Alastair Royalton-Kisch (20 January 1920 – 21 March 1995), known professionally as Royalton Kisch, was an orchestral conductor in London from 1947 to 1964. He performed regularly in the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, as well as in other venues across Britain. He also appeared in international concerts in Italy, Greece, Palestine, France and in Austria at the Salzburg Festival. His records appeared on the Decca label and he also performed on broadcasts for the BBC. He was forced to retire from the rostrum in 1964 due to a progressively worsening back.
Biography
Alastair Royalton Kisch was born in Marylebone, London in 1920, the son of a solicitor, Ernest Royalton Kisch and Pamela Kisch, née Hart, although his date of birth is often wrongly given as 1919. His father was an early mentor of both Edward Heath and Arnold Goodman. Alastair Royalton Kisch was educated at Heath Mount School in Hampstead, before going on to Wellington College and finally Clare College, Cambridge. His university studies were interrupted by war service. The hyphen in his name was added at his father's instigation in 1938 by deed poll.
Inspired by a concert given by Sir Thomas Beecham and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Wellington College, Royalton-Kisch decided to become a conductor, rather than following the family tradition and going into the law. While at Wellington, he and his friend, Michael Heming, were very active musically, with Royalton-Kisch playing the clarinet, conducting the school orchestra and forming a madrigal group. At Cambridge University he was a student of E.J. Dent and elected President of the University Music Society. He was only the second undergraduate ever to conduct the Society's Orchestra, giving performances of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, in March 1940. He also received permission from Sir Henry Wood to attend the rehearsals and performances of the Promenade Concerts, held at the Queen's Hall, London.
His college years were interrupted by World War II, where between 1940–46 he served as a Signals Officer in the King's Royal Rifles (60th Rifles), being stationed in North Africa, Italy, and Greece. He later described the last eruption of Vesuvius to his friends. In 1944, he was carrying a message for his commanding officer from Salerno to Naples, his route took him close to eruption, along a road thick with soot and over which lava had begun to spill. Sick from the sulphurous stench and his lungs choked with soot, the atmosphere was so thick that navigation was very difficult. While in Italy he organised 21 concerts as he followed the allied advance northward through Salerno, Naples, Rome, Florence, Bari, Ancona, Pesaro and Forli, before being transferred to Athens. In Rome he was the first Englishman to conduct in the Rome Opera House.
While in Athens in 1945–46, he conducted concerts at the ancient Herodus Atticus Theatre and the Olympia Theatre. In February 1946, he conducted the National State Orchestra in Athens during a Festival of English Music under the patronage of the Minister for Education (G. Athanasios-Novas), the British Ambassador (Sir Reginald Leeper), and the British Council, represented by Sir Steven Runciman. These were the first concerts that many in the audience had heard since before the war. In 1946, he was released from the army, having attained the rank of captain.
Back in London in October 1946, Royalton-Kisch established himself among the younger generation of conductors. Helped by various supporters, including Runciman and Harold Holt, he regularly appeared at the Royal Albert Hall, where he made his central London debut on 30 March 1947. Aged 27, this made him the youngest conductor ever to appear there up to that time. Royalton-Kisch later appeared at the Royal Festival Hall, conducting many of the major London orchestras: the London Philharmonic Orchestra; the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO); the Philharmonia Orchestra; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO); and regional orchestras including the Hallé and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He was invited to conduct abroad, with the (Paris Conservatoire Orchestra) and the Pasdeloup Orchestra of Paris, the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (at the Salzburg Festival).