André Previn's best jazz recordings

At JazzWax today, remembering André Previn's best jazz recordings... https://t.co/xYq317sXNL pic.twitter.com/kIVFTSdkyK

— Marc Myers (@JazzWax) March 1, 2019

Anadré Previn & David Finck

ANDRE PREVIN & DAVID FINCKFebruary 7 - 9, 8pm & 10:30pm

Take a look at Sir Andre Previn's heavy touring schedule, and it's clear that he is a celebrated classical pianist and conductor, touring some of the world's best venues and performing with top orchestras. But at the Blue Note, Previn will make a rare detour to another facet of his illustrious career - the jazz piano side - of which recordings with the likes of Dinah Shore and Ella Fitzgerald represent the tip of the iceberg. In addition to his ten Grammy awards, Previn has also won four Academy Awards for his film scores. In 2010, Previn was awarded with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and was the subject of a documentary aptly titled A Bridge Between Two Worlds. Previn is one of the most versatile musicians to perform at the Blue Note, which is undoubtedly the most intimate venue he plays worldwide.

ANDRÉ PREVIN - Mad About The Boy

Previn was born to a German Jewish family, although the exact year of his birth is ambiguous, as it is not absolutely certain whether the year was 1929 or 1930. Whilst most formal reports give 1929 as his birth year, Previn himself has stated that 1930 is his birth year. This situation is because the family lost Previn's birth certificate when they left Germany in 1938. Most published reports give 1929 as the birth year, for convenience.

The Previn family emigrated to the United States in 1939 to escape the Nazi regime in Germany. André (as he would be known) became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1943, and grew up in Los Angeles. His elder brother was director Steve Previn. At André Previn's 1946 graduation from Beverly Hills High School he played a musical duet with Richard M. Sherman: Previn played the piano, accompanying Sherman (who played flute). He first came to prominence by arranging and composing Hollywood film scores in 1948.

Coincidentally, twenty one years later, both composers won Oscars for different films, both winning in musical categories. In 1967, Previn became music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. In 1968, Previn began his tenure as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), serving in that post until 1979. During his LSO tenure, he and the LSO appeared on television in the programme André Previn's Music Night.

From 1976 to 1984, Previn was music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO), and in turn had another television series with the PSO titled Previn and the Pittsburgh. He was also principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1984, he was named music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, officially taking over the position in 1985. While Previn's tenure with the orchestra was musically satisfactory, other conductors including Kurt Sanderling, Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, did a better job at selling out concerts.

Previn clashed frequently with Ernest Fleischmann (the orchestra's Executive VP and General Manager), most notably when Fleischmann had failed to consult him before deciding to name Salonen as Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra, complete with a tour of Japan. Because of Previn's objections, Salonen's title and Japanese tour were withdrawn; however, shortly thereafter in April 1989, Previn resigned as Music Director.

Four months later, Salonen was named Music Director Designate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, officially taking the post of Music Director in October 1992. [3] Previn's many recordings include the three complete ballets of Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, and the complete symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams, all with the LSO. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he made other recordings of music by Sergei Prokofiev (most notably, the Symphonies 1 and 5, the score to Alexander Nevsky, and the Symphony-Concerto for Cello & Orchestra with Heinrich Schiff as soloist), symphonies and other pieces by Antonín Dvořák, and works by contemporary composers including William Kraft, John Harbison, and Harold Shapero.

Previn has composed film scores and other musical works including a cello concerto and a guitar concerto. He has also adapted and conducted the music for several films, some of them stage-to-film adaptations, such as My Fair Lady, Kismet, Porgy and Bess, and Paint Your Wagon, but several were written especially for film, including the Academy Award-winning Gigi. Several of the film scores were collaborations with his second wife, Dory Previn.

Oscar Peterson and André Previn

Salute to an Artist of Many Talents....

Some composers write music for anonymous performers, while others, like André Previn, prefer to tailor works to a particular muse. Mr. Previn, who has written pieces for musicians like the pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy and the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, has also been inspired by the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, who was one of the commissioners of his Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello.

