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and candidate for most versatile American musician,
past or present, turned 80 last month and hasn't been back in town for a long while. It couldn't hurt to butter
him up a little if we ever hope to see him again.

In fact, Previn's Los Angeles past has been pretty much swept under the rug during his 80th-birthday
celebrations. Among the tributes are a 10-CD box set from EMI Classics documenting his decade as
principal conductor of the London Symphony, during which he became the most mod classical guy in '70s
swinging London. Deutsche Grammophon has a six-CD box set revisiting Previn's recordings of the last two
decades.

But with the exception of a couple of old jazz tracks on Sony's single-disc 80th-birthday celebration (as well
as tiny excerpts of his film music), there is little hint of Previn's early Hollywood career as a film composer
and jazz pianist. His unhappy but not insignificant tenure with the philharmonic -- which began with
fireworks shot off in the Music Center plaza in 1985 and ended with his sudden angry resignation in 1989 --
seems to have been all but erased from history.

None of his philharmonic recordings have been reissued. Previn himself makes little note of those L.A. years
on his website. L.A.'s orchestra, meanwhile, ends today a remarkable season, the final one of Esa-Pekka
Salonen's 17 as music director, with little acknowledgment of his predecessor.

True, under Previn, the orchestra's playing could be lackluster. The programming was sometimes dull. Previn
wasn't always great box office.

Under Salonen, the philharmonic came to stand for just about everything new, innovative and exciting in
classical music. Salonen has been made the philharmonic's first conductor laureate and is expected back
regularly.

But in crucial ways, Previn helped make some of Salonen's accomplishments possible. And Los Angeles
made Previn possible, not to mention the intriguingly complex figure and consummate musician he is.

MGM's youngster

Born in Berlin, Previn arrived here with his family in 1939, his 10th year, as refugees from Nazi Germany.
While still at Beverly Hills High, he began to work as an arranger and orchestrator at MGM. His film career
took off quickly, as did his side occupation as a very groovy jazz pianist. But he always considered classical
music his calling and played new music at the Monday Evening Concerts and chamber music with the
celebrated Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti.

In 1968, Previn made a clean break with Hollywood to become music director of the Houston Symphony.
Texas proved too provincial for an ambitious, stellar musician, but London soon gave him the credibility he
needed.

Previn made a lot of great records with the London Symphony. The EMI set doesn't do the decade full
justice, since splendid original analog recordings are mostly presented in acoustically edgy early digital
remasterings. But Previn's glowing account of Messiaen's "Turangalîla" Symphony, the score's first great
recording, sounds terrific. And nothing can take away from his first Gershwin recordings, which have
scarcely been bettered.

Previn resurrected many neglected composers. He made it a mission to record Rachmaninoff's normally cut
Second Symphony complete, sophisticated in Previn's subtle shifting of moods. No doubt this is a technique
he developed working in the studios and in smoky jazz clubs.

Previn became a great champion of British music, but the set neglects his classic Vaughn Williams and
Britten recordings. His exciting yet nonflashy accounts of Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast" and Orff's "Carmina
Burana" will be hard for anyone without access to librettos to appreciate. EMI doesn't include notes on the
music or texts.

Much of what made Previn a success in London turned out to be his downfall in Los Angeles. The
unimpeachable classical musician with a Hollywood and jazz background seemed the perfect fit. Instead, the
prodigal son treated his past as baggage he needed to shed. But he did, at least, want an up-to-date orchestra
and set about emphasizing the 20th century. Shortly before resigning, he hired a young, little-known
composer from Cornell, Steven Stucky, to be the composer in residence. Stucky, who has just ended his
formal 20-year association with the philharmonic, went on to be a close confidant of Salonen, a major
composer in his own right and a crucial figure in the orchestra's growth. Mainly, though, the chemistry
between Previn and the philharmonic was wrong. He had nights on the podium when he was highly engaged
and nights when he wasn't. The orchestra and audience never knew what to expect. Previn and then-
Executive Director Ernest Fleischmann got into a power struggle, and the whole business fell apart when
Fleischmann attempted to appoint Salonen principal guest conductor and hire him to tour behind Previn's
back.

Less uptight

The D.G. set documents Previn's post-L.A. career in recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston
Symphony, London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Previn has became an increasingly active
composer in recent years as well, particularly writing for such favored soloists as violinist Anne Sophie-
Mutter (to whom he was briefly married) and soprano Renée Fleming. There are some really lovely things
found in this set. The performance of Korngold's Violin Concerto with Mutter is pure, fabulous sugar and
cream. There is a probing account of Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony and the best performance on disc of
Ravel's "L'Enfant et les Sortilèges."

