Conductor Robert Mandell...RIP aka Eric Hammerstein, Johnny Gibbs

NOTE (from Norman Lebrecht’s page - Slipped Disc) that Robert Mandell - Leicester’s Mr Music’ and conductor of the Melachrino Strings and Orchestra in the 80s and 90s, has died after a fall at home. His son reports that he thinks Robert picked up Covid-19 during five days in hospital in Leicester, but that due to his frail state it probably only hastened his demise by a couple of weeks. He was 90. RIP...

Robert Mandell (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2020) was an American-born British-based conductor, particularly noted in the United Kingdom for his popular family and children's concerts, and stage musicals. Between 1961 and 1968, he recorded over 50 LP discs in London for Readers Digest Records under a variety of pseudonyms, including Eric Hammerstein, Johnny Gibbs, Ray Thomas, Juan Ramirez, Pablo Mendez, Dick Mahi, The Button-Down Brass, The Romantic Saxophones and Strings, and The Collegians. In 1968 Mandell took up residency with his family in England. He concentrated his career initially in musical theater and then on bringing popular classical concerts to a new audience through his "Concerts for the Family" series. WIKIPEDIA   |   ERIC HAMMERSTEIN RECORDINGS