Conductor, composer, and pianist André Previn's achievements have won him honors including the Cross of Merit from both Austria and Germany, a Kennedy Center Honor for Lifetime Achievement, several Grammy Awards, Musical America's "Musician of the Year," and the Grand Prix du Disque for the recording of his own opera, A Streetcar Named Desire. In 1996, Mr. Previn was awarded a Knighthood (KBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Highlights of his second season as Music Director of the Oslo Philharmonic include a tour of Germany and a European tour of the Previn Violin Concerto with Anne-Sophie Mutter. The Concerto was commissioned and premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, along with Mr. Previn and Ms. Mutter. A frequent guest with the world's major orchestras — both in concert and on recordings — he appears annually with the Vienna Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic, to name a few. Mr. Previn has held the chief artistic posts with such orchestras as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, and London Symphony and Houston Symphony orchestras.
In 1998, Mr. Previn conducted the premiere performances of A Streetcar Named Desire with the San Francisco Opera and Renée Fleming as Blanche Dubois. The opera, with a libretto by Philip Littell based on Tennessee Williams's play, was subsequently telecast on PBS and recorded for Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Previn led the London Symphony Orchestra along with the original cast last June and will open the run of performances presented by the Washington Opera in May 2004.
As a pianist, Mr. Previn often performs together with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Lynn Harrell, and this season the trio will tour Europe and the U.S. Mr. Previn has performed recitals with Ms. Fleming at Lincoln Center and with Barbara Bonney at Carnegie Hall and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and regularly gives chamber music concerts with the Emerson String Quartet, as well as members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic.
As a composer, Mr. Previn is published exclusively by G. Schirmer Inc. The Emerson String Quartet recently premiered its commission at Carnegie Hall with Barbara Bonney. In addition to String Quartet (with Soprano) and Streetcar, recent compositions include a violin-and-piano work (Tango Song and Dance) and the Violin Concerto, both written for and recorded on the DG label by Ms. Mutter. His music drama, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, written in collaboration with Tom Stoppard for the LSO, was revived last season by the Philadelphia Orchestra. During 1999-2000, the Vienna Philharmonic gave the premiere of its commission, Diversions, also recorded by DG. Other compositions include a piano concerto for Vladimir Ashkenazy, a cello sonata for Yo-Yo Ma, and song cycles for Janet Baker, Kathleen Battle, and Ms. Bonney. Mr. Previn is currently at work on new song cycles for Ms. Bonney and Anthony Dean Griffey, a clarinet sonata for the BSO's Thomas Martin, and his second opera, based on the Alessandro Baricco novel Silk.