In these later recordings, Previn is far less uptight than he was in L.A. Two weeks before he resigned from
the L.A. Philharmonic, he made his first jazz record in 20 years and has been an active improviser ever since.

His second opera, "Brief Encounter," had its premiere last month in Houston, and it is based on a 1945
British film, which came out just before a teenage Previn started working for the studios. The movie
pretentiously used Rachmaninoff for its soundtrack. The winning opera score, however, is pure Previn and
feels suitably cinematic in its creation of atmosphere.

But there is one step missing in putting the Previn pieces together and in making amends with Los Angeles.
He has never performed in Walt Disney Concert Hall. Although he didn't actively participate in the design
process of the hall, Previn was the conductor during the early stages, and I can't help but think that on some
level he influenced the objectives of creating an intimate, transparent acoustic. The refined, unshowy Previn
always looked and sounded swamped by the grandiose, soupy-sounding Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

I don't know what it will now take to unroll the welcome mat. But Sir André, you really can come home
again.
http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=5830

André Previn – An 80th Birthday Celebration – André Previn,

conductor and piano
You can chase André Previn all your life, and never catch up, but BMG has
done its fair share with a special tribute to mark the Maestro’s 80th birthday.

May 12, 2009

André Previn – An 80th Birthday Celebration – André Previn,

conductor and piano/ London Symphony Orchestra/John Williams,
guitar/ John Williams, conductor/ Itzhak Perlman, violin/
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra/ J.J. Johnson, trombone/ Red
Mitchell, bass/ Frank Capp, drums/Terence Blanchard, trumpet/
Joe Henderson, tenor saxophone/Kenny Kirkland, piano/ Carl
Allen, drums/ Sylvia McNair, soprano/ Yo-Yo Ma, cello – RCA Red
Seal 88697 47250 2, 64:83 [Distr. by Sony-BMG] ****:

Who doesn’t love being in the tripartite rank of a “pianist-conductor-

composer?” They are among our favorite creatures in the music industry,
and for a good reason. Here, we readily think of Leonard Bernstein, who
was never more himself than when he climbed into the high eighties,
giving those memorable concerts. Then, we had legendaries like George
Gershwin who took on a spiritual glow in his late years. They became angels in our musical
World of Fame, leaving behind some of the fire from previous decades, only to see more and
express more beyond the confines of time.

We often say that these elder musicians are like our “links to the past” – and truly they are.
They reflect the former, in some cases, antiqued, teaching traditions, and with the works of the
classical music repertoire, they are old intimate friends. Some of these individuals have an
impact so great even our musical world today couldn’t hold enough of them. If André Previn’s
life passed before your eyes, the view would be so diversified, zesty, and stuffed with music
great like the Everest. Of all things, you’d need sunglasses.
André Previn is standing proud as ‘Beyond Category,’ when it was Duke Ellington who garnered
this title to Previn’s role in music. Hard to believe, the Berlin-born child prodigy is now eighty
years-old! Taking a quick backward look, Previn has achieved more than twice any individual’s
lifetime that has come his way - including music directorships of six orchestras from Pittsburgh
to Oslo; arranger and composer with four Oscars for film work in Hollywood and nominations
to Grammy® and Emmy®; an admired jazz interpreter of the great American songbook - and
the mileage to show this is only beginning to surface.

In celebration of his 80th birthday recently on April 26th, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yuri
Bashmet premiered Previn’s “Concerto for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra” at Carnegie Hall with
celebratory remarks, while five days later, his operatic adaptation of the film “Brief Encounter”
was premiered at the Houston Grand Opera to great success. A check on Google, you realize
that Previn will also have three jazz gigs this year, not to mention the enticing concert where
he doubled himself as piano soloist and conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra earlier this
spring. Then, on top of all that, Previn has the kind of engagement booking most full-time
composers could only dream of. Taken together, they constitute only the tip of André Previn’s
musical journey. No single album could convey the depth and breadth of this musician’s
creativity. But, to commemorate the occasion, BMG’s latest André Previn – An 80th Birthday
Celebration – may, at least, be the very least to survey Previn’s broad and remarkable
contributions at the composing table, on the podium, or at the piano.

