A LIFE that spans the Beijing Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orient of London, E10. It started on Saturday afternoons: visits to the house in Leyton of John Lill, a teenager who would become a celebrated classical pianist. Julian Lloyd Webber saw a throng heading for Brisbane Road and followed the crowds.
So began an enduring addiction. A leading cellist, Lloyd Webber will be at The Valley today as Leyton Orient, conquerors of Fulham at Craven Cottage in the third round, take on Charlton Athletic in the FA Cup. When Lloyd Webber started watching Orient, in the 1962-63 season, they were in the top flight. There have not been many virtuoso performances since.
The 54-year-old lives in South Kensington, so it would be easy to jump on the Chelsea bandwagon, but he is not for turning. “I can’t change from Orient, they’ll always be my team. I’m a season-ticket holder but Saturday is often a concert day,” he said.
Football songs are to music as fingernails are to blackboards, but Lloyd Webber points out a surprising bind between the worlds of grass pitch and perfect pitch. “A lot of classical musicians like football,” he said. “The orchestras have sides and play games against each other. I don’t know why. What I do is a very pressurised existence, always practising, concerts. I like to get away from music. It’s a very valuable outlet for me, to be passionate about something else. I find it very easy to talk to the players because I think I can understand some of the pressures they are under.”
Matt Lockwood, the left back, is certain to savour the occasion after suffering a life-threatening injury against York City in 2001. “I collided with their centre half and thought I was just winded,” he said. “Three days later they found out my spleen had been ruptured and I had to have it taken out. Doctors told me I could have died. It’s games like this that you have to really appreciate.”