Julian Lloyd Webber is an award-winning solo musician described as ‘the doyen of British cellists”. The younger brother of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, he was a scholar at London’s Royal College of Music and made his professional debut at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall in 1972.
He has since collaborated with musicians from Yehudi Menuhin to Cleo Laine. In 2009, he was elected president of the Elgar Society. He is also a patron of the Music in Hospitals charity. He married fellow cellist Jiaxin Cheng in 2008 and their daughter Jasmine Orienta was born in June last year.
He performs with Worthing Symphony Orchestra at the Worthing Assembly Hall tomorrow. For tickets call 01903 20606.
Which film star/musician/ artist/ writer/other figure do you admire?
Clint Eastwood – he’s a proper macho hero and also a really good actor. He was ahead of his time with the first film he directed, Play Misty For Me, which was a much earlier and better version of Fatal Attraction, which came out 16 years later.
Which TV programme couldn’t you live without?
Match Of The Day. I love football but I find it hard to watch Match Of The Day unless my team Leyton Orient have won. So as you can imagine, I don’t get to watch it very often!
Do you remember the first record you bought – what was it, and where did you buy it?
My first record was a copy of Paul Tortelier playing Elgar’s Cello Concerto. It was from a little specialist classical record shop – which shows just how long ago it was – 1961, I think!
Tell us about any guilty pleasures lurking in your CD or film collections…
I have every recording made by Bobby Vee: Suzie Baby, The Night Has A Thousand Eyes... actually I don’t think he’s naff at all! He’s one of the unsung heroes of rock.
Do you have a favourite film?
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? I have a very short attention span so I tend to like horror movies, especially dark psychological thrillers like Baby Jane and Don’t Look Now.
How about a favourite book?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It’s got romance, intrigue, wonderful characters and plot, literally everything.
Is there a song or individual piece of music you always come back to?
Elgar’s First Symphony.
It’s the greatest ever British symphony, full of grandeur, with a beautiful melody and it’s very cleverly constructed – a masterpiece.
What are you reading at the moment?
The Affair by Lee Child. I like authors who appear to write easily. It may be that Child agonises over every word but his writing always seems amazingly fluent.
Tell us about a live music/theatre/cinema experience that sticks in your memory...
I saw The Everly Brothers at Finsbury Park Astoria in 1963 – the best pop act I ever saw. Their chief writer, Boudleaux Bryant, describes writing for them as being like composing for two Stradivarius instruments, which really appeals to me.
Is there a book/ record/film/play/ person that made you want to do what you do now?
It was the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich who really moved me. He was the greatest cellist I’ve ever seen and he inspired countless new compositions for the cello.
If you get a spare 30 minutes, how are you most likely to spend it?
In the pub with a pint and a newspaper – but the pub must never have background music!
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