Barbirolli in California 1940-43: A little-known chapter
2020 sees the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir John Barbirolli, probably the Hall é Orchestra's greatest conductor. This is a slightly amended version of an article originally written in 1994 for the Barbirolli Society magazine. John and Evelyn Barbirolli in the USA I had the privilege in September this year of joining the Hallé Orchestra and Kent Nagano on their week-long stay in Los Angeles, playing nightly at the Hollywood Bowl to audiences of up to 16,000. One aspect of the visit was to research the links which John Barbirolli had with California during the war years, an aspect of his career which is relatively little-known. In fact there is evidence that in early 1943, before the invitation from the Hallé in England was confirmed, his hopes were chiefly set on a permanent conductorship in Los Angeles, until the temporary collapse of the orchestral organisation there. These facts emerged from the discovery of his entire professional correspondence from his tim