One year ago, I attended with my mother a concert in Vienna by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. It was a sombre occasion. The concert had been due to be conducted by the founder of the Academy, Sir Neville Marriner, aged 92. But tragically, the great musician had died in his sleep, two days before.
Neville Marriner was an English violinist and conductor who had a profound connection with Austria, and Vienna. His obituaries in newspapers from the Guardian (“a life of music-making of the highest quality”) and the Telegraph (“founder and conductor of the world’s most recorded orchestra”) to Die Presse (“erfülltes Musikerleben”) give a hint of his influence.
Thus it was that at the concert last year, on 4 October 2016, the Academy played without a conductor, in honour of Sir Neville.
On 14 November the “Sir Neville Marriner Memorial Concert” will take place at the Konzerthaus in Vienna. The concert will feature Sir Neville’s son, Andrew Marriner, a distinguished clarinettist; Karl-Heinz Schütz, flute; Maria Prinz, piano; and Robert Nagy, cello. It will be conducted by Stephen Barlow.
It should be a wonderful concert.