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Toscanini conducting.
Toscanini conducting.

Arturo Toscanini (pronounced [ɑrˈturɔ ˌtɔskɑˈnini]) (March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957) was an Italian musician. Events 1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6. Year 1867 ( MDCCCLXVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 27 BC - The title Augustus is bestowed upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian by the Roman Senate. Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) The' Italian people' are a Southern European Ethnic group located primarily in Italy, Switzerland, France and by virtue of a wide-ranging He was considered by many critics, fellow musicians, and much of the classical listening audience to have been one of the greatest conductors of all time. Conducting is the act of directing a Musical performance by way of visible gestures He was renowned for his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory which gave him extraordinary command over a vast repertoire of orchestral and operatic works, and allowed him to correct errors in orchestral parts unnoticed by his colleagues for decades. Eidetic memory, photographic memory, or total recall is the ability to recall Images Sounds, or objects in Memory [1]

Contents

Biography

Caricature of Toscanini by Enrico Caruso
Caricature of Toscanini by Enrico Caruso

Toscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the local music conservatory, where he studied the cello. Enrico Caruso (born Errico Caruso; February 25 1873 &ndash August 2 1921) was an Italian Opera singer Parma is a City in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna near Modena famous for its Architecture and the fine countryside around it Emilia-Romagna is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. The capital is Bologna. The violoncello (abbreviated to cello, or 'cello, plural cellos or celli —the c is tʃ He joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well While presenting Aida in Rio de Janeiro, the orchestra's conductor was booed by the audience and forced to leave the podium. This article is about the marketing term AIDA For other uses of the term see Aida (disambiguation. Rio de Janeiro ("River of January" ˈhiw dʒi ʒʌˈnejɾu in Brazilian Portuguese, /ˈriːoʊ di ʒəˈnɛroʊ/ in English is the second largest city of Brazil Although he had no conducting experience, Toscanini was persuaded to take up the baton, and led a magnificent performance completely from memory. Thus began his career as a conductor at age 19.

Upon returning to Italy, Toscanini returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdi's Otello (La Scala, 1887) under the composer's supervision. Otello is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare 's play The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was (Verdi, who habitually complained that conductors never seemed interested in directing his scores the way he had written them, was impressed by reports from Arrigo Boito about Toscanini's ability to interpret his scores. Arrigo Boito ( February 24, 1842 &ndash June 10, 1918) aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito Pseudonym Tobia Gorrio was an Italian The composer was also impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally, indicating a ritardando where it was not set out in the score; Verdi said that only a true musician would have felt the need to make that ritardando. 2266-Tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl or TEMPO is the Chemical compound with the formula (CH23(CMe22NO )

Gradually the young musician's reputation as an operatic conductor of unusual authority and skill supplanted his cello career. In the following decade he consolidated his career in Italy, entrusted with the world premieres of Puccini's La Bohème and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Ruggero (Ruggiero Leoncavallo (23 April 1857- 9 August 1919 was an Italian Opera Composer. Pagliacci ( Players, or Clowns) is an Opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert (works by Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner), in Turin. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer By 1898 he was resident conductor at La Scala, Milan and remained there until 1908, returning during the 1920s. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. He took the Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour in 1920-21; it was during that tour that Toscanini made his first recordings (for the Victor Talking Machine Company). Victrola redirects here For other uses see Victrola (disambiguation The Victor Talking Machine Company ( 1901 – 1929

International recognition

Toscanini in 1908
Toscanini in 1908

Outside of Europe, he conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York (1908–1915) as well as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (1926–1936). The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880 is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active Symphony Orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842 He toured Europe with the New York Philharmonic in 1930; he and the musicians were acclaimed by critics and audiences wherever they went. As was also the case with the New York Philharmonic, Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to appear at Bayreuth (1930–1931). Bayreuthfestjpg|thumb|350px|right|Bayreuth Festspielhaus as seen in 1882 In the 1930s he conducted at the Salzburg Festival (1934–1937) and the inaugural concert in 1936 of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (now the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) in Tel Aviv, and later performed with them in Jerusalem, Haifa, Cairo and Alexandria. The Salzburg Festival (Salzburger Festspiele is a prominent festival of Music and Drama. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisre'elit Tel Aviv-Yafo (תֵּל ־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ تل أبيب Tal ʾAbīb) (usually Tel Aviv) is the second-largest city in Israel Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the Haifa (חֵיפָה; حَيْفَا) is the largest City in Northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country with Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια

Opposition to Italian fascist government

Toscanini ran in 1919 unsuccessfully as a Fascist parliamentary candidate in Milan. He had been called "the greatest conductor in the world" by Mussolini. However, he became disillusioned with fascism and repeatedly defied the Italian dictator after the latter's ascent to power in 1922. A dictator is an Authoritarian ruler (eg Absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an Absolute He refused to display Musolini's photograph or conduct the Fascist anthem Giovinezza at La Scala. " Giovinezza " (Italian for youth) is the official hymn of the Italian National Fascist Party, regime, and army and the unofficial National The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was [2] He raged to a friend, "If I were capable of killing a man, I would kill Mussolini. "[3]

Just before a May 1931 concert at La Scala he was ordered to begin by playing Giovinezza. He refused. Afterwards he was, in his own words, "attacked, injured and repeatedy hit in the face" by a group of blackshirts. For other uses and meanings see Blackshirts (disambiguation. The Blackshirts ( Italian: camicie nere, [4] Mussolini, incensed by the conductor's refusal, had his phone tapped, placed him under constant surveillance and took away his passport. Wiretap redirects here For the radio program see WireTap (radio program Telephone tapping (or wire tapping / wiretapping in Surveillance is the monitoring of Behavior. Systems surveillance is the process of monitoring the behavior of people objects or processes within systems for conformity A passport is a document issued by a national government which certifies for the purpose of international travel the identity and nationality of its holder The passport was returned only after world outcry over Toscanini's treatment. [5] He left Italy until 1938. [6]

