Christopher Finzi

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Christopher "Kiffer" Finzi (born 1934) is a British orchestral conductor.

He is the son of composer Gerald Finzi. Like his father, the younger Finzi became a pacifist; he refused to do his National Service, and was briefly imprisoned. After his father's death in 1956, he helped his mother, Joy Finzi, to establish the Finzi Trust and sustain Gerald Finzi's reputation. Their lifestyle was bohemian, living in a remote farmhouse.

[edit] Marriage

Christopher Finzi married Hilary du Pré, a flautist, and they raised four children in the family's farmhouse. Her sister, the cellist Jacqueline du Pré, was part of the household during the 1970s. His wife's memoirs and the film Hilary and Jackie have dramatised his love affair (apparently consented to by his wife) with that sister-in-law. Clare Finzi, daughter of Hilary and Kiffer, criticised this version of events, commenting on the distress she had personally suffered as a result of the affair.

In a letter addressed to director Anand Tucker --which was printed in part in the Standard -- Finzi said her father made a habit of openly seducing women in his home and even had three children by mistresses.

His daughter, Clare Finzi, wrote that Kiffer Finzi "had no boundaries, and he totally shied away (as he still does) from admitting the impact of his recurrent affairs on mum or his children," . As for her mother, her "pent-up hate and misery often directed itself at my father's mistress(es) when the affair was over[1]."

[edit] Conducting

From 1971 to 1997, Finzi was resident conductor of the North Wiltshire Orchestra. He remains particularly well-known as an interpreter of his father's music.

[edit] References