This album showcases the three major facets of André Previn – amongst his many, of course.
First, we have Previn the pianist in the works of Ray Henderson, Kurt Weill, and George
Gershwin’s ‘A Foggy Day,’ which demonstrates how Previn engages his fellow players with his
music tricks as a jazz pianist. We also have a glimpse on Previn as an accompanist, providing a
sympathetic platform for his vocal guest Sylvia McNair and cello partner Yo-Yo Ma represented
in the work of his very own ‘Vocalise.’ Next, we have Previn the conductor – and surely this
identification requires no formal introduction, given the vast array of musical landmark
performances Previn hade on the podium, particularly during his glorious era with the London
Symphony Orchestra (1968-79). For this reason, the album consists of only two compositions
where we hear Previn with his baton. One fine example made available here with the English
ensemble is that congenial portrayal of Aritosphanes' caustic satire on Athenian judiciary that
Vaughan-Williams wrote for the Cambridge University in 1909 that he wrote as his Overture to
‘The Wasps’ (For those interested to pursue this angle in Previn’s musicianship further, EMI
Music has released a 10-CD set entitled The Great Recordings - The LSO Years 1971-1980).

But, perhaps the most impressive side of all profiles Previn has embarked to the musical
community is his prolific talents as a composer. Admittedly, one never tires of Previn the
composer. “Stimulating” and “fresh” are fitting vocabularies to describe his compositions in the
cinema and in the concert call. It is befitting to hear how other musicians pay their tributes on
Previn, as jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard rearranges Previn’s title track for the 1960 film
“The Subterraneans” for trumpet, tenor saxophone, bass, piano and drums. While Previn’s re-
work of Vincente Minnelli’s 1962 remake on the classic “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”
with violinist Itzhak Perlman is nothing but soulful, it is really the CD première of his “Guitar
Concerto” with John Williams as soloist that join the above three facets of Previn’s musical
worlds together. The result of this three-movement work is a piece that begins in tempo
Allegretto, and slows down to a lush Adagio but re-engages in a third movement Andante that
is prescribed with the markings “slowly and reflectively.” Curiously enough, it is also in this
eight minute movement that Previn suddenly channels back his score for “The Subterraneans”
with a trio of electric guitar, electric bass and drums to create an entirely new composition.
Inappropriate? No. But to draw on the artistry and virtuosity of his musicians? Certainly so.
The orchestration of this traditional concerto has all the sonic prerequisites that draw upon
lushness and grandness, but they equally offer the space and support to the relatively quiet
classical guitar.

Previn is one of the few remaining musicians trained in the great pre-World War II German
tradition. He was part of an era when he could phone up a recording company to say that this-
and-such a piece was shaping up well, and had it recorded that very week. “Now, you have to
plan two years in advance and get approval from everybody but the pope,” he once remarked.
But surely, this BMG recording is one of those rare exceptions. You can chase André Previn all
your life, and never catch up. BMG has done its best to capture the tip of the iceberg. Not a
bad attempt at all, not bad indeed.

-- Patrick P.L. Lam

 May 1, 2009

Happy birthday, André!

Even among the wide-ranging, singularly American talents of the past 60 years, André
Previn stands out as a celebrated film composer, incomparable jazz pianist and
respected conductor/composer of serious music. André Previn: An 80th Birthday
CelebrationC [Sony Masterworks; SRP $14] celebrates his lifetime of achievement
with a showcase of the composer and performer at his most varied and inspired.

Previn's musical personality -- lightly playful, keenly smart, elegantly precise -- is

everywhere apparent. There are jazz renditions of Ray Henderson's "Bye Bye
Blackbird," Gershwin's "A Foggy Day," and Weill's "Mack the Knife" and "Bilbao Song."
Previn's film scores are represented by the haunting theme from The Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse and his hip, smoky theme from The Subterraneans, a1960 beatnik
film. He conducts Vaughan Williams's The Wasps: Overture and, for the first time on
CD, his own Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra with renowned guitarist John Williams.
Also included is "Vocalise" with soprano Sylvia McNair and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Previn, born in Berlin, began his career orchestrating film scores at MGM as a
teenager. Shortly after winning his fourth Oscar for scoring My Fair Lady, he shifted
energies from film and jazz to a successful career as a classical conductor. He held
music director posts with the London and Pittsburgh Symphonies and the L.A. and
Oslo Philharmonics. He has won four Oscars, 10 Grammys, was a 1998 Kennedy
Center Honoree and was bestowed with an honorary knighthood from QEII in 1996.
 MIDWEST RECORD
May 6, 2009

BY:CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher

RCA RED SEAL

ANDRE PREVIN/80th Birthday Celebration

Got to admit, I got fished in. I thought this was a newly recorded set keeping in line
with celebrating his 80th birthday but it’s an overview that reaches back to early 60’s
RCA archives, which isn’t such a bad thing considering you aren’t going to hear him
playing with Ray Brown ever again. Leavened with a previously unreleased track
helmed by John Williams, don’t let your expectations over take you. This set isn’t
designed to be a greatest hits, it’s a collection of important jazz and classical pieces
that display the Previn touch in fine form. Since you aren’t going to find this
material otherwise anyway, sit back and enjoy some ground breaking stuff that was
really daring for the times.
47250