barbirolli refused invitations to take up more prestigious and lucrative conductorships. shortly after he took over the hallé he received an offer from the sponsors of an ambitious scheme that would have put him in charge of the london symphony orchestra, and in the early 1950s the bbc sought to recruit him for the bbc symphony orchestra. also in the early 1950s the head of the royal opera house, david webster, wanted him to become the musical director there. barbirolli conducted six operas for webster, "turandot", "aida", "orfeo ed euridice", "tristan und isolde", "la bohème" and "madama butterfly", 1951–53, but he declined to be wooed away from the hallé. his biographer charles reid wrote, "his manchester kingdom is a kingdom indeed. he is not manacled or chivied in his choice of programmes. broadly speaking he conducts only what he loves ... his kingdom approximates to a conductor's paradise." nevertheless, in 1958, after building the orchestra up and touring continually, conducting up to 75 concerts a year, he arranged a less onerous schedule, allowing him more time to appear as a guest conductor with other orchestras. he also appeared at the vienna state opera, and rome opera house, where he conducted "aida" in 1969. in 1960 he accepted an invitation to succeed leopold stokowski as chief conductor of the houston symphony in texas, a post he held until 1967, conducting an annual total of 12 weeks there in early spring and late autumn between hallé engagements. in 1961 he began a regular association with the berlin philharmonic orchestra, which lasted for the rest of his life.