The NBC Symphony Orchestra

He returned to the United States where the NBC Symphony Orchestra was created for him in 1937. The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a Radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo He conducted his first NBC broadcast concert on December 25, 1937, in NBC Studio 8-H in New York City's Rockefeller Center. NBC Radio City Studios is the name given to both a Radio and Television studio complex in New York's Rockefeller Center and the former radio-TV complex The City of New York Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres between 48th and 51st streets in New York City. The acoustics of the specially built studio were very dry; some remodeling in 1939 added a bit more reverberation. (In 1950, the studio was further remodeled for television productions; today it is used by NBC for Saturday Night Live. Saturday Night Live ( SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American Sketch comedy / Variety show based in New York City In 1980, it was used by Zubin Mehta and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in a series of special televised NBC concerts honoring the legacy of Toscanini called "Live From Studio 8H". WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Zubin Mehta (born April 29 1936 is an Indian conductor )

The NBC broadcasts were preserved on large transcription discs, recorded at both 78-rpm and 33-1/3 rpm, until NBC began using magnetic tape in 1947. NBC used special RCA high fidelity microphones both for the broadcasts and for recording them; these microphones can be seen in some photographs of Toscanini and the orchestra. In addition, some of Toscanini's recording sessions for RCA Victor were mastered on magnetic sound film in a process developed about 1941, as detailed by RCA producer Charles O'Connell in his memoirs, On and Off The Record. In addition hundreds of hours of Toscanini's rehearsals with the NBC were preserved and are now housed in the Toscanini Legacy archive at The New York Public Library. The New York Public Library ( NYPL) is one of the leading public libraries of the world and is one of America's most significant Research libraries.

Toscanini was often criticized for neglecting American music; however, in 1938, he conducted the world premieres of two orchestral works by Samuel Barber, Adagio for Strings and Essay for Orchestra. Samuel Osborne Barber II ( March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American Composer of Orchestral, Opera, "Adagio for Strings" is a work for String orchestra, arranged by the American Composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet Samuel Barber 's Essay for Orchestra ( op. 12 completed in the first half of 1938, is an orchestral work in one movement In 1945, he led the orchestra in recording sessions of the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé in Carnegie Hall (supervised by Grofé) and An American in Paris by George Gershwin in NBC's Studio 8-H. The Grand Canyon Suite is a Suite for Orchestra by Ferde Grofé, composed during the period from 1929 to 1931 Ferde Grofé ( March 27 1892 &ndash April 3 1972) was an American Pianist, arranger and Composer. Carnegie Hall (generally ˌkɑrnɨgi ˈhɔːl is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east This article is about the Gershwin composition For the 1951 musical starring Gene Kelly see An American in Paris (film. George Gershwin (September 26 1898 &ndash July 11 1937 was an American Composer. He also conducted broadcast performances of Copland's El Salon Mexico; Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with soloists Earl Wild and Benny Goodman and Piano Concerto in F with pianist Oscar Levant; and music by other American composers, including two marches of John Philip Sousa. Aaron Copland (November 14 1900 &ndash December 2 1990 was an American Composer of concert and film music as well as an accomplished Pianist. El Salón México is a symphonic composition in one movement by Aaron Copland, which uses Mexican Folk music extensively Rhapsody in Blue is a musical composition by George Gershwin for solo piano and jazz band written in 1924 which combines elements of classical music with Earl Wild (born November 26, 1915) is an American pianist known especially for his transcriptions of classical music and Jazz. Oscar Levant ( December 27, 1906 &ndash August 14, 1972) was an American Pianist, Composer, Author John Philip Sousa ( November 6, 1854 &ndash March 6, 1932) was an American Composer and conductor of the late He even wrote his own orchestral arrangement of the National Anthem, which was incorporated into the NBC Symphony's performances of Verdi's Hymn of the Nations.

In 1940, Toscanini took the orchestra on a "goodwill" tour of South America. Later that year, Toscanini had a disagreement with NBC management over their use of his musicians in other NBC broadcasts; Toscanini threatened to move to CBS, until the dispute was resolved and he returned as music director. At that time Leopold Stokowski served as temporary music director and continued to appear periodically as a guest conductor of the orchestra. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Leopold Stokowski (born Leopold Anthony Stokowski though on occasion

One of the more remarkable broadcasts was in July 1942, when Toscanini conducted the American premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich ( Russian: ru Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович ( &ndash 9 August 1975 was a Russian Composer 7. Due to World War II, the score was microfilmed in the Soviet Union and brought by courier to the United States. Stokowski wanted to conduct the premiere and there were a number of remarkable letters between the two conductors (reproduced by Harvey Sachs in his biography) before Stokowski agreed to let Toscanini have the privilege of conducting the first performance. Unfortunately for New York listeners, a major thunderstorm virtually obliterated the NBC radio signals there, but the performance was heard elsewhere and preserved on transcription discs. A gramophone It was later issued by RCA Victor in the 1967 centennial boxed set tribute to Toscanini, which included a number of NBC broadcasts never released on discs. [7] Shostakovich himself reportedly expressed a dislike for the performance, after he heard a recording of the broadcast, as he reportedly stated in Testimony. Testimony is a book (ISBN 0-87910-021-4 that was published in October 1979 by the Russian musicologist Solomon Volkov. In Toscanini's later years he expressed dislike for the work and amazement that he had actually conducted it. [8]

