Sir Roger Norrington was a lodestar for both the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the historically informed performance movement as a whole.
Loved by musicians and audiences alike, he brought insight, energy and joy to every performance. With his death today, a tremendous presence in the musical world may be gone but his legacy was transformative and will endure through the music-making of the OAE and the many other ensembles he was such a part of.
"When we first did it people were appalled. They said, it doesn't sound heroic to us. We thought it was pretty heroic trying to play it at all!"
Sir Roger Norrington on Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 ('Eroica')
We were privileged that recently he so generously spent time filming his thoughts on Beethoven for us. There was perhaps no other composer for whom Sir Roger changed so completely what we thought we knew about his music. We’re releasing a preview from the footage today in tribute to him. We hope you enjoy seeing him conducting the members of the OAE one last time.
Farewell and thank you, Sir Roger.
Film by Zen Grisdale.
Discover more...
Tea with Netty #6: Sir Roger Norrington
Monday 16 March 2020
Heroes and Rebels
Monday 24 February 2025
