The Marriner Legacy

Legacy comes in several forms. For the music-loving public, Neville Marriner’s comes in the form of around 800 much admired recordings, many of which won prestigious awards and continue to be available as downloads and continue to be available on streaming services. For dedicated concert-goers, there must be many who would echo the opinion of a Viennese lady who was heard to say to her neighbour, at the close of a concert in the Musikverein in 2009: “I’ve been coming here for sixty years and I’ve seen every famous orchestra in the world; but I’ve never heard a concert better than that.” For regular players (some of whom can look back on 40 years in the ASMF), there are memories both of the supremely high standards demanded of them and of the cutting wit and impish humour of the dapper and dynamic figure in front of them. For his family, there abides the spirit of a husband, father and grandfather of domestic contentment alongside global renown.

Surely there can have been few conductors who exhibited Neville Marriner’s combination of musical knowledge – both in technique and interpretation – entrepreneurial ability and sheer people skills. The four varied concerts planned for London and Lincoln (April 15th-24th) will hope to reflect all these characteristics of the man, as well as awakening memories of (what he himself would be amused to be described as) – a towering figure in the world of classical music.