In 1943, he appeared in a documentary film for the Office of War Information (OWI) directed by Alexander Hammid, Hymn of the Nations, which featured Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in music of Verdi. The United States Office of War Information (OWI was a US government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services Alexandr Hackenschmied ( 17 December 1907, Linz - 26 July 2004, New York City) was a leading Avant-garde photographer Hymn of the Nations, originally titled Arturo Toscanini Hymn of the Nations ( 1944) is a film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features Filmed in NBC Studio 8-H, the orchestra performed the overture to La Forza del Destino and Hymn of the Nations, the latter featuring tenor Jan Peerce and the Westminster Choir. La forza del destino ( The Force of Destiny) is an Italian Opera by Giuseppe Verdi. WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Jan Peerce ( June 3, 1904 – December 15, 1984) was

In the summer of 1950, Toscanini led the orchestra on an extensive transcontinental tour. It was during that tour that the well-known photograph of Toscanini riding the ski lift at Sun Valley, Idaho was taken. Sun Valley is an affluent resort community in central Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum in Blaine County. Toscanini and the musicians traveled on a special train chartered by NBC.

The NBC concerts continued in Studio 8-H until the fall of 1950. They were then held in Carnegie Hall, where many of the orchestra's recording sessions had been held, due to the dry acoustics of Studio 8-H. The final broadcast performance, an all-Wagner program, took place on April 4, 1954, in Carnegie Hall. During this concert Toscanini suffered a memory lapse reportedly caused by a transient ischemic attack, although some have attributed the lapse to having been secretly informed that NBC intended to end the broadcasts and disband the NBC orchestra. A transient ischemic attack ( TIA, often colloquially referred to as “ mini stroke ” is caused by the changes in the blood supply to a particular area of the He never conducted live in public again. That June, he participated in his final recording sessions, remaking portions of two Verdi operas so they could be commercially released. Toscanini was 87 years old when he retired. After his retirement, the NBC Symphony was reorganized as the Symphony of the Air, making regular performances and recordings, until it was disbanded in 1963. The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a Radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo

On radio, he conducted seven complete operas, including La Bohème and Otello, all of which were eventually released on records and CD, thus enabling the modern listening public to hear what an opera conducted by Toscanini sounded like. Otello is an Opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare 's play

Personal life

Toscanini married Carla De Martini on June 21, 1897, when she was not yet 20 years old. Their first child, Walter, was born on March 19, 1898. A daughter, Wally, was born on January 16, 1900. Carla gave birth to another boy, Giorgio, in September 1901, but he died of diphtheria on June 10, 1906. Then, that same year, Carla gave birth to their second daughter, Wanda. Wanda Giorgina Toscanini ( December 7, 1907 &ndash August 21, 1998) was the daughter of the Italian conductor Arturo

Toscanini worked with many great singers and musicians throughout his career, but few impressed him as much as the Ukrainian-American pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (ולדימיר הורוביץ Владимир Самойлович Горовиц Vladimir Samojlovič Gorovits; Володимир Самійлович They worked together a number of times and even recorded Brahms' second piano concerto and Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto with the NBC Symphony for RCA. Horowitz also became close to Toscanini and his family. In 1933, Wanda Toscanini married Horowitz, with the conductor's blessings and warnings. It was Wanda's daughter, Sonia, who was once photographed by Life playing with the conductor.

During World War II, Toscanini lived in Wave Hill, a historic home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City. Riverdale (population approximately 45000 according to the 2000 U The City of New York [9]

Despite the reported infidelities revealed in Toscanini's letters documented by Harvey Sachs, he remained married to Carla until she died on June 23, 1951. [10][11]

Final years

With the help of his son Walter, Toscanini spent his remaining years editing tapes and transcriptions of his performances with the NBC Symphony. The "approved" recordings were issued by RCA Victor, which also has issued his recordings with the Scala Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. His recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1937-39) and the Philharmonia Orchestra (1952) were issued by EMI. The Philharmonia is an Orchestra based in London. Since 1995 it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. Various companies have issued recordings of a number of broadcasts and concerts, that he did not officially approve, on compact discs. A Compact Disc (also known as a CD) is an Optical disc used to store digital data, originally developed for storing digital audio Among these are stereophonic recordings of his last two NBC broadcast concerts. Stereophonic sound, commonly called stereo, is the reproduction of Sound, using two or more independent audio channels through a Symmetrical

Sachs and other biographers have documented the numerous conductors, singers, and musicians who visited Toscanini during his retirement. He was a big fan of early television, especially boxing and wrestling telecasts, as well as comedy programs.

When he died of stroke in New York at the age of 89 his body was returned to Italy and was interred in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan. A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain functions due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The Cimitero Monumentale in Milan, Italy is a very large cemetery located on the square given its name Piazzale del Cimitero Monumentale

In his will, he left his bâton to his protégée Herva Nelli. Herva Nelli ( January 9, 1909 &ndash May 31, 1994) was an Italian -born Operatic Soprano.

Toscanini was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who during their lifetimes have made creative contributions of outstanding

Innovations

At La Scala, which had what was then the most modern stage lighting system installed in 1901 and an orchestral pit installed in 1907, Toscanini pushed through reforms in the performance of opera. He insisted on darkening the lights during performances. As his biographer Harvey Sachs wrote: "He believed that a performance could not be artistically successful unless unity of intention was first established among all the components: singers, orchestra, chorus, staging, sets, and costumes. Harvey Sachs, (born June 8 1946 is an American - Canadian writer who has written many books on musical subjects "

Toscanini favored the traditional orchestral seating plan with the first violins and cellos on the left, the violas on the near right, and the second violins on the far right.

