Leon Fastovsky, Tenor – Trained in Glasgow, a Pupil of Mr Allan Macbeth

Information about Leon Fastovsky is included in the “MUSICAL NOTES By CHORISTER” column,

on page three of The Falkirk Herald, on Wednesday the 1st of March, 1911. It reads:

 

” Mr Leon Fastovsky, a promising tenor, who made his debut at the Queen’s Hall, London, yesterday,

in Haydn’s ‘The Seasons,’ under the baton of Mr Coleridge Taylor, received his early musical training

in Glasgow. He was born at Odessa in 1885 and came to Glasgow about the year 1897, where he followed

the trade of a wood-carver. As a boy he sang in synagogue choirs and later at small concerts. At the age

of 18 he became a pupil of Mr Allan Macbeth at the Glasgow College of Music, where he won the first

scholarship at the end of a year’s work. A little later he studied under Mr Percy Robb. Then he had for a

time to give up singing until, owing to the favourable opinion of his voice, which was expressed by the

prima donna Madame Donalda, he received aid from friends, enabling him to pursue his studies in Paris

for some years, under M. Petit. He has recently been working with the well-known London teacher Mr

John Acton. Mr Fastovsky hopes to appear later on the opera stage.”

 

 

The British Newspaper Archive.

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, March 2024.