Adieu Maestro! A Farewell to Sir Neville Marriner

Moments before the performance was to begin, Sir Neville Marriner, smiling and looking fit, came onstage and walked to the podium. He turned, bowed in recognition of the audience's applause, stepped onto the podium and initiated a flamboyant fanfare. The music began with verve, and I thought of early March when I spoke to Marriner about his plans for the future.

"I'm going to be catching up on all the invitations I haven't been able to accept while here in America. I have a fourteen-week commitment to the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, and I'm sharing a conductorship with Maazel and Ozawa in Paris. I have a recording to make in Dresden and an opera to produce for a company to which I contracted one opera per year for three years. Covent Garden is interested in a production for 1990, planning will start for that. Several record companies and I will complete 25 recordings in the next year," he said.

Marriner is easygoing and comfortable with people. That showed as the jubilant fanfare ended—a crowd pleaser—and the orchestra played right into Dvorak's Othello Overture.

A conductor of world renown, Marriner talked about his tenure as conductor/director of the Minnesota Orchestra. "I would not have missed this opportunity to conduct in America. I've learned a great deal. But now I prefer to be a guest conductor because I'll have the opportunity to play what I want to play and what I do best. A director has such a comprehensive program to perform in a season that he cannot spend as much time as he might like on a particular repertoire," he said.

The audience was rapt, and the music continued with a graceful flow, bringing to my mind images of Marriner's home in the countryside of Devon, south England. It’s a 16th-century thatched-roof house with a few acres, gardens, and a tennis court.

"When we're free, my wife and I make a beeline for Devon. That environment unwinds me quickly. With our children grown, we share a concern for trees, plants, animals—fragile growing things. If we want to enjoy the water, we drive seven miles further south to Lyme Regis on the sea coast. We have a romantic little house there. Life in Devon and Lyme Regis is the antithesis of the harried, desk-bound life,” he said.

The maestro hails from Lincoln, England. He studied at the Royal College of Music until he entered the Second World War. With the conflict's end, he returned to the college and continued at the Paris Conservatory. Marriner taught one year at Eton College and began practical musical experience as second violinist in the Martin String Quartet.

From 1949-1959, he taught at the Royal College of Music and was encouraged by Pierre Monteaux (then principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra) to consider becoming a conductor. Marriner joined Monteaux in Hancock, Maine, to study conducting.

For 12 years, Marriner was principal violinist with the London Symphony Orchestra. In 1968, he organized and directed the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and successfully toured with it in Europe in 1974. Four years later, he was invited to become the conductor/director of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Marriner credits his wife, Elizabeth Mary Sims Marriner, with being a major influence on his successful and challenging career. "Certainly my career would not have been possible without Molly's help," he explained "She has a highly advisory influence on me and has the courage to tell me what I do badly. Usually, only a very close friend will tell you what you're doing wrong when you're in a position such as mine. She influences my choice of work and accompanies me on most of my trips. She is long-suffering," he added with a smile.

According to the maestro, touring is good for an orchestra and should be done once a year.

"Going on tour is a maturing experience for an orchestra," he explained. "If you tour in this country, you're usually playing for the same audience in a different place. Whereas, international tours offer a cosmopolitan atmosphere and expectation. In places like Hong Kong and Australia, audiences have heard orchestras from all over the world on their stages. The public and press are quick to let you know how you compare. This has been good for the Minnesota Orchestra. The members have found that they do compare favorably with orchestras from other places, whereas earlier they might not have perceived that they were the peers of such orchestras. On tour, members cannot afford to play less than their very best because of the audience's experience. It is easy to relax in your orchestral home base, whereas on tour every night is a gala. Even if you're tired, if you've flown for hours and suffer jet lag, you're expected to perform excellently and measure up to the finest in the world. A tour reminds members of what the real world of orchestral performance is all about,” he said.

To the general public, Marriner is probably known best for his work on the movie "Amadeus."

“In the face of considerable criticism, we introduced a new audience to a composer and much of his music. The major worries were that Mozart would appear a buffoon, and that Salieri would be considered a second-rate composer, which he was not. His music was simply always in the shadow of Mozart. It was a great relief when the film achieved what we wanted. It was the most comprehensive work ever done on a musician and his music. We reached millions of people instead of simply the thousands of regular symphony-goers, who know and frequently hear Mozart. We exposed them to music they might never have heard otherwise. That was enormously pleasing, he said."

Marriner believes that conductors and orchestra members must nurture and care for each other in order to perform well. "One of my responsibilities as director is a personal involvement with the member's careers. Musicians must play elsewhere occasionally to refine talent. There are educational projects that must be done. Seminars are necessary to keep interest in the orchestra high. Competitions should be arranged to enhance the possibilities and musical interest of young artists." In his eyes, the orchestra is part of the community, not separate from it.

I thought of Marriner's dedication to music, the community, and eloquence as he conducted.... drawing excitement and tenderness in the music from the gifted musicians.... infusing the players with energy and style that they absorbed and offered to the audience. The concert, like so many others Marriner has conducted for Minnesota audiences, ended in attentive silence. The silence exploded into applause and Neville Marriner turned to the audience, smiled, bowed, and graciously gestured to the orchestra to rise and accept its accolades.

Bravo! maestro... and best wishes.

Originally published in Minnesota Symphony Ball Magazine, Volume II, 1986.