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<<  -- 5 --  Bill Newman    AN IDEAL LIFESTYLE

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Was the music affected? 'Oh, it became better, because during depression he knew he had to work, so it would eventually leave his system. Actually he gave some very fine performances at that time.' Despite telling Roy Plomley on Desert Island Discs that Brahms 3 was his favourite, he seldom performed it in concert. 'It was difficult to close programmes because of its quiet ending; likewise, at the end of the first half. The First, Second and Fourth Symphonies will end anything, anywhere!'

I remember him stating to Plomley that a performance of Brahms 2 with the Bucharest Philharmonic was the most inspired he ever directed. John and Evelyn had been invited to the Romanian capital for a celebration of their greatest Composer-Son, Georges Enescu. They attended the opera, concerts, and took part in a chamber music competition.

'There were also live performances with the Czech Philharmonic -- who he always enjoyed working with -- but they have not been released because of problems with their regime.' I still listen, with affection, to their recording of the Cesar Franck Symphony.

My first EMI recording memory was the remake of Elgar 1 with the Philharmonia at Kingsway Hall. It was produced by Victor Olof. 'Ronald Kinloch Anderson became John's producer, so to speak.' During the long introduction of the Finale, the timpanist is required to re-tune his instrument for the key change that follows. James Bradshaw, who took such problems in his stride, had retired and Denis Blyth (late of the London Symphony) had replaced him. As Sir John studiously measured his beat to correspond to the strings' descending ritardando prior to the Allegro upsurge, Olof casually turned to his control room colleagues, saying: 'We could do with Jimmy Bradshaw's expertise at this moment.' At the playback later, a quavering, perspiring Denis Blyth stood in front of the producer stuttering meekly: 'Please, was that alright, Sir?' Olof just grinned but JB, from behind a wreath of cigarette smoke, turned round with an encouraging glance. His gruff voice gave the intended reply: 'Sounded alright to me!'

Nielsen's Fifth Symphony marked the great conductor's 'return' to the podium after an internal operation. He appeared on the Royal Festival Hall platform looking grey-haired, thin and haggard following his ordeal. 'He had a kind of stoppage, and was very ill for some time.' A year or so on, he repeated the work. At the rehearsal he spent about half an hour on the long, extended passage for violins in thirds, playing softly and evenly -- extremely difficult to keep absolutely together. A brief aside to leader Martin Milner: 'Get them up to scratch, Martin!' Eventually, it flowed naturally, and all was well. This ability to concentrate on the essentials, including various hazardous sections en route, and leave the rest to the players' expertise, is all part and parcel of a fine orchestra's working schedule. What a shame that the BBC appear to have mislaid the live broadcast from Free Trade Hall.

Then, that marvellous RFH Hallé Elgar 2, and the speech afterwards that looked back to playing in the LSO's cello section under the composer's direction. He saw the last movement as a kind of Indian Summer, and wanted it included as part of his funeral service. 'He had all sorts of music he wished played. A long list which Ronnie Anderson had. The service was in Westminster Cathedral.'

How did you cope with some of the anxieties? Looking after him and running your own career? 'When John was ill, I didn't do anything at all for that final year. And in New York, with the sheer amount of social activity. I was too green anyway -- I was just out of orchestras!' I read somewhere that you were often to be seen in the Conductor's Box at Carnegie Hall quietly listening to your husband making music. 'Yes. I used to go each evening to hear concerts. It was a lovely hall, and still is.' Much better than the Lincoln Center? 'Yes, and they had to keep fiddling with that. I remember Queen's Hall, too. It was a tragedy when they decided never to rebuild that. I don't like the Royal Festival Hall -- I never did.' And ... The Barbican. 'It's so patchy, and doesn't really work. The best is Symphony Hall, Birmingham, but I don't know it properly -- only on the three occasions where they gave me specially chosen seats for Danny Barenboim with the Chicago Symphony and Hallé Orchestras; and the other concert was with the Hallé's present Chief Conductor Mark Elder, whom I admire very much.

'Do you know the whereabouts of Suvi Raj Grubb? He went to Spain and was supposed to have returned to England.' I talked briefly about our slight contretemps in the late 1960s when I was with EMI, his heart attack and my visit to him in hospital; then a chance meeting at Lords' Cricket Ground. 'Yes, John and he shared a liking for the sport. They didn't work much together -- there are recordings with Jacqueline du Pré -- but there is a marvellous description of John's grunting during recording, in Suvi's book. He tried to stop him, quite unsuccessfully. John didn't realize he was doing it. Nobody did succeed, really.' He was in good company with Casals, Serkin, Arrau and Oscar Peterson!

'Ronnie (Kinloch) Anderson was also very good for John. A fine pianist and chamber musician. We were both fond of him, and he died much too soon. I don't know who is coming along now ... Harding, have you heard of him?' Daniel Harding the conductor. Highly promising.

'I would have liked to hear him perform. I was going again to Lucerne, but had to put it off as I had this fall. It's a lovely hall. The same bloke who designed the one at Birmingham -- Johnson. The Swiss are so clever, you know. You get into it from some underground passage where there are shops. I was put up at a hotel, and was told to take the escalator. There's the Bus Station, the Railway Station, the Concert Hall, Cinema -- everything! Once you're down, you want to go and listen. It's marvellous because there's no traffic, and the new hall itself is wonderful. It's comfortable, lots of leg room, and the orchestra love it because they can hear each other. It looks enchanting, and sounds beautiful. I met the designer, Johnson, and he told me that when John was in Houston, they wanted a new hall. But the price was too expensive, so in the end they didn't come down to him and he didn't go up. He looks just like an ordinary business man. I believe he designed the new hall at Dallas. A bit of a genius. We just met casually.

Lady Barbirolli. Photo © Bill Newman
Lady Barbirolli. Photo © Bill Newman

'I sat in at the Royal Albert Hall to hear Daniel Barenboim, as I follow his career. I used to go over to Berlin to stay with the Stressermans. Wolfgang died, and I keep in touch with his widow, Jean.

'Daniel, of course has his home in Germany where he works, but I don't go over. I went to his Prom instead!' He has two sons -- 19 and 20. 'I saw more of him in Birmingham. That was recently, and I really went there to do a talk with that fountain of knowledge, Lyndon Jenkins.'

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Copyright © 26 December 2004 Bill Newman, Edgware UK

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