Premieres

Toscanini
Toscanini

Toscanini conducted the world premieres of many operas, four of which have become part of the standard operatic repertoire: Pagliacci, La Bohème, La Fanciulla del West and Turandot; he took an active role in Alfano's completion of Turandot. Pagliacci ( Players, or Clowns) is an Opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. La fanciulla del West ( The Girl of the Golden West) is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Guelfo Turandot is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Franco Alfano ( March 8, 1875 &ndash October 27, 1954) was an Italian composer and pianist. He also conducted the first Italian performances of Siegfried, Götterdämmerung, Salome, Pelléas et Mélisande, as well as the South American premieres of Tristan und Isolde and Madama Butterfly and the North American premiere of Boris Godunov. Siegfried is the third of the four Operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung) by Richard Wagner ("Twilight of the Gods" – see Notes) is the last of the four Operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung Salome is an Opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German Libretto by the composer based on Hedwig Lachmann ’s German Pelléas et Mélisande ( Pelléas and Mélisande) is an Opera in five acts with music by Claude Debussy. Tristan und Isolde ( Tristan and Isolde, or Tristan and Isolda) is an Opera, or Music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner Boris Godunov ( Борис Годунов, original Orthography Борисъ Годуновъ, Borís Godunóv) is an Opera by

Recorded legacy

Overview

Toscanini made his first recordings in 1920 with the Scala Orchestra in Victor's Trinity Church studio and his last with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in June 1954 in Carnegie Hall. Ruggero (Ruggiero Leoncavallo (23 April 1857- 9 August 1919 was an Italian Opera Composer. Milan (Milano Milan (listen) is one of the largest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. Events 878 - Syracuse Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily. Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Events 1327 - Teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Arturo Buzzi-Peccia ( October 13, 1854 - August 29, 1943) was an Italian singing instructor and song composer whose existence is very poorly documented Events 1444 - Battle of Varna: The crusading forces of King Vladislaus III of Varna (aka Ulaszlo I of Hungary and Wladyslaw Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Pietro Mascagni ( December 7, 1863 &ndash August 2, Events 38 BC - Octavian marries Livia Drusilla. 1287 - King Alfonso III of Aragon invades Minorca Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Alberto Franchetti ( 18 September 1860, Turin - 4 August 1942, Viareggio) was an Italian Opera Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty Year 1902 ( MCMII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Francesco Cilea (also Cilèa ( July 23, 1866 &ndash November 20, 1950) was an Italian Composer. Events 1450 - Battle of Formigny: Toward the end of the Hundred Years' War, the French attack and nearly annihilate English Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 1041 - Empress Zoe of Byzantium elevates her adoptive son to the throne of the Eastern Roman Empire as Michael V Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano ( August 28, 1867 &ndash November 12, 1948) was an Italian composer mainly of Opera. Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Ildebrando Pizzetti ( Parma, September 20, 1880; Rome, February 13, 1968) was an Italian Composer Events 755 - An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Arrigo Boito ( February 24, 1842 &ndash June 10, 1918) aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito Pseudonym Tobia Gorrio was an Italian Vincenzo Tommasini ( 17 September 1878 – 23 December 1950) was an Italian Composer. Events 305 - Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Riccardo Zandonai ( 28 May 1883 - 5 June 1944) was an Italian Opera Composer. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 1925 ( MCMXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Turandot is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a Libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Year 1926 ( MCMXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1204 - Baldwin IX Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire. Year 1928 ( MCMXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. "Adagio for Strings" is a work for String orchestra, arranged by the American Composer Samuel Barber from his first string quartet Samuel Osborne Barber II ( March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American Composer of Orchestral, Opera, The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a Radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. His entire catalog of commercial recordings was issued by RCA Victor, save for two single-sided recordings for Brunswick in 1926 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and a series of excellent recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1937 to 1939 for EMI's HMV label (some issued in the USA by RCA, others released only recently by EMI and Testament). RCA Records (originally The Victor Talking Machine Company, then RCA Victor is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The New York Philharmonic is the oldest active Symphony Orchestra in the United States, organized during 1842 The EMI Group is a British music company comprising the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in Besides the 1926 recordings with the Philharmonic (his first with the electrical process), Toscanini made a series of recordings with them for Victor, in Carnegie Hall, in 1929 and 1936. He also recorded with the Philadelphia Orchestra for Victor in Philadelphia's Academy of Music in 1941 and 1942. The Philadelphia Orchestra is an Orchestra based in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, in the United States. All of the RCA recordings have been digitally re-mastered (some quite poorly by RCA/BMG) and released on CD. There are also recorded concerts with various European orchestras, especially with La Scala Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Hearing Toscanini

In some of his recordings, Toscanini can be heard singing or humming. This is especially true in RCA's recording of La Boheme by Puccini, recorded during broadcast concerts in NBC Studio 8-H in 1946. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 Tenor Jan Peerce later said that Toscanini's deep involvement in the performances helped him to achieve the necessary emotions, especially in the final moments of the opera when the beloved Mimi (played by Licia Albanese) is dying. WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Jan Peerce ( June 3, 1904 – December 15, 1984) was WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Licia Albanese (born July 22, 1913, in Bari, During the "Tuba mirum" section of the January 1951 live recording of Verdi's Requiem Mass, Toscanini can be heard on the disc shouting as the brass blares during that terrifying music. The Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral Mass (called the Requiem from the first word of the In his recording of Richard Strauss' Death and Transfiguration, Toscanini sighed loudly near the end of the music; RCA Victor left this in the released recording.

Specialties

He was especially famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Debussy and his own compatriots Rossini, Verdi, Boito and Puccini. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer Achille-Claude Debussy (aʃil klod dəbysi (August 22 1862 &ndash March 25 1918 was a French Composer. Arrigo Boito ( February 24, 1842 &ndash June 10, 1918) aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito Pseudonym Tobia Gorrio was an Italian WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini ( December 22, 1858 He made many recordings, especially towards the end of his career, many of which are still in print. In addition, there are many recordings available of his broadcast performances, as well as his remarkable rehearsals with the NBC Symphony.

