Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years

By Mortimer H. Frank

Book Overview

Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years details Toscanini's magnificent and heroic 17 years (1937-1954) conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The archival broadcast recordings documented and reassessed in this lively account comprise the most complete recorded legacy of Toscanini's orchestral conducting career. The broadcast recordings include his readings of many scores for which he left no approved recording, and his NBC career included performances of works he never conducted before coming to the network. The concerts and the broadcasts were immensely popular, and for generations Toscanini's name became synonymous with conducting. His legendary art and fiery personality also engendered controversy that has yet to subside, but this account takes on the challengers, accepting neither hero worship nor criticism that ignores the evidence.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1574670697
• ISBN13: 9781574670691
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Amadeus
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful book - lousy editorial review

Wonderful book which gives superb documentation about the Toscanini NBC Symphony broadcasts and the Maestros years at NBC. However if someone is going to give an editorial review they should get their facts straight (whoever Edith Eisler is) - there was no NBC Symphony tour of Japan under Toscanini.

A Wonderful Addition

This book may initially appeal to the specialist or the buff, but it is so well done that anyone interested in performance practice (or, of course, in Toscanini) should read it. An extremely sophisticated analysis of the maestro's NBC years and one that rounds out our understanding of Toscanini. Add it to your Haggin, the Sachs bio, and the old Spike Hughes book.

Meticulous book about meticulous conductor

It's true that this book is really only for fans of Arturo Toscanini, but there are many of us. It provides information not otherwise available. (And with due respect to the review above by Edith Eisler, I am certain that there never was a tour of Japan by the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and I am virtually certain that Toscanini never went to Japan to conduct any orchestra.) Mr. Frank is fair, musical, knowledgeable, and informative.

John

Most of what we know of the conducting of Arturo Toscanini comes from his recordings with the NBC Symphony, an orchestra formed by RCA for radio broadcasts and recordings from 1937-1954. As Frank points out in this excellent book, most of these recordings were made when Toscanini was in his 80's, and therefore perhaps not representative of his best work. This book tries to put these recordings in perspective by detailing and describing the NBC Broadcasts season by season. As Frank points out, some of Toscanini's best performances occured when the conductor was in front of an audience, where he was more relaxed. Frank gives a detailed season by season description of the NBC years, as well as complete program information. Also included is a complete (as possible) discography of both official and unoffical recordings. There is also a balanced discussion of the criticism and "hero worship" of the conductor in the intervening years. Other goodies: A complete list of NBC Symphony Personnel, a list of guest conductors and broadcasts, and a very interesting discussion about the "deconstructing" of the Toscanini image. After reading this book, I wanted to hear more of Toscanini's broadcast performances (and how about some of Guido Cantelli's broadcasts, also)!