Credits:

Roger Norrington

Description:

Roger Norrington, who retired from conducting in November 2021, is well known in Japan as a pioneer of the period technique through his many recordings and guest appearances with the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Roger Norrington was born in Oxford in 1934, studied violin, and sang as a member of a boys' choir. He also sang as a boy chorister. While a student at Cambridge University, he sang tenor and began conducting. He studied conducting at the Royal College of Music, where he also studied with Adrian Boult, and founded the Schütz Choir in 1962. In 1978, he founded the London Classical Players, a period instrument orchestra, which began recording Beethoven's symphony cycle in 1986 under an exclusive contract with the former EMI.Although there are always new discoveries and interpretations in Norrington's playing, and his attention to and performance of historically informed metronome speed instructions with Beethoven has provoked much discussion, Norrington said, 'What we do is not "authentic". I myself would never use that word. It's all about passion,'" he said. Of all the interpretations in the cycle, 'No. 9' is the most shocking, with Gramophone magazine writing, 'Beethoven can be compared to the best recorded on modern instruments in the last 20 or 30 years ... Norrington's way with Beethoven ... I find the same with Toscanini in several parts of it....I would say that rhythm and pulse are the decisive factors that really fascinate Norrington....the 18th century playing style, the clarity of the instrument, Beethoven's unique metronome speed specification....this is something that I This is the most interesting new record of Beethoven symphonies I have heard in quite some time. (1/2) Warner Music Japan