André Previn, who blurred the boundaries between jazz, pop and classical music — and between composing, conducting and performing — in an extraordinarily eclectic, award-filled career, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. Mr. Previn was also the music director or principal conductor of a half-dozen orchestras. Critics described him as a “wunderkind in a turtleneck” and the “Mickey Mouse maestro” when he was in his 20s and 30s. He was often compared to Leonard Bernstein, a similarly versatile conductor, composer and pianist. Time magazine’s headline when Mr. Previn became the principal conductor of the London Symphony in 1968 was “Almost Like Bernstein.” Newsweek summarized Mr. Previn’s appointment as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1985 as “Bernstein West.”

Source: New York Times February 28, 2019 16:52 UTC