Page 216 - ASMF Marriner 100 Coverage Book

Sir Neville Marriner: The Complete Warner Classics Recordings (Warner)
Assembling Sir Neville Marriner’s complete discography would probably require a
crate; this weighty but compact box (80 CDs), released to celebrate his centenary,
collects just the discs he recorded for EMI between 1970 and 2000 (he also worked
extensively with Decca and Philips). Marriner rivalled Herbert Von Karajan as one of
the classical industry’s most-recorded conductors and the majority of these
performances were made with his own Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields. The
group began life in the late 1950s as a 14-piece string ensemble, Marriner working
with colleagues he’d met whilst working as a violinist in the Philharmonia and LSO.
Early recordings, still sounding luminous, were made for Decca’s Argo label; their
success, plus encouragement from the veteran French conductor Pierre Monteux,
prompted Marriner to retire from freelance playing and devote his energies to leading

the group full-time.

The range of repertoire here is dizzying, and the consistency is impressive. Describing Marriner
as ‘professional’ or ‘reliable’ is damning him with faint praise - very few of these performances
are duds, and the best ones are terrific. I’d suggest starting with a pairing