Previn was born to a German Jewish family, although the exact year of his birth is ambiguous, as it is not absolutely certain whether the year was 1929 or 1930. Whilst most formal reports give 1929 as his birth year, Previn himself has stated that 1930 is his birth year.[2] This situation is because the family lost Previn's birth certificate when they left Germany in 1938. Most published reports give 1929 as the birth year, for convenience.[1] The Previn family emigrated to the United States in 1939 to escape the Nazi regime in Germany. André (as he would be known) became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1943, and grew up in Los Angeles. His elder brother was director Steve Previn. At André Previn's 1946 graduation from Beverly Hills High School he played a musical duet with Richard M. Sherman: Previn played the piano, accompanying Sherman (who played flute). He first came to prominence by arranging and composing Hollywood film scores in 1948. Coincidentally, twenty one years later, both composers won Oscars for different films, both winning in musical categories. In 1967, Previn became music director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra. In 1968, Previn began his tenure as principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), serving in that post until 1979. During his LSO tenure, he and the LSO appeared on television in the programme André Previn's Music Night. From 1976 to 1984, Previn was music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO), and in turn had another television series with the PSO titled Previn and the Pittsburgh. He was also principal conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1984, he was named music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, officially taking over the position in 1985. While Previn's tenure with the orchestra was musically satisfactory, other conductors including Kurt Sanderling, Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen, did a better job at selling out concerts. Previn clashed frequently with Ernest Fleischmann (the orchestra's Executive VP and General Manager), most notably when Fleischmann had failed to consult him before deciding to name Salonen as Principal Guest Conductor of the orchestra, complete with a tour of Japan. Because of Previn's objections, Salonen's title and Japanese tour were withdrawn; however, shortly thereafter in April 1989, Previn resigned as Music Director. Four months later, Salonen was named Music Director Designate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, officially taking the post of Music Director in October 1992. [3] Previn's many recordings include the three complete ballets of Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, and the complete symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams, all with the LSO. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic, he made other recordings of music by Sergei Prokofiev (most notably, the Symphonies 1 and 5, the score to Alexander Nevsky, and the Symphony-Concerto for Cello & Orchestra with Heinrich Schiff as soloist), symphonies and other pieces by Antonín Dvořák, and works by contemporary composers including William Kraft, John Harbison, and Harold Shapero. Previn has composed film scores and other musical works including a cello concerto and a guitar concerto. He has also adapted and conducted the music for several films, some of them stage-to-film adaptations, such as My Fair Lady, Kismet, Porgy and Bess, and Paint Your Wagon, but several were written especially for film, including the Academy Award-winning Gigi. Several of the film scores were collaborations with his second wife, Dory Previn.
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