Artist Managers: How André Previn made TV magic

Before Yuletide 2022 becomes but a distant memory, a lingering look back at that famous 1971 Morecambe & Wise Christmas Special sketch. You know, the one featuring André Previn (aka ‘Preview’/‘Privet’) conducting Eric at the ivories and a scratch orchestra. It once again received an airing during the festive season. If you’re tired of ‘Grieg’s Piano Concerto by Grieg’, you’re tired of life.

I’d seen from various sources that Previn’s involvement in this all-time comedy classic nearly fell foul of Eric and Ernie’s scepticism that a classical conductor could possibly handle the demands of an extended, tightly scripted item. Watching the sketch again with that in mind, you can see the duo’s legendary perfectionism wasn’t entirely to blame for the doubts. This was truly demanding stuff for Previn, requiring a high degree of memorisation, acting ability and comic timing.

To get the low-down, I consulted Previn’s manager at that time, Jasper Parrott. This was a key moment in the handling of the conductor’s profile, which saw him establish a long-lasting and surely still unequalled reputation as a presenter/performer of classical music on British television — mainly on BBC1, for heaven’s sake. What was Parrott’s part in all this?

Scene-set. Parrott still in his twenties. The artist management company he had founded on a shoestring with Terry Harrison — HarrisonParrott — was still only a couple of years old. Already, though, it was characterised by an ambition to do the job differently, focused on a highly personalised and all-encompassing approach to building artists’ careers, media included. On that early HP roster was one Vladimir Ashkenazy, who happened to throw a dinner party to which Parrott and Previn, previously unknown to each other, were invited. Meal over, Ashkenazy staged a guess-the-composer game, Parrott recalls. ‘He played recordings of a mandolin sonata by Beethoven and something by Messiaen. By a fluke, I knew both, which rather impressed Previn.

‘At the end of the evening I offered André a lift back to the Savoy, where he was staying, in my battered old Morris Minor. We had a very entertaining and amusing chat on the way. And he let slip he’d been quarrelling with his agent in the US. André came straight out and asked if I’d represent him, which to begin with involved mainly his European work.’

Previn was in his early days as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, which had engaged him precisely because of the commercial potential flowing from his colourful, wide-ranging musical background. ‘Added to that,’ says Parrott, ‘I realised as a manager that his marriage to the actress Mia Farrow offered a unique element of profile that was always going to be of interest to gossip columns and tabloids. BBC and ITV started competing for André’s services as someone who had crossover appeal. I had no real experience of working with television, but decided we should go with the BBC… which really upset a certain well-known ITV producer.’

The upshot was the André Previn’s Music Night programmes on BBC 1, featuring the LSO, which began earlier in that year of 1971. These shows were Parrott’s idea, worked through with legendary producers Herbert Chappell and Ian Engelmann. Previn then seemed a natural for the M&W Christmas Special re-vamp of an existing sketch — a natural, that is, in the eyes of the show’s producer, the late John Ammonds. The problem was Eric and Ernie’s deep reservations, as Parrott recalls. ‘What if André lost his nerve, forgot his lines and so on? They didn’t realise he was a consummate professional… for example, he’d conducted and presented in front of massive popular audiences at Hollywood Bowl. He had such a dry wit, and the type of personality that could manage any interactive situation.

‘To help things along I took John Ammonds down to see André at his home in rural Surrey. We were deep in conversation when Mia Farrow suddenly appeared. She was in a foul mood, showering André with expletives before departing, slamming the door behind her. André turned to us and said: “That was the lady wife…”.’

For John Ammonds, that simple display of the Previn wit was a clincher. This was going to work. But what of Morecambe and Wise’s insistence that Previn should attend five days of rehearsals? ‘No chance’, Parrott told Ammonds. It was subsequently whittled down to three days. Imagine then the rumpus when Parrott had to inform Ammonds that Previn was making a mercy dash to his ailing mother back in the States, arriving back only the evening before the Christmas Special recording. Morecambe’s response, according to Ammonds, was ‘Sod ’im then…we’ll do without ’im’, meaning Wise would conduct the orchestra. (Imagine, reader). Ammonds talked the boys round and arranged via Parrott that Previn would do a four-hour rehearsal straight after his plane touched down. He duly proved himself word-perfect and, moreover, was ‘hysterically funny’ according to Ammonds.

Yes, ‘the rest is history’, but that history is measured in far more than the memory of a prime comic turn. The 1971 Christmas Special cemented Previn’s reputation as a gold-plated champion of classical music with appeal to the man in the street. ‘Every London taxi-driver knew all about André,’ remembers Parrott, who found himself negotiating all manner of tv contracts for Previn. The long-term future of the André Previn Music Nights was secure, featuring artists of the calibre of Janet Baker, Martha Argerich and (guitarist) John Williams…with repertoire which strayed beyond obvious popular favourites. Then there were such tv shows as André Previn Meets (with guests including Jonathan Miller, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Tom Stoppard) and André Previn and Friends, which strayed into Previn’s jazz background. Plus, that legendary Omnibus ‘Who Needs a Conductor?’ and the Late Night Line-Up on Cole Porter.

BBC collaborations with a German tv producer ensured the Previn magic travelled further afield. ‘Always, André had an instinct for quality,’ Parrott observes. ‘One of my tasks was to cultivate relationships with major talents who’d appear with him. And I had to ensure all this was backed up by a strong schedule of recordings, plus regular media appearances. This was all of huge benefit to the LSO’s profile, both at home and abroad — HarrisonParrott handled various tours for the orchestra.

‘Since those days, I don’t think anyone else has quite demonstrated André’s abilty to cross boundaries. It certainly doesn’t work when producers have tried a similar stylistic approach, but with highbrow repertoire. No, the long Previn era was something unique on British television. And that Christmas Special was a key moment.’