Remembering a versatile musician: André Previn

By Arlene Stolnitz

As you know, this year, I have focused on Jewish musicians who were born in Europe prior to World War II. These are composers, conductors and gifted musical individuals who were lucky enough to emigrate to the U.S. in the late ’30s before the onslaught of the Holocaust. André Previn was one of these people.

I have always admired the piano-playing style of André Previn. As a “so-called” pianist myself, I have often tried to imitate his melodic jazz renditions, to no avail. However, in researching material for this article, I discovered I knew absolutely nothing about him as a composer, conductor and pianist, par excellence. I was completely surprised to learn about his enormous talent and virtuosity as a musician.

Born in Berlin in 1929, his European name was Andreas Ludwig Priwin. He was the youngest of three children born to Charlotte and Jakob (Jack) Priwin. Jakob, his father was a lawyer, judge and music teacher. Early on, it was clear that Andreas was a musical child prodigy, and by the age of 6, he was already enrolled in the prestigious Berlin Conservatory, part of the Berlin University of the Arts. His talent was rewarded by a full scholarship in recognition of his abilities. However, in 1938, Andreas’ father was told that his son was no longer welcome at the conservatory because he was Jewish.

The family subsequently applied for American visas and, while waiting to emigrate, relocated to Paris. During this time, Andreas was enrolled in the Conservatoire de Paris where he continued his music studies. By the end of 1938, the family was able to leave for New York and eventually landed in Los Angeles. Their contact in L.A. was a second cousin who just happened to be a music director for Universal Studios. Andreas soon changed his name to André Previn and, already a master of several European languages, mastered English in a remarkably short time.

And so began a career in music for Previn, spanning eight decades, which included over 600 albums, six Emmy Award nominations and four Oscars. (Music is available on the internet.) We remember well the famous movies he worked on, which included scores for films such as “Gigi” (1959), “Porgy and Bess” (1960),” Irma La Douce” (1964) and “My Fair Lady” (1965), to name a few.

Previn was uniquely talented as a master of classical, jazz, pop and movie music. He also excelled as a conductor, composer and pianist. He began working at MGM while he was still a student in Beverly High School, working on film scores. One of his first scores was music for a “Lassie Come Home” film. In later years, when listening to the music he had created as a young composer in his teens, his comment was that it was the most ‘“inept” score he had ever heard!

Even though the money was good, the work was much too predictable for him and, wanting more of a challenge, he eventually went on to pursue his passion for classical music. He was soon appointed musical director of the Houston Symphony and, later, was named conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 1979. He also was conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic until 1990. Although always controversial, as a conductor, he was a crowd pleaser, in some ways emulating his good friend, Leonard Bernstein.

From the ’40s through the ’60s, he continued his interest in jazz, establishing himself as an accomplished jazz pianist. That is how I remember him best, always thrilling at the versatility of his interpretations of popular show and pop tunes. I recently listened to his version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” which was just as beautiful as the first time I heard it many years ago.

His personal life followed a less smooth trajectory, however. Previn had five marriages, the most famous being to the actor Mia Farrow. In all, he had 10 children, seven of whom were natural born and three who were adopted.

Previn always wanted to be known primarily as a classical musician and complained that critics continually mentioned his Hollywood past even though he had been focusing mainly on classical music and jazz since the ’60s. It puzzled him, and he thought there should be a “statute of limitations” on his Hollywood career.

He died in Manhattan on Feb. 28, 2019, at the age of 89. The world lost a shining light!

Arlene Stolnitz, a retired educator, has been a regular contributor to Federation papers in Southwest Florida. Her interest in all kinds of Judaic music has led to this series of articles.