The warmly communicative podium style of James Loughran, who has died aged 92, was appreciated both in his native Scotland and in Manchester, where he was principal conductor of the Hallé from 1971 to 1983. Many felt that his reputation deserved to be higher, but he had little time for the attention-seeking gesturing or modern marketing techniques that might have raised his profile.
In 1961, at the age of 29, he won the inaugural Philharmonia conducting competition, whose judges included Otto Klemperer, Adrian Boult, Carlo Maria Giulini and Walter Legge, the orchestra’s founder. The award provided a much-needed fillip for a conducting career that had been slow getting off the ground. It led to him being appointed assistant conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (1962-65).
