Previn with his wife Mia Farrow on the cover of their Peter and the Wolf album.
André Previn (1929-2019) was an orchestra conductor and composer.
Throughout his career, he led several major orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. He recorded hundreds of albums including full renditions of Holst's The Planets, Carmina Burana, The Nutcracker, and Rhapsody in Blue. He collaborated with many prominent artists including John Williams, Dinah Shore, Julie Andrews, Alan Jay Lerner, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Kathleen Battle, Ella Fitzgerald, Isaac Stern, Ravi Shankar, Renée Fleming, Zubin Mehta, Diahann Carroll, and his wife Mia Farrow who narrated for his recording of Peter and the Wolf.
His film career garnered him four Academy Awards (with eleven nominations), and his scores included the Lassie films The Sun Comes Up and Challenge to Lassie, Three Little Words (with Fred Astaire), The Girl Who Had Everything (with Elizabeth Taylor), Give a Girl a Break (with Bob Fosse), It's Always Fair Weather (with Gene Kelly), The Catered Affair (with Bette Davis), Hot Summer Night (with Leslie Nielsen), Designing Woman (with Gregory Peck), House of Numbers (with Jack Palance), and adapted Frederick Loewe's music from My Fair Lady for the film version.
Songs performed by the Muppets[]
- "Camaraderie" (with Johnny Mercer)
- "The Pleasure of Your Company" (with Johnny Mercer)
References[]
- Previn is one of several industry experts parodied as reviewers for the 1977 Sesame Street album Big Bird Leads the Band. In response to the question, "What is the music world saying about Big Bird Leads the Band?," the following testimony is given: