He has featured on recordings by artists including the Beatles, Cilla Black and Petula Clarke and now, at the age of nearly 92, lives quietly in Saltdean. ROWAN DORE reports.

FOR most musicians, the invitation to work with Frank Sinatra would have been a dream come true.

But it is a measure of how in demand Reg Leopold was during his career in the music industry that he was forced to reluctantly turn down the offer because his diary was already so full.

Violinist and conductor Reg, who will be celebrating his 92nd birthday in a few weeks, started out in the early days of radio.

His father Albert had set his career in motion after discovering at an early age that his son had the rare talent of perfect pitch.

Albert encouraged all of his children to take up a musical instrument and for Reg it was the violin.

Reg said: "I have always loved the violin.

"It is not an easy instrument to play. In many ways I found the piano too easy."

The headmaster of his local school in Tufnell Park, North London, was so impressed with Reg's musical talent that he put him for a scholarship to the city's Trinity College of Music.

From there he formed a chamber music quartet with Mantovani, George Melachrino and Reginald Kilbey.

During the second world war, Reg's music was used to lure listeners from all over Europe and keep them tuned in for the British propaganda message.

An entire generation was brought up on his music, which dominated the old BBC Light Programme and Radio 2.

And for years his evening programme In a Sentimental Mood, from the melody of the same name, was background music in millions of homes.

At the height of his fame Reg turned down the opportunity to work with Sinatra.

But his CV still contains some of the biggest names in music.

Among his most distinctive sounds are the sharp strings which start off Cilla Black's hit Anyone Who Has a Heart, the backing to Petula Clarke's Downtown and his work on the Beatles album A Hard Day's Night.

It was during the Sixties that Reg also found himself embroiled in a row with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger.

For nearly 15 years Reg had been the mainstay of Sunday night music on the old BBC Light Programme, the forerunner of BBC Radio, with his programme the Palm Court Orchestra at the Grand Hotel.

When Mick Jagger said in an interview: "Who wants to listen to Palm Court music on a Sunday night?", Reg was called in by BBC bosses to formulate a reply.

He recalled: "It was along the lines of 'You've got your fans, Mick. I have got mine.'"

It was also during the Sixties that Reg found himself working 18 hours a day alongside managers of pop groups desperate to prove they had another Beatles on their hands.

He said: "I remember being told to turn up at one studio at midnight because the group could perform better in the early hours.

"When I got there they were all on dope.

"I can't remember the group, the record they made or even if it was released.

"The old A&R men were just getting groups into the studio in the hope of creating another Beatles."

Reg has played on so many discs that he does not know how many made the top ten.

As a session musician, he would just go into the studio, record his piece, sometimes without the artist, and then forget about it.

Other big names Reg worked alongside include Ronnie Ronalde, George Formby and Gracie Fields.

One of his favourites is Matt Monro, the bus driver turned singer.

Reg said: "Matt had a marvellous voice and was great to work with.

"He was Britain's answer to Frank Sinatra."

He retired to his smart modern bungalow in Saltdean with his wife, Jeanne, who died in 1990.

The couple had met at the Dorchester Hotel in the Thirties, where Jeanne was working as a dresser for the floor show.

He recalled: "It was a most spectacular show and it put the Dorchester on the map.

"We gradually got closer together and we moved in together with a flat just off Marylebone High Street.

"We were really living the high life. I had a racing Alfa Romeo and a Ford Ten for running about town.

"The Thirties was a terrific period. I was earning very well.

"But I had TB at the age of 21. I was spitting blood.

"If it had not been for my wife telling me to calm down and telling me how to eat, I would have died."

Reg still plays the piano and keeps in touch with his friends from the music business but he has not properly played his famous violin for ten years.

He explained: "I found the saxaphone easy to play, but my favourite has always been the violin.

"Unfortunately I cannot play it any more. The middle finger is bent at the first knuckle.

"It is the result of playing so many hours over the years."

Reg still keeps up to date with the pop music scene and likes the music of Madonna and Cher.

He would have loved to have led an orchestra at a live Madonna concert.

"She is a very talented singer and I believe better than Cher.

"But the music I love is melody. Unfortunately there is not so much around today."

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