Born in London, England conductor and harpsichordist Raymond Leppard studied viola and harpsichord at the University of Cambridge between 1948 and 1952, where he also developed an interest in choral conducting. He made his conducting debut at Wigmore Hall in London in 1952 and at Covent Garden in 1959, conducting Handel's 'Samson'. He quickly became known for his lively interpretations of 17th and 18th century music, and for his inventive harpsichord continuo playing. He became a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and a lecturer in music in 1957 and remained there for the next ten years. In 1962, he made his own edition of Monteverdi's 'L'Incoronazione di Poppea' and conducted it at the Glyndebourne Festival, his first appearance there. He also made editions of Monteverdi's other operas and also works by Cavalli, and these remained in Glyndebourne's repertoire until the 1980s. Several recordings were made of these performances, notably with Dame Janet Baker and James Bowman in Cavalli's 'La Calisto', which was released in 1970. He also worked with Baker in Glyndebourne's production of his edition of Monteverdi's 'Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria' in 1972, which was also performed at the BBC Proms in the same year.
Whilst at Cambridge University, Leppard became involved with the Goldsborough Orchestra, which later renamed to the English Chamber Orchestra. It was the start of a long relationship between orchestra and conductor, with many notable concert performances and album releases, including Handel's 'Water Music' in 1970, Grieg's 'Peer Gynt Suites' and 'Norwegian Dances' in 1976, J.S. Bach's 'Brandenburg Concertos' in 1984 and Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas' with soprano Jessye Norman and baritone Thomas Allen in 1986. In 1973, he was appointed principal conductor to the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra, which is now the BBC Philharmonic.
His concert and recording repertoire was broad, including works such as Bax's 'Symphonies'. He later moved to the USA and became conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1987. This was a very successful appointment which considerably raised the profile of the orchestra. He remained in Indianapolis, becoming an American citizen in 2003, and lived there until his death in October 2019.
Throughout his life, Leppard maintained a busy schedule of conducting operas worldwide as guest conductor, performing in Paris, New York, Santa Fe and Hamburg. He was also highly in demand as a harpsichordist and pianist, his style renowned for being rhythmically lively and showing crisp articulation. As a keyboard player his repertoire included works by various composers such as Couperin, Rameau, Liszt and Handel.
