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Roger Norrington
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington (born March 16, 1934) is a British conductor best known for performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music using period instruments and period style. He is a member of the historically informed performance movement.
Norrington studied at the Dragon School, Westminster College, Clare College, Cambridge and the Royal College of Music under Adrian Boult among others. He worked as a tenor through the 1960s, and in 1962 founded the Schütz Choir (later the Schütz Choir of London). From 1969 to 1984 he was music director of Kent Opera. In 1978 he founded the London Classical Players (led by baroque violinist John Holloway) and remained their musical director until 1997 when he became principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has held a number of other conducting posts including the Orchestra of St. Luke's from 1990 to 1994 and the Handel and Haydn Society starting in 2006.
Norrington's quick tempos and very limited use of vibrato have brought him both acclaim and criticism. He tries to follow Ludwig van Beethoven's metronome markings in his symphonies, some of which are thought by most conductors to be too quick to be practicable. Few listeners are ever indifferent to Norrington's interpretations. They either love them or hate them.
Norrington was created an OBE in 1980, a CBE in 1990 and a knight bachelor in 1997.
Roger Norrington is the brother of Humphrey Thomas Norrington, vice-chairman of Barclays Bank from 1991 to 1993.
- EMI Classics biography of Norrington
- A Norrington discography from the Japanese website "kanzaki.com"
| Preceded by Gianluigi Gelmetti |
Principal Conductors, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra 1998– |
Succeeded by incumbent |