Norrington was born in
Oxford on 16 March 1934, the son of Edith Joyce (née Carver) and
Arthur Norrington, His younger brother was
Humphrey Thomas Norrington. he gained opera experience by performing and conducting with the
Chelsea Opera Group.
Schütz Choir Norrington discovered the music of
Heinrich Schütz in the early 1960s, and founded the Schütz Choir (later the
Schütz Choir of London) in 1962, planning to perform as much of the composer's music as possible.
Keith Falkner, principal of the
Royal College of Music, was in the audience at one of their concerts, and encouraged Norrington to study conducting. Norrington resigned his publishing post and studied conducting with Sir
Adrian Boult, among others, from 1962 to 1964. In 1978, he founded the
London Classical Players. From 1985 to 1989, he was the principal conductor of the
Bournemouth Sinfonietta. He was also president of the
Oxford Bach Choir. From 1990 to 1994, he was music director of the
Orchestra of St. Luke's in New York City. With his wife, the choreographer Kay Lawrence, he formed in 1984 the Early Opera Project to complement his concert work in period-style opera, beginning with Monteverdi's ''
L'Orfeo'' at the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino that year, and touring Britain in 1986.
Salzburg and Stuttgart In Europe, Norrington was the principal conductor of
Camerata Salzburg from 1997 to 2007, On 28 July 2016, he conducted the final concert of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra in London at the
Royal Albert Hall as part of The Proms, before its scheduled merger with the
SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg.
Other activities: Boston, Paris, Bremen, Zurich Norrington was an artistic advisor to the Boston
Handel and Haydn Society from 2006 to 2009. He was the principal guest conductor of the
Orchestre de chambre de Paris and the
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and the principal conductor of the
Zurich Chamber Orchestra from 2011 to 2016. He appeared regularly with the
Berlin Philharmonic, the
Vienna Philharmonic, and major orchestras throughout the world.
Historically informed performance Norrington became best known for
historically informed performances of not only
Baroque music, but also music from the
Classical and
Romantic periods. He advocated limited or no use of
vibrato in orchestral performances, claiming that orchestras did not use it until the 1930s, which brought him controversial criticism. He followed
Beethoven's original metronome markings in his symphonies strictly, rejecting the common speculation that these markings were "miscalculated". This refers to the synthesis of historically informed music making with the means of a flexible modern orchestra. Symphonic cycles that Norrington interpreted with the orchestra have received worldwide acclaim. Critics included
Hermann Voss, the violist of the
Melos Quartet, who drew two tough caricatures of Norrington's vibrato-free string sound in 2005, adding: "Except for the Stuttgart Feuilleton, the
New Stuttgart Style finds only contempt and scorn."
Television In August 2008, Norrington appeared in the reality TV talent show-themed television series
Maestro on
BBC Two, leading the judging panel. He conducted the First Night of
The Proms in 2006 and the Last Night of The Proms in 2008.
Personal life Norrington was married twice. He married Susan McLean May in 1964, with whom he had two children. The couple divorced in 1982. In November 2021, Norrington announced his retirement. Norrington, who lived near
Exeter in Devon, died at home on 18 July 2025, aged 91. == Awards and honours ==