S.A. Gorlinsky Archive

This archive represents the career of the London-based impresario and managing agent Sandor Gorlinsky. The majority of the archive concerns the careers of Gorlinsky's clients, with material relating to Rudolph Nureyev being the most substantial related to a single person within the archive. The collection includes audio recordings, contracts, correspondence, financial papers, programmes, promotional materials, schedules, scores and photographs.

Sandor Alexander Gorlinsky, impresario and agent, was born in Kiev on 28 February 1908. At the age of 18 months his family moved to Berlin where, as a teenager, he successfully secured professional work for his school orchestra and worked with Jack Hylton on a series of orchestral concerts. During the 1930s, with the rise of Hitler, he moved to Paris, working as an agent for dance bands, ice acts and comedians. Whilst on holiday in Ostend in 1938 he noticed that the Royal Palace Hotel was empty and set out to refurbish it, in collaboration with Billy Butlin. In 1940 however he was forced to flee to Britain, where he took a job running hostels for agricultural workers in Gloucestershire. He also gained experience with the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (Naafi).

In 1945 he embarked on an abortive partnership with Jack Hylton before setting out on his own as an impresario. In 1946, hoping to exploit a new taste for grand opera in Britain, Gorlinsky invited a reluctant Beniamino Gigli, and eventually persuaded the entire San Carlo Opera Company to appear at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He followed this success by promoting Gigli's tours during the late 1940s and by bringing the La Scala Opera to Britain in 1950. From 1953 Gorlinsky staged rival seasons of Italian opera at the Stoll Theatre and then at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Having established himself as a concert promoter (in 1947 he promoted 250 concerts with leading orchestras and conductors such as Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir John Barbirolli), Gorlinsky began concentrating on artist representation. Having already engaged Mario del Monaco, Arturo Toscanini, Tito Gobbi, Franco Corelli, Renata Tebaldi and Renato Scotto, in 1952 he signed Maria Callas to perform Norma at Covent Garden, and after her divorce from Giovanni Meneghini he became her personal manager until the end of her career. Other musicians managed by Gorlinsky included Montserrat Caballe, Alfredo Kraus, Jose Carreras, Ruggero Raimondo, Giuseppe di Stefano, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Carlo Maria Giulini, Lorin Maazel and Piero Cappuccilli. He developed a close personal friendship with Tito Gobbi. In dance he represented Natalia Makarova and Yoko Morishita as well as managing Rudolf Nureyev for 30 years. In collaboration with Victor Hochhauser, Gorlinsky negotiated for visits to Britain by over 40 ballet companies for a series of Nureyev Festivals at the London Coliseum. Sandor Gorlinsky died in London on 12 May 1990 and was outlived by his wife Edith Elllis Gorlinsky.

This archive has been divided into 10 series:

• THM/1/1: Rudolf Nureyev Materials
• THM/1/2: Artists and Subject Files
• THM/1/3: Royalty Statements
• THM/1/4: Programmes, containing: London; Britain; International
• THM/1/5: Cuttings (newspapers and journals)
• THM/1/6: Financial Records Concerning Artists and Companies
• THM/1/7: Gorlinsky Business and Office Records
• THM/1/8: Photographs, Prints, and Posters
• THM/1/9: Gorlinsky Family Personal Materials
• THM/1/10: Published, Unpublished, and Recorded Works

This archive collection is available for consultation in the V&A Blythe House Archive and Library Study Room by appointment only.
Full details of access arrangements may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

Access to some of these files may be restricted. These are identified at file level.

Please note that some series in this archive have not yet been fully appraised and catalogued. A notice of 20 working days is required in order to facilitate access to these series in line with Freedom of Information and Data Protection legislation.

Given by Edith Gorlinsky, 1993

Information on copying and commercial reproduction may be found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/archives/.

This collection was appraised in line with the collection management policy