Charles O'Connell on Toscanini

Charles O'Connell, who produced many of Toscanini's RCA Victor recordings in the 1930s and 1940s, said that RCA quickly decided to record the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, whenever possible, after being disappointed with the dull-sounding early recordings in Studio 8-H in 1938 and 1939. (Nevertheless, there were a few recording sessions in Studio 8-H as late as June 1950, probably because of improvements to the acoustics in 1939. ) O'Connell, and others, often complained that Toscanini was little interested in recording and, as Harvey Sachs wrote, he was frequently disappointed that the microphones failed to pick up everything he heard during the recording sessions. O'Connell even complained of Toscanini's failure to cooperate with RCA during the sessions. Toscanini himself was often disappointed that the 78-rpm discs failed to fully capture all of the instruments in the orchestra; those fortunate to attend Toscanini's concerts later said the NBC string section was especially outstanding. [12]

Philadelphia Orchestra recordings

O'Connell also extensively documented RCA's technical problems with the Philadelphia Orchestra recordings of 1941-42, which required extensive electronic editing before they could be released (well after Toscanini's death, beginning in 1963, with the rest following in the 1970s). Harvey Sachs also recounts that the masters were damaged, possibly due to somewhat inferior materials imposed by wartime restrictions. Unfortunately, a Musicians Union recording ban from 1942 to 1944 prevented immediate retakes; by the time the ban ended, the Philadelphia Orchestra had left RCA Victor for Columbia Records and RCA apparently was hesitant to promote the orchestra any further. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company Eventually, Toscanini recorded all of the same music with the NBC Symphony. In 1968, the Philadelphia Orchestra returned to RCA and the company was more favorable toward issuing all of the discs. As for the historic recordings, even on the CD versions, first released in 1991, some of the sides have considerable surface noise and some distortion, especially during the louder passages. The best sound of the recordings is the Schubert ninth symphony, which had been restored by RCA first (in 1963) and released on LP. The rest of the recordings were not issued until 1977 and, as Sachs noted, by that time some of the masters may have deteriorated further. Nevertheless, despite the occasional problems, the entire set is an impressive document of Toscanini's collaboration with the Philadelphia musicians and can be best heard in the 2006 RCA/BMG reissue, which benefit from recent advances in digital restoration. The listener can hear the rich sound of the orchestra, developed by Leopold Stokowski and Eugene Ormandy, enhanced by the more dynamic and aggressive conducting of the Italian maestro. Ormandy especially expressed his appreciation for what Toscanini achieved with the orchestra.

Later recordings

Later, when high fidelity and long playing records were introduced, the conductor said he was much happier making recordings. Sachs wrote that an Italian journalist, Raffaele Calzini, said Toscanini told him, "My son Walter sent me the test pressing of the [Beethoven] Ninth from America; I want to hear and check how it came out, and possibly to correct it. These long-playing records often make me happy. "

Greatest recordings

By most accounts, among his greatest recordings are the following (with the NBC Symphony unless otherwise shown):

Rarities

There are many pieces which Toscanini never recorded in the studio; among these, some of the most interesting surviving recordings (off-the-air) include:

Rehearsals and broadcasts

Many hundreds of hours of Toscanini's rehearsals were recorded. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) ( &ndash 6 April 1971 was a Russian born Composer, considered by many to Petrouchka or Petrushka ( Pétrouchka; Петрушка) is a Ballet with music by the Russian Composer Some of these have circulated in limited edition recordings. Many broadcast recordings with orchestras other than the NBC have also survived, including: The New York Philharmonic from 1933-36, 1942, and 1945; The BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1935-1939; The Lucerne Festival Orchestra; and broadcasts from the Salzburg Festival in the late 1930s. Documents of Toscanini's guest appearances with the La Scala Orchestra from 1946-1952 include a live recording of Verdi's Requiem with the young Renata Tebaldi. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was WikipediaWikiProject_Opera#Infoboxes --> Renata Tebaldi ( Pesaro, Italy Toscanini's ten NBC Symphony telecasts from 1948-1952 were preserved in kinescope films of the live broadcasts. Kinescope (ˈkɪnɨskoʊp originally referred to the Cathode ray tube used in Television receivers as named by inventor Vladimir Zworykin in 1929 These films provide unique video documentation of the passionate yet restrained podium technique for which he was well known.


Recording guide

A guide to Toscanini's recording career can be found in Mortimer H. Frank's "From the Pit to the Podium: Toscanini in America" in International Classical Record Collector (1998, 15 8-21) and Christopher Dyment's "Toscanini's European Inheritance" in International Classical Record Collector (1998, 15 22-8). Frank and Dyment also discuss Maestro Toscanini's performance history in the 50th anniversary issue of Classic Record Collector (2006, 47) Frank with 'Toscanini - Myth and Reality' (10-14) and Dyment 'A Whirlwind in London' (15-21) This issue also contains interviews with people who performed with Toscanini - Jon Tolansky 'Licia Albanese - Maestro and Me' (22-6) and 'A Mesmerising Beat: John Tolansky talks to some of those who worked with Arturo Toscanini, to discover some of the secrets of his hold over singers, orchestras and audiences. ' (34-7). There is also a feature article on Toscanini's interpretation of Brahms's First Symphony - Norman C. Nelson, 'First Among Equals [. . . ] Toscanini's interpretation of Brahms's First Symphony in the context of others' (28-33)

The Arturo Toscanini Society

In 1969, Clyde J. Key acted on a dream he had of meeting Toscanini by starting the Arturo Toscanini Society to release a number of "unapproved" live performances by Toscanini. As Time Magazine reported, Key scoured the U. S. and Europe for off-the-air transcriptions of Toscanini broadcasts, acquiring almost 5,000 transcriptions (all transferred to tape) of previously unreleased material--a complete catalogue of broadcasts by the Maestro between 1933 and 1954. It included about 50 concerts that were never broadcast, but which were recorded surreptitiously by engineers supposedly testing their equipment.

