Page 213 - ASMF Marriner 100 Coverage Book
P. 213
28 April 2024
Sir Neville Marriner The Complete Warner Classics
Recordings (80 CDs) Out now ★★★★★
• DAVID MELLOR
• 28 Apr 2024
PROWESS: Sir Neville Marriner conducting
Sir Neville Marriner, the centenary of whose birth was on April 15, was an important part
of my musical life for several decades. My first live experience of him was in Poole when
I was in my teens. Marriner could control an orchestra with rare command, even if they
weren’t a band he regularly worked with.
A violinist, he was an earnest student of technical issues. At one of my last meetings
with him we discussed working with Toscanini, who conducted Marriner in London at
the very end of the Italian’s life. Marriner had obviously studied everything Toscanini
did.
He was a handsome and appealing man, but that was never the basis on which he put
himself forward. The admiration of his players was won by his technical prowess and
not his glamour.
