The Festival of Britain concerts

For six years after the end of the war London had no purpose-built concert hall and, as noted in Chapter 10, that void caused acute difficulties for those attempting to arrange Toscanini's abortive visit and recordings in 1946. Plans for a modern hall on the south bank of the Thames were, however, drawn up in the late 1940s as part of a site for a festival to take place in the spring of 1951, named by the sponsoring Labour government the Festival of Britain. Hence the title Royal Festival Hall, which was perpetuated despite the premature demolition of other structures surrounding it, following elections in October 1951 that brought in a new government determined to expunge positive memories of life under its predecessor.

In 1950 the hall's commissioning authority, the London County Council (LCC), appointed Owen Mase as its Concerts Adviser for the new hall, in effect its programme planner wielding the authority to solicit bookings and determine priorities among the various orchestras and other organisations competing to appear. From the outset Mase made clear that only one conductor, Toscanini, was fitted to start the hall's life and he had no difficulty in persuading the management to agree: opening concerts conducted by the world's most famous maestro would secure its future as the country's most prestigious concert venue. In March the hall's prospective general manager, John Shove, contacted the BBC to notify them of the LCC's intention to promote concerts conducted by Toscanini immediately following the hall's ceremonial opening.