In 1936, conductor Sir Thomas Beecham and his London Philharmonic Orchestra visited Germany and became pawns in a Nazi propaganda coup.
Before the Second World War, Nazi Germany mounted a concerted effort to sway British public opinion in its favour.
What better way of showing the hand of friendship than to launch a programme of cultural exchange with a potentially amenable ally such as Britain, so deflecting public attention away from the less savoury side of Germany’s long-term political ambitions?
The idea was the brainchild of Joachim von Ribbentrop, a leading Nazi politician (and, incidentally, an accomplished violinist) who in August 1936 was appointed German ambassador to Britain.
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