Conductor Sir Roger Norrington brought controversy to the often staid world of classical music by demanding that music be played as it was historically. A pioneer of what is now called "historically informed" performances, Norrington promoted the playing of period instruments, using period time signatures and eschewing vibrato, which he decried as a modern innovation. While some decried his pure approach, many musicians and critics responded enthusiastically: he was the director of several orchestras and ensembles and his most prominent, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, lent its name to Norrington’s period music passion — the "Stuttgart sound". A violinist and boy soprano, Norrington also worked with choirs and opera companies in a diverse and international music career. Knighted in 1997, Sir Roger died on July 18 aged 91. — Allied Media
