Andre Previn | Artist

André George Previn KBE was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor born 1929 in Berlin, Germany. A musical prodigy, the artist achieved success in three different genres: Hollywood, jazz, and classical music. Previn was born to a Jewish family, and at six, was enrolled at the Berlin Conservatory. In 1938, his father was told Andre was no longer welcome at the conservatory on the grounds that he was Jewish, despite receiving a full scholarship in recognition of his abilities. In 1938, to escape the Nazis, the family applied for American visas and en-route left Berlin for Paris. Previn's father enrolled his 9 year old son into the Conservatoire de Paris where André learned music theory. In October 1938 the family left Paris and sailed to New York City then continued to Los Angeles, arriving on November 26. Previn became a naturalised US citizen in 1943. He learned English, his third language after German and French, through comic books and other reading materials with a dictionary, and watching films. Previn's career as a composer, conductor, and arranger at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios (MGM) began in 1946, while he was still in high school. Working in movies Previn went on to create the music for over 50 films and won four Academy Awards. His very first screen work was for the 'Lassie' TV series. Previn was also a gifted jazz pianist and interpreter and arranger of songs from the "Great American Songbook", winning the respect of prominent jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie and Bill Evans. Previn also memorably filmed TV shows with Peterson (1974) and Fitzgerald (1979). In the late 1950's he record several excellent albums with his own Jazz Trio, and some later dates with Ray Brown and Joe Pass. In the world of classical music Previn had a stellar career as a composer and principal conductor of many of the world's leading symphony orchestras, including the Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, London Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestra. During his 11 year tenure with the LSO he appeared on the BBC Television programme André Previn's Music Night. A vast array of superb classical recordings were made with Previn at the helm of some of the world's greatest orchestras and soloists. As a classical composer André Previn created a body of work including concert overtures, tone poems, 14 concerti, a symphony for strings, incidental music to a British play, chamber music, works for solo piano, dozens of songs, two musicals, and two successful operas. Somehow, alongside his crushing work schedule the man had a personal life and was married five times. His first wife was jazz singer Betty Bennett, and his second was Dory Langan, who as Dory Previn enjoyed a successful career as a contemporary folk singer-songwriter in her own right. Previn's third marriage was to film actress Mia Farrow, a controversial relationship which played out in the public eye. His 20 year marriage to fourth wife Heather Sneddon ended in 2002. That same year he married his fifth wife, the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, for whom in the previous year he had composed his Violin Concerto. They announced their divorce in August 2006, but continued to work together in concerts afterwards. In 2005 Previn was awarded the international Glenn Gould Prize and in 2008 won Gramophone magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award for his work in classical, film, and jazz music. Previn died on February 28, 2019, at home in Manhattan aged 89.

Artist Website: wikipedia/Andre_Previn

Featured Albums: Andre Previn

Related Artists: Dory Previn, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Shelly Manne, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Brown, Ravi Shankar, Joe Pass, London Symphony Orchestra

Video Clips: Just in Time, Live 1961, Morecambe and Wise