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{{short description|Italian conductor (1867–1957)}}
{{redirect|Toscanini|the surname|Toscanini (surname)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{reference improve|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Arturo Toscanini
| image = Arturo Toscanini c1930.jpg
| caption = Toscanini, {{circa|1930s}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1867|03|25}}
| birth_place = [[Parma]], Italy
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1957|01|16|1867|03|25}}
| occupation = Conductor
| spouse = {{marriage|Carla de Martini|1897|1951|end=died}}
| children = 3, including [[Walter Toscanini|Walter]] and [[Wanda Toscanini|Wanda]]
}}
'''Arturo Toscanini''' ({{IPAc-en|ɑːr|ˈ|t|ʊər|oʊ|_|ˌ|t|ɒ|s|k|ə|ˈ|n|iː|n|i}}; {{IPA|it|arˈtuːro toskaˈniːni|lang}}; March 25, 1867{{spnd}}January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his [[eidetic memory]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Sachs | first=Harvey | title=Toscanini | publisher=Da Capo Press | year=1978 | isbn=0-306-80137-X}}</ref> He was at various times the music director of [[La Scala]] in Milan and the [[New York Philharmonic]]. Later in his career, he was appointed the first music director of the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]] (1937–1954), and this led to his becoming a household name, especially in the United States, through his radio and television broadcasts and many recordings of the operatic and symphonic repertoire.

==Biography==

===Early years===
Toscanini was born in [[Parma]], Emilia-Romagna, His father was a tailor. He won a scholarship to the [[Parma Conservatory]], where he studied the cello. Living conditions at the conservatory were harsh and strict. For example, the menu at the conservatory consisted almost entirely of fish; in his later years, Toscanini steadfastly refused to eat anything that came from the sea.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

He joined the orchestra of an opera company organized by Claudio Rossi, with which he toured Brazil in 1886. After performing in São Paulo, the locally hired conductor, [[Leopoldo Miguez]] relinquished the post a few hours before the performance of ''[[Aida]]'' in [[Rio de Janeiro]] on June 25, telling the newspapers that his decision had been caused by the behavior of the orchestra. His substitute, Carlo Superti, was heavily contested by the public, failing even to give the attack to the orchestra. 
In desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant chorusmaster, who knew the whole opera from memory. Although he had no conducting experience, Toscanini was eventually persuaded by the musicians to take up the baton at 9:15&nbsp;pm, and led a performance of the two-and-a-half hour opera, completely from memory.<ref>''Jornal do Commercio'', 5th July 1886 p.1: [http://memoria.bn.br/DocReader/docreader.aspx?bib=364568_07&pasta=ano%20188&pesq=&pagfis=15636 '' Microcosmo. Theatro Imperial.'']</ref>

The public was taken by surprise, at first by the youth, charisma and sheer intensity of this unknown conductor, then by his solid musicianship. The result was astounding acclaim. For the rest of that season, Toscanini conducted 18 operas, each one an absolute success. Thus began his career as a conductor, at age 19.<ref>{{cite book | last=Tarozzi | first=Giuseppe | title=Non muore la musica – La vita e l'opera di Arturo Toscanini |page=36 | publisher=SUGARco Edizioni | year=1977 }}</ref>

[[File:Arturo Toscanini 1908.png|thumb|Toscanini in 1908]]
Upon returning to Italy, Toscanini set out on a dual path. He continued to conduct, his first appearance in Italy being at the [[Teatro Carignano]] in [[Turin]], on November&nbsp;4, 1886,<ref>Mortimer H. Frank, ''Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years'', p. 149</ref> in the world premiere of the revised version of [[Alfredo Catalani]]'s ''Edmea'' (it had its premiere in its original form at [[La Scala]], Milan, on February 27, of that year). This was the beginning of Toscanini's lifelong friendship and championing of Catalani; he even named his first daughter Wally after the heroine of Catalani's opera ''[[La Wally]]''.<ref>David Mason Greene, ''Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers'', p. 819</ref> He also returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Otello]]'' (La Scala, Milan, 1887) under the composer's supervision. 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. The composer was also impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally about Verdi's ''Te Deum'', suggesting an ''[[allargando]]'' where it was not set out in the score. Verdi said that he had left it out for fear that "certain interpreters would have exaggerated the marking".<ref>{{cite book | last=Conati | first=Marcello | page=303 | title=Encounters with Verdi | publisher=Cornell University Press | year=1986 | isbn=0-8014-9430-3|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>Verdi, however, was quick to criticise Toscanini when appropriate, as in a rehearsal of ''[[Otello]]'' where he was unhappy with the playing of the solo for four muted cellos that ushers in the final duet of the first act of ''Otello'': "Gia nella notte densa". cf. Conati et al., p. 304</ref>