That work received its premiere at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday, performed by Mr. Previn, Ms. Mutter (to whom he was once married) and the cellist Lynn Harrell. It was the second of three concerts celebrating Mr. Previn’s 80th birthday and showcasing him in his various musical guises as pianist, composer and conductor.
Mr. Previn began his career in Hollywood as an orchestrator and film composer. While cementing his reputation later as a conductor of top orchestras and as a classical and jazz pianist, he continued to write music. His catalog includes concertos, an opera and many vocal and chamber works. When asked during a recent interview with Charlie Rose what has brought him most satisfaction in his multifaceted musical life, Mr. Previn replied, “Probably composing.”

Mr. Previn’s Trio felt disjointed as a whole, although there were ear-catching moments. The first movement, “Spirited,” was true to its name, with vigorous melodies for the violin and cello played with zest by both performers. Mr. Harrell’s rich tone was displayed to fine effect in the Adagio, after which came “Lively,” the jazzy final movement.
Mr. Previn’s affinity for jazz could also be heard in the Cadenza from his Double Concerto for Violin and Double Bass (2007), in which Ms. Mutter was joined by Roman Patkolo. The two soloists alternated playing pizzicatos and insistent melodies, at other times sharing an energetic dialogue.

The program also included Mendelssohn’s Trio No. 1, which Mr. Previn, Mr. Harrell and Ms. Mutter recently recorded for Deutsche Grammophon in honor of the Mendelssohn bicentennial. Mr. Previn sounded lackluster here in light of the more vigorous playing of his colleagues, but performed with sensitivity in the Andante.
The program opened with a graceful rendition of the Piano Trio in B flat (K. 502) by Mozart, who Mr. Previn says “is the great composer of all time for me.”

The final concert in André Previn’s birthday series at Carnegie Hall is on Sunday; (212) 247-7800, carnegiehall.org.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/arts/music/24mutt.html?ref=music

Oscar Peterson Interview with André Previn - 2

great Oscar Peterson Interview with Andre Previn where they discuss many things including art tatum. Also Oscar plays some tracks

Retirement at Age 80? André Previn Still Hard at Work....

SOURCE: All About Jazz Publicity

Andr Previn has had a particularly wide-ranging career, as conductor, pianist, composer, arranger and jazz performer. In honor of his 80th birthday on Monday, Carnegie Hall is presenting three events that showcase him in his various musical guises.
On Tuesday Mr. Previn, who has held major artistic posts with ensembles like the London Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony, conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in Mozarts Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, leading from the piano, and Strausss Symphonia Domestica.
The concert began on a lackluster note with a soporific performance of the Mozart concerto, performed with a reduced ensemble. After a promising start, with vigorous orchestral playing, it soon descended into lethargy, with treacly textures and without any sense of drama or overall cohesion. Mr. Previn, playing his own cadenzas, performed with a singing tone but seemed to be struggling technically and often failed to project above the orchestra.

The richly hued performance of the Strauss after intermission was far more successful. The Philadelphia Orchestra, like many other arts groups, has been affected by the recession. It canceled a European tour and cut its administrative staff, and it currently lacks both an executive director and a music director.
To judge by this concert the turmoil has not affected the orchestras exemplary standards. The strings played with their trademark gorgeous sound in the Symphonia Domestica, in which Strauss evokes his home life by depicting chiming clocks, childrens games and a parental quarrel. (Strausss marriage was reportedly shaky when he wrote the work, which he dedicated to his wife and son.)

Mr. Previn elicited a fine performance from the Philadelphians, with immaculate woodwind playing. Their lively interpretation, aptly illuminating the details of the vast score, was rewarded with an enthusiastic audience response.
Andr Previns birthday series at Carnegie Hall is on April 22, will perform the premiere of his Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello and other works with the violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and the cellist Lynn Harrell.
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=33631