Victor Olof Ahlquist

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Victor Olof (12 July 1898 – 3 November 1974) was an English musician, known first as a violinist and conductor and later as a record producer for Decca Records and subsequently for HMV Records.Among the artists whose recordings Olof supervised were Karl Böhm, Erich Kleiber, Sir Thomas Beecham, Lisa della Casa, Cesare Siepi, Victoria de los Ángeles, Clifford Curzon, Wilhelm Backhaus and Yehudi Menuhin.



Early yearsVictor Olof Ahlquist was of Swedish descent. He was born in St Pancras, London, the youngest of five children of Michael Ahlqist, a tailor who retained his Swedish nationality, and his wife Elizabeth. He attended the Guildhall School of Music in London, where he won the Melba Scholarship in 1916. His violin professor was Kalman Ronay. Among his fellow students were the singers Dora Labbette and Lilian Stiles-Allen. On the advice of the principal of the school, Sir Landon Ronald, he dropped his original surname.In the 1920s Olof founded and led the Victor Olof Sextet, with whom he gave concerts and broadcasts for more than 20 years. In January 1923 he gave a recital in Vienna which included an arrangement for violin and piano of the Elgar Violin Concerto.] In 1928 he married Phyllis Robey; there were two sons of the marriage. In the 1940s he was an orchestral manager and conductor, working with the London Symphony Orchestra and especially the National Symphony Orchestra, an ad hoc ensemble of top orchestral players assembled for the wealthy musical amateur Sidney Beer.



Later yearsIn 1969, Olof was appointed as a member of the Arts Council committee of inquiry into orchestral resources in Britain under the chairmanship of Sir Alan Peacock.In retirement, Olof lived at Milford on Sea on the south coast of England. He died at the age of 76.