A private, nonprofit club based in Dumas, Texas, it offered members five or six LP's annually for a $25-a-year membership fee. Key's first package offering included Brahms' German Requiem, Haydn's Symphonies Nos. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer 88 and 104, and Richard Strauss' Ein Heldenleben, all NBC Symphony broadcasts dating from the late 1930s or early 1940s. Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted Ein Heldenleben (literally A Heroic Life, but usually more loosely translated as A Hero's Life) op In 1970, the Society releases included Sibelius' Symphony No. 4, Mendelssohn's "Scotish" Symphony, dating from the same NBC period; and a Rossini-Verdi-Puccini LP emanating from the post-War reopening of La Scala on May 11, 1946 with the Maestro conducting. Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born and generally known as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3 1809 &ndash November 4 1847 was a German Composer That same year it released a Beethoven bicentennial set that included the 1935 Missa Solemnis with the Philharmonic and LP's of the 1948 televised concert of the ninth symphony taken from an FM radio transcription, complete with Ben Grauer's comments. (In the early 1990s, the kinescopes of these and the other televised concerts were released by RCA with soundtracks dubbed in from the NBC radio transcriptions; in 2006, they were rereleased by Testament on DVD. )

Additional releases included a number of Beethoven symphonies recorded with the New York Philharmonic during the 1930s, a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 27 on Feb. 20, 1936, at which Rudolf Serkin made his New York debut, and one of the most celebrated underground Toscanini recordings of all, the legendary 1940 version of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis, which has better soloists (Zinka Milanov, Jussi Bjoerling, both in their prime) and a more powerful style than the 1953 recording now available on RCA/BMG, although the microphone placement was kinder to the soloists in 1940. Rudolf Serkin ( March 28, 1903 &ndash May 8, 1991) was a Bohemian-born Pianist. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. The Missa solemnis in D Major Op 123 was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven from 1819-1823

Because the Arturo Toscanini Society was nonprofit, Key said he believed he had successfully bypassed both copyright restrictions and the maze of contractual ties between RCA and the Maestro's family. However, RCA's attorneys were soon looking into the matter to see if they agreed. As long as it stayed small, the Society appeared to offer little real competition to RCA. But classical-LP profits were low enough even in 1970, and piracy by fly-by-night firms so prevalent within the industry (an estimated $100 million in tape sales for 1969 alone), that even a benevolent buccaneer outfit like the Arturo Toscanini Society had to be looked at twice before it could be tolerated. [13]

Magazine and newspaper reports subsequently detailed legal action taken against Key and the Society, presumably after some of the LPs began to appear in retail stores. Toscanini fans and record collectors were dismayed because, although Toscanini had not approved the release of these performances in every case, many of them were found to be further proof of the greatness of the Maestro's musical talents. One outstanding example of a remarkable performance not approved by the Maestro was his December 1948 NBC broadcast of Dvorak's Symphonic Variations, released on an LP by the Society. Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( (often pronounced in English as; DVOR-zhahk; September 8 1841 – May 1 1904 was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed (A kinescope of the same performance, from the television simulcast, has been released on VHS and laser disc by RCA/BMG and on DVD by Testament. ) There was speculation that, the Toscanini family itself, prodded by his daughter Wanda, sought to defend the Maestro's original decisions, made mostly during his last years, on what should be released. Whatever the real reasons, the Arturo Toscanini Society was forced to disband and cease releasing any further recordings.

The Television Concerts

Arturo Toscanini was very likely the first conductor to make extended appearances on live television, beginning with an all-Wagner concert in March 1948 in Studio 8-H. Between 1948 and 1952, he conducted ten concerts telecast on NBC, including a two-part concert performance of Verdi's complete opera Aida starring Herva Nelli and Richard Tucker, and the first complete telecast of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Herva Nelli ( January 9, 1909 &ndash May 31, 1994) was an Italian -born Operatic Soprano. Richard Tucker ( August 28, 1913 &ndash January 8, 1975) was an American operatic Tenor. The Symphony No 9 in D minor Op 125 "Choral" is the last complete Symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. All of these were simulcast on radio. These concerts were all shown only once during that four-year span, but they were preserved on kinescope, though they remained unseen for many years. Kinescope (ˈkɪnɨskoʊp originally referred to the Cathode ray tube used in Television receivers as named by inventor Vladimir Zworykin in 1929

The NBC cameras were often left on Toscanini for extended periods, documenting not only his baton techniques but his deep involvement in the music. When a piece ended, Toscanini generally nodded rather than bowed, prefering to give more recognition to the soloists and the orchestra. At the end of the April 1948 telecast of the Beethoven ninth symphony, Toscanini acknowledged the vocal quartet, the orchestra, and even choral director Robert Shaw, who was asked to come forward for the audience's applause, as announcer Ben Grauer noted in the original broadcast. The Symphony No 9 in D minor Op 125 "Choral" is the last complete Symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Robert Shaw ( April 30, 1916 – January 25 Benjamin Franklin Grauer ( June 2, 1908 – May 31, 1977) was an American Radio and TV personality following

