Musicians willing to muck around for publicity

André Previn tells us what annoys him in the Guardian, and top of his list is today's stunt obsessed marketing of classical music - Mind you, he says, there have always been people willing to muck around to get publicity. "And sometimes, in the case of Bernstein - well, even there, I wasn't all that crazy about it, but I thought the music-making was quite remarkable."

Right on André. There has always been some crazy musician willing to muck around to get publicity ...



More things that annoy Previn here.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Ah yes ... from the time when Previn had his hair ironed daily.

In return, I offer you the Tchaikovsky 1st played by Richter while escaping from a bag, 3 padlocks, and a pair of handcuffs - www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDUTTRGOJdE
10:11 pm
Anonymous said…
The key thing about Previn's appearance in the Morecambe and Wise sketch is that it truly is a damn fine piece of comedy. It's a rare thing that such things do emerge when two worlds such as this collide.
7:11 am
Horkesman said…
To be fair, he was hardly seeking publicity. The M&W appearances followed the considerable success of the BBC1 series Andre Previn's Music Night, which ran from April 1971 (i.e.before the first M&W Christmas Special) to January 1979 and comprised 28 50-minute episodes and 5 Christmas Specials, all featuring the LSO. Regular broadcasting of serious music on the Beeb's main channel was a remarkable innovation; that it developed mass appeal and ran for 8 series is a tribute to Previn's talent as a presenter as well as performer. Has anybody else a better track record in popularising this repertoire on a mainstream TV channel?
4:06 pm
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