James Loughran, who has died aged 92, was admired for his warm, communicative style both in his native Scotland and in Manchester, where he was principal conductor of the Hallé from 1971 to 1983. Many felt his reputation deserved to be higher, but he had little time for the attention-grabbing gestures or cutting-edge marketing techniques that might have raised his profile.
In 1961, at the age of 29, he won the Philharmonia conducting competition, whose jury included Otto Klemperer, Adrian Boult, Carlo Maria Giulini and the orchestra’s founder, Walter Legge. The prize provided a much-needed boost to a flagging conducting career, leading to his appointment as assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (1962–65).
During that period he also conducted the premiere of Malcolm Williamson’s Our Man in Havana with the Rostrum opera company at Sadler’s Wells (1963), returned to give a well-received La Traviata with the resident company, and made his Covent Garden debut in Aida (both 1964), the last engagement bringing him to the attention of Benjamin Britten, who immediately invited him to become music director of the English Opera Company. This collaboration did not last long, but Loughran made subsequent appearances with Scottish Opera, beginning with The Gondoliers in 1968.
Then came the appointment to the Hallé, the greatest challenge of which was to replace John Barbirolli, who had conducted the orchestra with great success from 1943 until his death in 1970. Hallé historian Michael Kennedy summed up Loughran’s achievements: “He rebuilt the orchestra, attracted several brilliant new conductors, produced recordings that won almost unanimous acclaim, gave greater importance to the work of the Hallé choir and kept the audience at a high level.”
These recordings included a set of Brahms symphonies on the Classics for Pleasure label, which are often ranked among the best in the catalogue. He also frequently conducted in summer touring concerts, introducing a number of contemporary works, including John McCabe’s The Chagall Windows.
He also expanded the Hallé’s touring programme throughout Europe, including Norway and Sweden, and made first trips to Hong Kong and Australia. He can also be credited with raising the standards of playing, and was appointed conductor in 1983.
He made his US debut in 1972, conducting the American Bible Society benefit concert at the New York Philharmonic Hall, and appeared with the New York Philharmonic the same year.
During his Hallé years he was concurrent conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra (1979–83) – the first British conductor to hold a major German conducting post – and then of the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra in Denmark (1996–2003), remaining as guest conductor until 2011. He had been appointed CBE the previous year.
Born in Glasgow, he was the son of Agnes (née Teape) and her husband James. He began conducting while studying law and economics, first at St Aloysius College and then at the University of Glasgow. After national service in the RAF, he decided to pursue the possibility of a musical career in Germany, gaining experience as a répétiteur at the Bonn and Dutch Operas and in various Italian houses.
On his return to England he found work with the Lincoln Theatre Company, staging Jack and the Beanstalk with them in Scunthorpe, Rotherham and Loughborough, and preparing a production of The Boyfriend in the spring of 1961.
At the invitation of the European Broadcasting Union, he recorded the complete Beethoven symphonies for radio with the London Symphony Orchestra; this cycle was broadcast by the EBU member countries during Beethoven’s bicentenary in 1970. Other acclaimed recordings include Elgar’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, Brahms’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 (with John Lill), Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 4 (with Idil Biret), Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastic, Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, The Planets, Belshazzar’s Feast and the first recording of Havergal Brian’s 10th Symphony.
He was a popular figure at the BBC Proms, conducting Last Night five times and introducing Auld Lang Syne to the celebrations in a Cedric Thorpe Davie arrangement in 1979.
In 1961 he married Nancy Coggon, a speech therapist and amateur musician, with whom he had two sons, Angus and Charles, the latter of whom predeceased him. They divorced in 1983, and two years later he married viola player Ludmila Navratil; she died in 2021. He is survived by Angus and two grandchildren.
• Chief James Loughran, born June 30, 1931; died June 19, 2024