As part of a huge restoration project initiated by the Toscanini family in the late 1980s, the kinescopes were fully restored and issued on VHS and laser disc beginning in 1989. The Laserdisc (LD is an obsolete Home video disc format and was the first commercial Optical disc storage medium However, the audio portion of the sound was taken, not from the old kinescopes, which had a sub-par sound quality, but from then state-of-the-art high fidelity 33-1/3 rpm 16-inch transcriptions (1948) and audio tape recordings (1949-52) that had been made by the NBC technicians of these same concerts as they were actually taking place. High fidelity or hi-fi reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts ( Audiophiles to refer to high-quality reproduction The hi-fi audio was then perfectly and exactingly synchronized to the picture so that it now appeared as if these programs had originally been made with hi-fi sound. The original audio commentary, by NBC's longtime announcer Ben Grauer, was also replaced by Martin Bookspan's more sonically modern announcements. Benjamin Franklin Grauer ( June 2, 1908 – May 31, 1977) was an American Radio and TV personality following Martin Bookspan (born 30 July 1926) is an announcer commentator and author

Although NBC continued to broadcast the orchestra on radio until April 1954, telecasts were abandoned after March 1952. The kinescope of the last telecast, however, shows that the special lights required for the telecasts were particularly hard on the Maestro, who was then 85 years old. Possibly Toscanini himself decided not to appear on television any further.

The entire group of Toscanini videos has since been issued by Testament on DVD[14], both in England and in the U. DVD (also known as " Digital Versatile Disc " or " Digital Video Disc " - see Etymology)is S. with much improved sound and pictures. The Hymn of the Nations film has also been issued on VHS, laser disc and DVD. Toscanini's arrangement of the Socialist Internationale (then the Soviet Union's national anthem) was cut from the video, jumping from the Italian anthem to The Star-Spangled Banner, but it remains on the CD version.

The telecasts began on March 20, 1948, with an all-Wagner program, including the Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin; the overture and bacchanale from Tannhauser; "Forest Murmurs" from Siegfried; "Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine Journey" from Gotterdammerung; and "The Ride of the Valkyries" from Die Walkure. Lohengrin is a character in some German Arthurian literature The son of Parzival (Percival he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a Tannhäuser ( Middle High German: Tanhûser; died after 1265 was a German Minnesänger and Poet. ("Twilight of the Gods" – see Notes) is the last of the four Operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung Die Walküre ( The Valkyrie) is the second of the four Operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung Beethoven's ninth symphony was telecast on April 3, 1948. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. On November 13, 1948, there was an all-Brahms program, including Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in A minor (Mischa Mischakoff, violin; Frank Miller, cello); Liebeslieder-Walzer, Op. Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer 52 (with two pianists and a small chorus); and Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor. On December 3, 1948, Toscanini conducted Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550; Dvorak's Symphonic Variations, Op. Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( (often pronounced in English as; DVOR-zhahk; September 8 1841 – May 1 1904 was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed 78; and Richard Wagner's original overture to Tannhauser. Tannhäuser ( Middle High German: Tanhûser; died after 1265 was a German Minnesänger and Poet.

There were two telecasts in 1949, on March 26 and April 2, both devoted to the concert version of Verdi's Aida. This article is about the marketing term AIDA For other uses of the term see Aida (disambiguation. Portions of the audio were rerecorded in June 1954 for the commercial release of the LP records. On the video, the soloists were placed next to Toscanini, in front of the orchestra, while the members of the Robert Shaw Chorale were on risers behind the orchestra. The Robert Shaw Chorale was a professional chorus founded in New York City in 1948 by Robert Shaw, a Californian who had been drafted out of college a decade earlier

There were no telecasts in 1950, but they resumed from Carnegie Hall on November 3, 1951, with Karl Maria von Weber's overture to Euryanthe and Brahms' Symphony No. Carnegie Hall (generally ˌkɑrnɨgi ˈhɔːl is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber ( 18 December 1786 in Eutin, Holstein, Germany - 5 June 1826 in London Euryanthe is a German Romantic Opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor, Vienna Johannes Brahms ( pronounced ˈbʁaːms (May 7 1833 &ndash April 3 1897 was a German Composer 1 in C minor, Op. 68. On December 29, 1951, there was another all-Wagner program that included the two excerpts from Siegfried and Die Walkure featured on the March 1948 telecast, plus the Prelude to Act II of Lohengrin; the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde; and "Siegfried's Death and Funeral Music" from Gotterdammerung. Die Walküre ( The Valkyrie) is the second of the four Operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung Lohengrin is a character in some German Arthurian literature The son of Parzival (Percival he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a Tristan und Isolde ( Tristan and Isolde, or Tristan and Isolda) is an Opera, or Music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner ("Twilight of the Gods" – see Notes) is the last of the four Operas that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung

On March 15, 1952, Toscanini conducted the Symphonic Interlude from Cesar Franck's Rédemption; Sibelius' En Saga, Op. César Franck (December 10 1822 – November 8 1890 a Composer, Organist and music teacher of Belgian and German origin who lived in France En saga (English translation A fairy tale or A saga) is a Tone poem written by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius 9; Debussy's "Nuages" and "Fetes" from Nocturnes; and the overture of Rossini's William Tell. Achille-Claude Debussy (aʃil klod dəbysi (August 22 1862 &ndash March 25 1918 was a French Composer. Nocturnes is an Orchestral composition in three movements by the French Composer Claude Debussy. William Tell (;) The final telecast, on March 22, 1952, included Beethoven's Symphony No. Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, and Respighi's The Pines of Rome. For the astronomer see Lorenzo Respighi (1824—1889 For the crater named after Lorenzo Respighi see Respighi (crater. Pini di Roma ( English “Pines of Rome” is a 1924 work by the Italian Composer Ottorino Respighi, and is considered [15]

