| Biography | Martin Lawrence made his debut as Mephistopheles with the Carl Rosa company in 1944. He joined the New London Opera on its formation in 1946.
After it was disbanded in 1948, he made some appearances at Sadler's Wells and, more notably, appeared in Beecham's notable production of Balfe's The Bohemian Girl at Covent Garden in 1951.
It may have been his extreme left wing views that kept him from gaining a more permanent foothold in one of our major companies. At any rate many of his performances during the 1950s were in Eastern Europe. He was the first British artist to give solo recitals in the USSR, and he toured China in 1963. About the same time he was for 10 years Director of Music at the New London Synagogue in St John's Wood. |