===National and international fame===
Gradually, Toscanini'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 [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s ''[[La bohème]]'' and [[Ruggero Leoncavallo|Leoncavallo]]'s ''[[Pagliacci]]''. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert (in Turin, with works by [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]], [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], and [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]). He exhibited a considerable capacity for hard work, conducting 43 concerts in Turin in 1898.<ref>Opera. June 1954, p. 334</ref> By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director, from 1921 to 1929.
In December 1920, he brought the La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour during which time he made his first recordings for the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] in [[Camden, New Jersey]].<ref>"Out Today: New Victor Records for March". ''The New York Times'', March 1, 1921 (advertisement)</ref>

[[File:Toscanini caruso.png|thumb|upright|Caricature of Toscanini drawn by Enrico Caruso]]
In 1908, Toscanini joined the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York, along with [[Giulio Gatti-Casazza]] who left La Scala to assume the post as the Met's general manager. During Toscanini's seven seasons at the Met (1908–1915), he made several reforms and set many standards in opera production and performance which are still in practice today. At the end of his final season with the Metropolitan Opera in May 1915, Toscanini was set to return to Europe aboard the doomed [[RMS Lusitania|RMS ''Lusitania'']], but instead cut his concert schedule short and left a week early, aboard the Italian liner ''Duca degli Abruzzi''.<ref>{{cite magazine| title= 8 Famous People Who Missed the Lusitania| author= Greg Daugherty| magazine=Smithsonian Magazine | url= http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/8-Famous-People-Who-Missed-the-Lusitania-205849981.html| date=May 2, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007004243/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/8-Famous-People-Who-Missed-the-Lusitania-205849981.html |archive-date= Oct 7, 2013 }}</ref> Toscanini conducted the [[New York Philharmonic]] from 1926 until 1936; he toured Europe with the Philharmonic in 1930. At each performance, he and the orchestra were acclaimed by both critics and audiences. Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to appear at [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus|Bayreuth]] (1930–1931), and the New York Philharmonic was the first non-German orchestra to play there.<ref>''Time'', August 4, 1930: "[https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,740015,00.html Music: Toscanini at Bayreuth]".</ref>

In the 1930s, he conducted at the [[Salzburg Festival]] (1934–1937), as well as the 1936 inaugural concert of the Palestine Orchestra (later renamed the [[Israel Philharmonic Orchestra]]) in [[Tel Aviv]], later conducting them in [[Jerusalem]], [[Haifa]], [[Cairo]] and [[Alexandria]]. During his engagement with the New York Philharmonic, his concert master was [[Hans Lange (conductor)|Hans Lange]], the son of the last [[Paul Lange (musician)|Master of the Sultan's Music]] in Istanbul, who, later, became conductor of the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]] and the founder of the [[New Mexico Symphony Orchestra]] as a professional ensemble.<ref>"Music: Lange's own", ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', November 25, 1935 (to be found in the ''Time'' online archive)</ref>

During his career as an opera conductor, Toscanini collaborated with such artists as [[Enrico Caruso]], [[Feodor Chaliapin]], [[Ezio Pinza]], [[Giovanni Martinelli]], [[Geraldine Farrar]] and [[Aureliano Pertile]].