Toscanini and the critics

Throughout his career, Toscanini was virtually idolized by the critics, as well as by fellow musicians (with the exception of a few, such as Virgil Thomson) and by the public alike. For the American author with a similar name see Virgil Thompson (author Virgil Thomson ( November 25, 1896 - September He enjoyed the kind of critical acclaim that few musicians have consistently had. In November of 1947, one reader of Time Magazine went so far as to nominate him for Man of the Year [1], a title that has never gone to a classical musician. Time (trademarked in capitals as TIME) is a weekly American Newsmagazine, similar to Newsweek and Person of the Year (formerly Man of the Year) is an annual issue of the United States Newsmagazine Time that features and profiles

Over the past twenty-five years or so, however, as a new generation has appeared, there has been an increasing amount of revisionist criticism directed at him. For the denial and distortion of well-established historical facts see Historical revisionism (negationism. These critics contend that Toscanini was a detriment to American music rather than an asset because he neglected to perform modern classical music, placing an emphasis mostly on older European music. According to Harvey Sachs, Mortimer Frank, and B.H. Haggin, this criticism can be traced to the lack of focus on Toscanini as a conductor rather than his legacy. Harvey Sachs, (born June 8 1946 is an American - Canadian writer who has written many books on musical subjects The career of Music Critic Bernard H Haggin ( December 29, 1900 - May 28, 1987) better known as B Frank, in his recent book Toscanini: The NBC Years, rejects this revisionism quite strongly [2], and cites the author Joseph Horowitz (author of Understanding Toscanini) as perhaps the worst offender in this case. Joseph Horowitz (born 1948 New York City) is an American cultural Historian whose seven books mainly deal with the institutional history of Classical music Frank states that the revisionism has grown to the point that younger listeners and critics, who have not heard as many of Toscanini's performances as the older generation, are easily influenced by it, and as a result, his reputation, extraordinarily high in the years that he was active, has suffered a decline. Conversely, Joseph Horowitz contends that those who keep the Toscanini legend alive are members of a "Toscanini cult", an idea not altogether refuted by Frank, but not embraced by him, either.

Several critics, such as Virgil Thomson, have taken Toscanini to task for not paying enough attention to the "modern repertoire" (i. e. , twentieth-century composers), forgetting that during Toscanini's middle years, such luminaries as Claude Debussy, whose music the conductor held in very high regard, were considered extremely modern. Achille-Claude Debussy (aʃil klod dəbysi (August 22 1862 &ndash March 25 1918 was a French Composer. The aforementioned Joseph Horowitz is another writer who feels that Toscanini should have paid more attention to modern-day composers.

The Toscanini Legacy

Toscanini on the cover of Time magazine, 1948
Toscanini on the cover of Time magazine, 1948

In 1986, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts purchased the bulk of Toscanini's papers, scores and sound recordings from his heirs. Named The Toscanini Legacy, this vast collection contains thousands of letters, programs and various documents, over 1,800 scores and more than 400 hours of sound recordings. A finding aid for the scores is available on the library's website. In house finding aids are available for other parts of the collection.

The Library also has many other collections that have Toscanini materials in them, such as the Bruno Walter papers, the Fiorello H. La Guardia papers, and a collection of material from Rose Bampton.

Toscanini was featured three times on the cover of Time magazine, in 1926, 1934, and again in 1948.

Quotations

Toscanini in film

References

  1. ^ Sachs, Harvey (1978). Toscanini. Da Capo Press. ISBN 030680137X.  
  2. ^ Plaskin, 195.
  3. ^ Sachs, Toscanini, 154.
  4. ^ Sachs, Toscanini, 211.
  5. ^ Plaskin, 195.
  6. ^ Farrell, Nicholas (2005). Mussolini: a New Life. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. , p. 238. ISBN 1842121235.  
  7. ^ RCA Victor liner notes
  8. ^ Taubman in 1951 (at page 289) quotes him (without citation) as saying "I asked myself, did I conduct that? Did I work two weeks memorizing that symphony? Impossible! I was stupid!" The violist William Carboni, when interviewed by Haggin in 1967 (at pages 54-55 of The Toscanini Musicians Knew) quotes him (without citation) as saying "Did I play this? I must have been crazy. " Marek in 1975 (at page 234) quotes him (without citation) as saying "Did I really learn and conduct such junk?"
  9. ^ Frank, Mortimer H. "A Toscanini Odyssey", The Juilliard Journal Online, April 2002. Accessed February 26, 2008. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common "That archive was housed at Wave Hill, Toscanini's Riverdale residence during World War II. "
  10. ^ Michael Kennedy (12 May 2002). Conductor con brio. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title
  11. ^ Catherine Milner (20 Apr 2002). Letters detail Toscanini's affairs. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-04-28. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title
  12. ^ Eyewitness accounts by William Knorp and others
  13. ^ Time, March 2, 1970
  14. ^ Testament Classic Recordings web site
  15. ^ http://amazon.com
  16. ^ Mosco Carner, Puccini, 1974; Howard Taubman, Toscanini, 1951; quoted in Norman Lebrecht, The Book of Musical Anecdotes
  17. ^ Il Giovane Toscanini - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - New York Times

Further reading

External links

Preceded by
unknown		 Music Director, La Scala
1898–1908		 Succeeded by
Tullio Serafin
Preceded by
Tullio Serafin		 Music Director, La Scala
1921–1929		 Succeeded by
Victor de Sabata

allmusic (previously All Music Guide) is a Metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. Find A Grave is a Website allowing its users to access maintain and expand an online Database of Burial records The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally historically or aesthetically important and/or inform or reflect life in the United States The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. Tullio Serafin ( September 1, 1878 - February 2, 1968) was an Italian conductor of Opera. The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is known in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous Opera houses The theatre was Victor de Sabata ( April 10, 1892 - December 11, 1967) was an Italian conductor and Composer.
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