John Pritchard (conductor) - Life and Career

Life and Career

Pritchard was born in London, to a musical family. His father, Albert Edward Pritchard, was a violinist with the London Symphony Orchestra. The young Pritchard studied violin, piano, and conducting in Italy.

Pritchard, as a conscientious objector, refused to serve in the Second World War, but was in any case registered unfit on medical grounds. In 1943 he took over the semi-professional Derby String Orchestra and was its principal conductor until 1951. He joined the music staff of Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1947 and was appointed chorus master in 1949. He remained associated with Glyndebourne for most of his career, as conductor, music counsellor (from 1963), principal conductor (1968) and musical director (1969–78).

Beyond Glyndebourne, Pritchard appeared with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, at Edinburgh in 1952 (deputising for Ernest Ansermet, who was ill). He made his début at the Royal Opera House in 1951 and at the Vienna State Opera in 1952. He appeared regularly with the Vienna Symphony (1953–5).

For Glyndebourne in this period he conducted Mozart's Idomeneo and Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos at the Edinburgh festivals of 1953 and 1954 and Rossini's La Cenerentola at the Berlin Festival, a performance described by the Dictionary of National Biography as 'a triumph'.

In 1957, Pritchard was appointed principal conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic where he launched the Musica Viva series showcasing contemporary music. His success in Liverpool led to his appointment as musical director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (1962–6). Freelancing after leaving the LPO, he conducted concerts in Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Philadelphia and the Far East, and opera in Buenos Aires, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Salzburg, Florence, and Munich. In 1973 he conducted the London Philharmonic in China—the first visit by a Western orchestra.

His later permanent posts were chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, (1982–89) and musical director of the Cologne Opera (1978), La Monnaie, Brussels (1981), and the San Francisco Opera (1986). At the time of his death he was preparing Wagner's Ring cycle for San Francisco.

Pritchard was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1962 and knighted in 1983. The prestigious Shakespeare Prize (Hamburg) was awarded him in 1975.

He died in 1989 in Daly City, California, USA. His homosexuality was described as "unabashed"; he left a large part of his estate to his partner, Terry MacInnes.