LONDON — Conductor Neville Marriner, who led the Academy of St Martin in the Fields to become one of the world’s most-recorded classical music groups, has died, the academy said Sunday. He was 92.
Marriner was a violinist in the London Symphony Orchestra when he joined with several other musicians in 1959 to form a chamber group, which was intended to perform without a leader. The group’s mouthful of a name was inspired by the church in central London where they performed.
“The name was chosen without much thinking because, when we started, we never thought we would even get off the ground,” Marriner once said. “And then we were stuck with it.”
The academy built its reputation with stylish performances of baroque and classical repertoire: Bach, Handel, Mozart and Haydn. From its beginnings, with 18 players, it grew to a full-size orchestra with an affiliated chorus, and it has made more than 500 recordings.
The group’s soundtrack for Milos Forman’s 1984 Oscar-winning “Amadeus,” composed mainly of Mozart pieces, sold millions and was among the best-selling classical recordings of all time.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.