So Roger Norrington's retiring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T9MctxZKCA
Don't worry, I will never make a claim Norrington is underrated, but it still makes me sad to hear. Norrington was a pseudo-scholar whose lies should have effectively disbarred him from the profession, but he wasn't a bully, he generally seemed like a pleasant and entertaining chap who evangelized well on behalf of music to the public. And against his own instincts, he could occasionally give very good performances. There are a couple among the piles of crap I really do value: Beethoven 2 and 8, the Berlioz SF, Mendelssohn Scottish, even Bruckner 6. And in English repertoire, he was nearly like any other decent British conductor and clearly knew how the music should go.
It makes sense that he'll bid farewell with Haydn. Most every classical performer has one or two 'home composers' through whose rubric they see music. Norrington generally did Haydn extremely well, and just happened to turn everything into Haydn. Hearing Mahler 9 or the Deutsches Requiem as with the perkiness of Haydn is an insult to the vulnerability of such desperately sincere music. Audiences would have been within their rights to riot and beat him up on the stage, but if you give an artist enough chances, especially chances they don't deserve, they will surprise you with occasions that they rise to. Such was the case with Norrington, and now that he's about to go, it does make me at least a little nostalgic.
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