Impresario Hurok Still Lone Wolf
Amid Broadway Cultural Behemoths
Philharmonic in this country,
which played to some 80 sell-
out audiences under the baton
of Serge Koussevitsky and
Leonard Bernstein.
By HAROLD BRAVERMAN
An Arwerkan Jewish Press Feature
Sol Hurok, the last of the
impresarios, is the ]one survivor
of a once hardy breed that
The measure of Hurok's abil-
flourished on -Broadway a gen-
eration ago. The impresario was ity can be demonstrated in an
San individualist who created event which took place in 1943
shows, mapped tours and even when Alicia Markova was pre-
went so far as to disentangle sented in a ballet of "Romeo
and Juliet." The company was
delayed in transport, and, re-
hearsing almost until curtain
time, still hadn't reached the
last scenes.
No matter. Hurok, the im-
presario, presented — to a full
audience—half a Romeo and
Juliet. When the curtain de-
scended, the enchanted cus-
tomers rose to a proclaimed
ovation. Where else is the pro-
ducer who ever offered — and
made a success of—the premiere
of a movie, a play or a ballet?
Passover Greetings
FLORSHEIM SHOE SHOPS
147 Michigan, Nr. Sheraton Cadillac
1428 Washington Blvd., Nr. Stotler
love affairs of temperamental
fi
artists. He sold virtuosity and
culture.
Today, bookings are mostly
the preserve of corporate behe-
moths, who have developed the
concert and cultural world into
a highly - organized industry.
Yet, Sol Hurok, now in his 63rd
year is still setting the pace—
and is still
making a for-- ;
tune at it, too.'
The immi-
grant lad, who
left the Ukrain-
ian town of
Pogar and ar-,
rived here with!
only $1.50 in hisr
pocket, has for--
40 years been
making hisi
S. Hurok
mark as a lead-
ing exhibitor. He considers the
recent success of ballet in Amer-
ica as perhaps his greatest
achievement.
He nursed the mercurial
moods of the great Feodor Cha-
liapin and the delicate Anna
.Season's Greetings
Passover Greetings
Passover Greetings
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Mit Anderson appeared be-
fore an audience of :5,000 in
Washington. D. C. Having
been refused the use of the
Daughters of the American
Revolution's tax exempt Con-
stitution Hall, Hurok sched--
uled the Negro contralto's
concert before the Lincoln
Memorial. And after the con-
cert, Hurok looked with sails-
' faction on his partner—and
Mr. Lincoln. in all his bronze
i dignity, gazed back.
The typical - Hurok audience"
was born in 1911 when Hurok
met Efrem Zimbalist and brash-
, ly asked the famous violinist to
play in Brownsville in New York
I 1 1. —at a reduced fee. Previous to
i that time. Hurok promoted cul-
ture among the immigrant in-
( habitants through tenors, pian-
1 , ists, string duets and the like.
1 After Brownsville was en-
ricked by Zimbalist's great per-
1 formance. Hurok turned to the
i old Hippodrome Theater, scaled
I I the seats to 50 cents each and
t drew such names as Tetrazzini,
f Schumann-Heink and Mischa
1 man.
1 His first dip into ballet was
made in the depression year of
1933 when he brought to this
! country the Monte Carlo Ballet
i featuring Tamara Toumanova
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Pavlova, the flighty Luisa Tet-
razzini and the feminist Isadora
Duncan and a hundred others.
Recently he wrested from ob-
scurity the lusty tenor of Jan
Peerce. the violin virtuosity of
Isaac Stern and the magnificent
voices of Patrice Munsel and
• Roberta Peters, both new with
the Metropolitan Opera Com-
pany.
1 Chancing upon Marian An-
t Berson at a routine Paris re-
cital. Hurok has since promoted
t her into the five top incomes
of the concert world. And it.
was in Miss Anderson's instance
that lie allowed himself once to
takl n a silent partner.
ti tt was the day when
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'.; and Irina Baranova, then both
k 14-year-olds. But, this only
li managed to lose him money.
t When he tried it a second time
Greetings on Passover
-FULLER SUPPLY COMPANY
i — at the Metropolitan Opera
,, House with its 3,300 seating ca-
became a solvent
1
ROSE-HILL REALTY, Inc.
Specializing in Attic Fans
t ture in America.
i Today, he is recouping from
I those uncomfortable memories
■ of 1933 when he was even forced
1 to sleep in Central Park. He
I first imported Sadler's Wells
Mallet in 1949, and has brought
it back each year since for a
13324 WEST SEVEN MILE ROAD
UNiversity 2-8932
2600 CLIFFORD
.
transcontinental tour which
grosses $2,500,000.
Since the state of Israel
I tame into being, Hurok has
engaged in a brisk cultural
export-import trade with the
tiny nation. He was respon-
i Bible for the highly success-
ful tour last year of the Israel
Season's Greetings
Friday: April 11, 1952
-
51
WO. 2-8550
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