Conductor and impresario, born in St Helens, Merseyside, NW England, UK. He studied at Oxford, travelled extensively, and began his career as conductor with the New Symphony Orchestra in 1906. He soon branched out as a producer of opera, introducing British audiences to Diaghilev's Russian ballet. He was principal conductor (1932) and artistic director (1933) of Covent Garden, and in 1943 was conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. In 1944 he returned to Britain, having married Betty Humby (d.1958), the pianist. In 1947 he founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted at Glyndebourne (1948--9). He did much to foster the works of Delius, Sibelius, and Richard Strauss, and was noted for his candid pronouncements on musical matters, his "Lollipop' encores, and his after-concert speeches.