Sir Roger Norrington: 'I'm against music being handed down from on high'

No vibrato, principal violinists facing each other, audiences encouraged to applaud between movements … the great conductor celebrates the unorthodox at the Proms this week

It is typical of Sir Roger Norrington that one of the greatest highlights of his long orchestral conducting career was when the audience burst into laughter in the middle of one of his performances.

As a rule, conductors stand on their dignity. They take themselves seriously. They like to be revered. In his own idiosyncratic way, Norrington himself is all three: dignified, serious and revered. But he is also a lot of fun. He wants to connect with his audience. So when his listeners laughed out loud at a musical joke during his performance of a Haydn symphony, he was not offended but delighted.

Related: OAE/Norrington review – beaming grandad still has revelatory power

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