Evening Eclectic March 3, 2019 - Tribute to Andre Previn

“You’re Gonna Hear From Me” is an Andre Previn tune with lyrics by Dory Previn from the motion picture Inside Daisy Clover for which Andre Previn wrote the score in memory of Andre Previn who died earlier this week at 89.  It would have been a suitable anthem for the young Andre Previn who at 18 started working at MGM studios as a composer-conductor for the studio right out of high school.  His first film scoring credit was for the film The Sun Comes Up (1949), which much later he said was "the most inept score you ever heard" after seeing a television rerun of the movie.  But this was the first of many film scores for which he achieved great acclaim.  An example the Main Title theme to the movie Elmer Gantry.

Andre Previn did the screen adaptations of broadway musicals including the Cole Porter's musical Kiss Me, Kate, Lerner & Loewe's My Fair Lady, the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar and just as he did for Paint Your Wagon where he wrote additional music for new songs written with Alan Jay Lerner for the movie version of the musical.

In the 1960s, he appeared in sold-out classical and jazz concerts. Sometimes he combined genres, playing a concerto before intermission and jazz with a trio after. Dizzy Gillespie marveled at his performances. “He has the flow, you know, which a lot of guys don’t have and won’t ever get,” he said.

In addition to being an accomplished film composer, he had great success performing and composing jazz tunes.  And jazz artist also took a lot of songs he composed for films and made jazz versions of those songs. 

He is heard as the pianist with a number of other jazz artists including Benny Carter and Shelly Manne from the 1950 & 1960s  but also more recently with Michael Feinstein.   

Film scores and jazz only touched on his accomplishments in music.  He was a very successful classical music composer, pianist and conductor.  Lets hear samples of each of these roles.  First as a composer.  He wrote chamber music, art songs and music for full orchestra. 

As a conductor he began with the Houston Symphony Orchestra taking over in 1967 from Sir John  and serving until 1969. In 1968, he began his tenure as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra serving in that post until 1979.   From 1975 to 1985, he was music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.   He was then principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from 1985 to 1991.  In 1985, he began his very tempestuous role as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  He constantly clashed with the Executive VP and General Manager Ernest Fleischmann.   After Fleischmann failed to consult Previn before naming Esa-Pekka Salonen as Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra, complete with a tour of Japan and then withdrew Salonen's title and Japanese tour after Previn's objections; however, shortly thereafter, in April 1989, Previn resigned.   And within 4 months Esa-Pekka Salonen was named the new conductor of the LA Philharmonic. The city helped spark a love of music and launched his career, but it also caused him so much consternation that he vowed never to set foot here again — a promise he kept until his death almost three decades later. Time healed some wounds. Previn eventually accepted a commission for the L.A. Phil’s centennial celebration. His work was scheduled to be performed in October, but representatives for the orchestra said Thursday they didn’t yet know the status of the composition.

Previn was music director of the Oslo Philharmonic from 2002 to 2006, and in 2009 he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Lets hear him as conductor and classical pianist with Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F