Russell, Henry
Russell, Henry
Russell, Henty , English impresario, son of Henry Russell and brother of Sir Landon Ronald; b. London, Nov. 14, 1871; d. there, Oct. 11, 1937. He studied singing at the Royal Coll. of Music, and devised an original method of vocal instruction, which attracted the attention of Melba, who sent him a number of her good pupils. Owing to his wide acquaintance with singers, he was invited in 1904 to manage a season of opera at Covent Garden. In 1905 he took his company to the U.S., where Boston was the principal field of his operations; his success resulted, in 1909, in the formation of the Boston Opera Co., of which he was general manager until its dissolution in 1914. Just before the outbreak of World War I, he had taken the entire Boston troupe to Paris, where he gave a successful spring season at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysees. He then lived mostly in London. He publ. a book of memoirs, The Passing Show (London, 1926).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire