Roger Norrington
Encyclopedia
Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington, CBE
(born 16 March 1934) is a British
conductor
. He is the son of Sir Arthur Norrington
and his brother is Humphrey Thomas Norrington
.
Norrington studied at the Dragon School
, Westminster School
, Clare College, Cambridge
and the Royal College of Music
under Adrian Boult
among others. Norrington worked as a tenor
through the 1960s, and in 1962 founded the Schütz Choir (later the Schütz Choir of London).
From 1969 to 1984, Norrington was music director of Kent Opera
. In 1978, he founded the London Classical Players
and remained their musical director until 1997. From 1985 to 1989, he was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta
. He is also president of the London Philharmonic Choir
. In the USA, from 1990 to 1994, he was music director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's
. In Europe, he was principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg
from 1997 to 2006. He served as principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
from 1998 to 2011. He was Artistic Advisor of the Handel and Haydn Society
from 2006 to 2009. In January 2010, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra
announced the appointment of Norrington as its next principal conductor, as of the 2011-2012 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.
Norrington is 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 has advocated a limited or no use of vibrato
in orchestral performances, which has brought him both acclaim and criticism. He has strictly followed Beethoven's
original metronome markings in his symphonies, despite various critical comments that these markings were "miscalculated". He has conducted recordings of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Berlioz, and Brahms on period instruments.
With his wife, the choreographer Kay Lawrence, he formed in 1984 the Early Opera Project to complement his concert work in period-style performance, beginning with Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
that year, and touring Britain in 1986.
In August 2008, Norrington appeared in the reality TV
talent show
-themed television series, Maestro
on BBC Two
, when he led the judging panel. He conducted the Last Night of The Proms
for the first time on 13 September 2008.
Norrington has been married twice. He and his second wife, Kay Lawrence, have a son, Tom. He was made an OBE
in 1980, a CBE
in 1990 and a Knight Bachelor
in 1997. He is a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera
and the Orchestra of St Paul's
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 16 March 1934) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
. He is the son of Sir Arthur Norrington
Arthur Lionel Pugh Norrington
Sir Arthur Lionel Pugh Norrington , was a publisher, President of Trinity College, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, and originator of the Norrington Table.-Life:...
and his brother is Humphrey Thomas Norrington
Humphrey Thomas Norrington
Humphrey Thomas Norrington OBE is the second son of Sir Arthur Norrington, who was known to his friends as "Thomas", and devised the Norrington Table. He is also the brother of Sir Roger Norrington....
.
Norrington studied at the Dragon School
Dragon School
The Dragon School is a British coeducational, preparatory school in the city of Oxford, founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School, or OPS. It is primarily known as a boarding school, although it also takes day pupils...
, Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
, Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College, Cambridge
Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1326, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. Clare is famous for its chapel choir and for its gardens on "the Backs"...
and the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
under Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
among others. Norrington worked as a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
through the 1960s, and in 1962 founded the Schütz Choir (later the Schütz Choir of London).
From 1969 to 1984, Norrington was music director of Kent Opera
Kent Opera
Kent Opera was a British opera company in the period 1969-1989. Based in Ashford, England the Company presented its productions in several centres mainly in the southern part of England. These included The Orchard Theatre, Dartford, the Assembly Halls, Tunbridge Wells, Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury,...
. In 1978, he founded the London Classical Players
London Classical Players
The London Classical Players was a British orchestra that specialized in music following historically informed performance practices and orchestral performances on period musical instruments. Sir Roger Norrington founded the LCP in 1978. From 1978 to 1992, the concertmaster of the London...
and remained their musical director until 1997. From 1985 to 1989, he was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Sinfonietta
Bournemouth Sinfonietta
The Bournemouth Sinfonietta was a chamber orchestra founded in 1968 as an off-shoot of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.-Formation:The orchestra was initially conducted by George Hurst, who acted as artistic adviser, and Nicholas Braithwaite, in order to perform the classical repertoire in the...
. He is also president of the London Philharmonic Choir
London Philharmonic Choir
The London Philharmonic Choir is one of the leading independent British choirs in the United Kingdom based in London. The Patron is Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy and Sir Roger Norrington is President. The choir, comprising over 200 members, holds charitable status and is governed by a...
. In the USA, from 1990 to 1994, he was music director of the Orchestra of St. Luke's
Orchestra of St. Luke's
The Orchestra of St. Luke's is an American chamber orchestra based in New York City.It was founded in the summer of 1979 at the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah, New York....
. In Europe, he was principal conductor of the Camerata Salzburg
Camerata Salzburg
The Camerata Salzburg is an Austrian chamber orchestra based in Salzburg, Austria. The Camerata's principal concert venue is the Mozarteum Salzburg....
from 1997 to 2006. He served as principal conductor of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Stuttgart in Germany. The ensemble was founded in 1945 by American occupation authorities as the orchestra for Radio Stuttgart, under the name Sinfonieorchester von Radio Stuttgart...
from 1998 to 2011. He was Artistic Advisor of the Handel and Haydn Society
Handel and Haydn Society
The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1815, it remains one of the oldest performing arts organizations in the United States.-Early history:...
from 2006 to 2009. In January 2010, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra
Zurich Chamber Orchestra
The Zurich Chamber Orchestra is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Rietberg Museum, the ZKO-Haus in the Seefeld quarter of the city, and such churches as the Fraumünster and the Kirche St....
announced the appointment of Norrington as its next principal conductor, as of the 2011-2012 season, with an initial contract of 3 years.
Norrington is best known for performances of Baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
, Classical and Romantic music
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
using period instruments and period style. He is a member of the historically informed performance
Historically informed performance
Historically informed performance is an approach in the performance of music and theater. Within this approach, the performance adheres to state-of-the-art knowledge of the aesthetic criteria of the period in which the music or theatre work was conceived...
movement. Norrington has advocated a limited or no use of vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
in orchestral performances, which has brought him both acclaim and criticism. He has strictly followed Beethoven's
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
original metronome markings in his symphonies, despite various critical comments that these markings were "miscalculated". He has conducted recordings of Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Berlioz, and Brahms on period instruments.
With his wife, the choreographer Kay Lawrence, he formed in 1984 the Early Opera Project to complement his concert work in period-style performance, beginning with Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino is an annual opera festival which was founded in April 1933 by conductor Vittorio Gui with the aim of presenting contemporary and forgotten operas in visually dramatic productions. It was the first music festival in Italy. The first opera presented was Verdi's early...
that year, and touring Britain in 1986.
In August 2008, Norrington appeared in the reality TV
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
talent show
Talent show
A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...
-themed television series, Maestro
Maestro (TV series)
Maestro is a 2008 reality TV talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC's Classical Music Department in the United Kingdom. It was shown on BBC Two in August and September 2008....
on BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
, when he led the judging panel. He conducted the Last Night of The Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
for the first time on 13 September 2008.
Norrington has been married twice. He and his second wife, Kay Lawrence, have a son, Tom. He was made an OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1980, a CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1990 and a Knight Bachelor
Knight Bachelor
The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the most basic rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry...
in 1997. He is a Patron of Bampton Classical Opera
Bampton Classical Opera
Bampton Classical Opera is an opera company based in Bampton, Oxfordshire specialising in the production of lesser known opera from the Classical period...
and the Orchestra of St Paul's
Orchestra of St Paul's
The Orchestra of St Paul's is a professional chamber orchestra resident at the famous Actors' Church in Covent Garden. In addition to a concert series in Covent Garden, the Orchestra of St Paul's gives regular performances all around the UK and makes annual visits to the Southbank Centre and St...
.