In a Philadelphia Inquirer article published Monday (4/6) by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, David Patrick Stearns celebrates André Previn’s multifaceted career on the occasion of his 80th birthday. “Taking a quick backward look, the 80-year-old musician is grateful for all that has come his way—including music directorships of six orchestras from Pittsburgh to Oslo, as well as four Oscars for film work in Hollywood—even while asserting that he worked hard for it, with the mileage starting to show. … Then you realize he has three jazz gigs this year, is doubling as piano soloist and conductor with the Philadelphia Orchestra this week, and has the kind of engagement book most full-time composers dream of. In celebration of his 80th birthday, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yuri Bashmet will premiere his ‘Concerto for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra’ at Carnegie Hall on April 26 [with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s], while five days later, his operatic adaptation of the film ‘Brief Encounter’ (he finished the last aria this week) will be premiered by the Houston Grand Opera.”
Posted April 7, 2009
