Raymond Leppard

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Raymond John Leppard (born August 11, 1927 in London - † October 22, 2019 in Indianapolis ) was a British conductor , composer and harpsichordist who became known for his pioneering work in the revival of baroque instrumental music and operas from the 1960s.

life and work

Leppard grew up in Bath and studied from 1948 harpsichord and viola at Trinity College in Cambridge (with Hubert Middleton and Boris Ord ). There he was also choirmaster and musical director of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society. In 1952 he made his debut in London as a conductor at Wigmore Hall . He directed his own Leppard Ensemble and was closely associated with the Goldsbrough Orchestra, from which the English Chamber Orchestra emerged in 1960 . He also appeared as a harpsichordist and became a Fellow of Trinity College, where he was a lecturer from 1958 to 1968 (in 1968 he resigned as Director of Music at Trinity College, successor was Richard Marlow). In the 1960s he was a regular guest conductor with the English Chamber Orchestra. In 1959 he made his debut as an opera conductor in Covent Garden and in 1962 in Glyndebourne , with Claudio Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea . He then performed other baroque operas in Glyndebourne, by Monteverdi and also by Francesco Cavalli ( L'Ormindo Glyndebourne 1967, La Calisto Glyndebourne 1970, Decca recording of La Calisto with Janet Baker 1972).

In November 1969 he made his debut as a conductor in the USA with the Westminster Choir and the New York Philharmonic and as a soloist in Haydn's Harpsichord Concerto in D major. From 1973 to 1980 he was chief conductor of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra in Manchester , later the BBC Philharmonic . From 1987 to 2001 he was musical director of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra . From 2004 to 2006 he was musical advisor to the Louisville Orchestra. At the same time he was artist in residence at the University of Indianapolis .

In addition, Leppard u. a. Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (where he performed, among others, Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten ), at the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Opera in Paris, the Hamburg State Opera, the operas in Santa Fe, Stockholm, Geneva . He conducted a. a. the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (where he was Principal Guest Conductor in 1983), the BBC Symphony Orchestra (including Last Night of the Proms ). In Glyndebourne he conducted the world premiere of Rising of the Moon by Nicholas Maw .

In 1963 he composed the score for Lord of the Flies , the film adaptation of William Golding's novel by Peter Brook . He also wrote the film scores for Alfred the Great - Vanquisher Alfred the Great (1969) and Hotel New Hampshire (1984) as well as for the film Der Satan shuffles the cards .

Leppard received the CBE and was Commendatore della Republica Italiana (1973). He received honorary degrees from Purdue University , the University of Indianapolis, and Butler University in Indianapolis. For his recordings he received a. a. the German Record Prize , a Grammy , the Edison Prize.

Fonts

  • Cavalli's Operas . In: Journal of the Royal Musical Association . tape 93 . Oxford University Press, 1966, ISSN  0269-0403 , pp. 67-76 (English).
  • Authenticity in Music . Faber Music, London, Boston 1988, ISBN 0-571-10088-0 (English, on the performance of early music).
  • Thomas P. Lewis (Ed.): Raymond Leppard on Music: An Anthology of Critical and Personal Writings . Pro / Am Music Resources, White Plains (New York) 1993, ISBN 0-912483-96-2 (English, 668 pages, bibliography and discography).

Awards

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Alain Pâris et al .: Lexicon of the interpreters of classical music in the 20th century , dtv Bärenreiter

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daniel J. Wakin: Raymond Leppard, Versatile Maestro Who Led Baroque Revival, Dies at 92. In: The New York Times . October 22, 2019, accessed October 23, 2019 .