Bing, Rudolf (1902–1997)

Austrian-born manager, who became a naturalized British subject in 1946. He held appointments in Darmstadt and Berlin from 1928 to 1933, until moving with Carl Ebert to Glyndebourne, where he was manager 1935–49. He helped found the Edinburgh Festival and was director there 1947–49, and general manager of the New York Metropolitan Opera House 1950–72. His experiences with prima donnas (male and female) are detailed in two volumes of autobiography: 5,000 Nights at the Opera (1972) and A Knight at the Opera (1981). He was knighted in 1971.