FAMOUS IMPRESARIO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21112, 20 February 1932, Page 10 (Supplement)

FAMOUS IMPRESARIO.

LIONEL POWELL'S DEATH. EIGHT TIMES ROUND WORLD. Mr. Lionel Powell, who died in December at the age of 54, had been described as the last of the great impresarios. Most of the famous musical artists of his day were, at one time or another under his management, and he gave concerts in nearly every part of the world —Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States, and in many Continental countries. He was born at Sutton Court, Ludlow, Shropshire, a fine Elizabethan country house, which had been in the family for generations. Locally he was known as the " Squire of Salop." Though small in stature, Lionel Powell was great in vision, conception, and courage. He moved vast orchestras from country to country, sometimes at a cost that appalled less courageous men. Some of his contracts ran as .high as £IOO,OOO, but ithey always consisted merely of letters between the parties; nona was ever made in legal form. His reputation and his integrity were so high that every artist trusted him implicitly to carry out his bargain. During his long career Lionel Powell must have staged quite 15,000 concerts. " Concert management," he confessed in an interview, "is like running Cooks' tours by a Foreign Office diplomat and a railway station-master all in one." He arranged command performances for the ex-Kaiser, the Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, King Leopold of the Belgians, and for the late Tsar. He also took musicians to Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Marlborough House. Lionel Powell's orchestral work was equally widespread. He took the most famous orchestras to many lands, and he was as popular with the members of the Berlin, Vienna, and New York Philharmonic Orchestras as with the London Symphony. He was responsible for the Wagner concerts, extending over a number of years, under the conductorship of Felix Mottl, Richard Strauss, and Felix Weingartner. For twenty-five yenrs he was closely connected with the Bayreuth and Munich Festivals, and a tour of the British Isles with the Halle Orchestra and with Dr. Hans Richter was also an annual event with him for a number of years. He was said to have travelled eight times round the world, and his transatlantic voyages were almost too many to bo numbered. In the course of those travels lie met many Rovnl personages and a host of celebrities, and he was a favourite with all. > One of his most frying experiences was when having left Calgary for a concert in Edmonton, he discovered that Kubelik's violin was missing. Although it was sent on by special train, which cost £2OO, it did not arrive in time. The hall was packed with people, some of whom had driven nearly fifty miles to attend. " I searched Edmonton frantically for a violin," recalled Mr. Powell, and after almost giving up in despair bought an old German fiddle from a pawnshop for 15s. It was the only fiddle in the town. " I explained to the audience, and nsked those who wished Kubelik to do his best to put up their hands. The whole audience stood up. And—while I stood at the back of the stage with my heart in my mouth—Kubelik gave a magnificent performance. At.the end someone in the audience bought the violin for £50." A few years afterwards Lionel Powell bought the Emperor Strad, now worth £IO,OOO, for Kubelik. Once, when bringing Mme. Clara Butt back from Australia, they stopped to give a series of concerts at Vancouver. When we got there," he said, " we could fine no hall in which she could sing. _So_ we had to take a the;itre for six midnight performances. When the play audience went out the concert audience went in. It had never been tried before. Early morning tramcars were put on to take the people home. Night was turned into day, and the whole thing was an enormous success." Lionel Powell was also responsible for the arrangement of the recent Tauber concert, but he was not told, owing to his illness, failure of the German tenor to appear at the Albert Hall.