===Departure from Italy to the United States===
In 1919, Toscanini unsuccessfully ran on the Socialist ticket for a minor municipal office in Milan.<ref>{{cite book | last=Chotzinoff | first=Samuel | page=98 | title=Toscanini: An Intimate Portrait | publisher=Alfred A. Knopf | year=1956}}</ref> He had been called "the greatest conductor in the world" by Fascist leader [[Benito Mussolini]]. Toscanini had already become disillusioned with fascism before the October 1922 [[March on Rome]] and repeatedly defied the Italian dictator. He refused to display Mussolini's photograph or conduct the Fascist anthem ''[[Giovinezza]]'' at La Scala.<ref name="autogenerated1">Plaskin, 195.</ref> He raged to a friend, "If I were capable of killing a man, I would kill Mussolini."<ref>Sachs, ''Toscanini'', 154.</ref>

At a memorial concert for Italian composer [[Giuseppe Martucci]] on May 14, 1931, at the ''Teatro Comunale'' in [[Bologna]], Toscanini was ordered to begin by playing ''Giovinezza'', but he flatly refused, despite the presence of fascist communications minister [[Costanzo Ciano]] in the audience. Afterwards, he was, in his own words, "attacked, injured and repeatedly hit in the face" by a group of [[Blackshirts]].<ref>Sachs, ''Toscanini'', 211.</ref> Mussolini, incensed by the conductor's refusal, had his [[phone tapping|phone tapped]], placed him under constant [[surveillance]], and confiscated his passport. His passport was returned only after a world outcry over Toscanini's treatment.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Upon the outbreak of World War&nbsp;II, Toscanini left Italy. He returned in 1946 to conduct a concert for the opening of the restored La Scala Opera House, which was heavily damaged by bombing during the war.<ref>{{cite book | last=Farrell | first=Nicholas | page=238 | title=Mussolini: a New Life | publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. | year=2005 | isbn=1-84212-123-5}}</ref>

===NBC Symphony Orchestra===
[[File:Toscanini 8.jpg|thumb|upright|Arturo Toscanini]]
In 1936, Toscanini resigned from the New York Philharmonic, returned to Italy and was considering retirement; [[David Sarnoff]], president of the [[Radio Corporation of America]] (RCA), proposed creating a symphony orchestra for radio concerts and engaging Toscanini to conduct it. Toscanini was initially uninterested in the proposal, but Sarnoff sent Toscanini's friend [[Samuel Chotzinoff]] to visit the conductor in [[Milan]]; Chotzinoff was able to persuade the wary Toscanini to accept Sarnoff's offer. Toscanini returned to the United States to conduct his first broadcast concert with the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]] on December 25, 1937, in [[NBC Radio City Studios|NBC Studio 8-H]] in New York City's [[Rockefeller Center]].<ref name="Society1995">{{cite book|title=The Double reed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R1YJAQAAMAAJ|access-date=July 25, 2012|year=1995|publisher=International Double Reed Society|page=65}}</ref> The infamous dry acoustics of the specially built radio studio gave the orchestra, as heard on early broadcasts and recordings, a harsh, flat quality; some remodeling in 1942, at [[Leopold Stokowski]]'s insistence, added a bit more reverberation. In 1950, 8-H was converted into a television studio, and the NBC Symphony broadcast concerts were moved to [[Carnegie Hall]]. Studio 8-H has been home to NBC's ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' since 1975. In January 1980, [[Zubin Mehta]] and the New York Philharmonic began a series of special televised NBC concerts called ''Live From Studio 8H'', the first one being a tribute to Toscanini, punctuated by clips from his NBC television concerts.<ref>{{Citation|title=Live from Studio 8H: A Tribute to Toscanini (TV Special 1980)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335263/plotsummary/|access-date=2023-03-17|language=en-US}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=September 2023}}

The NBC broadcasts were initially preserved on large 16-inch transcription discs recorded at 33-1/3&nbsp;rpm, until NBC began using magnetic tape in 1949. NBC employed special RCA high fidelity microphones for the broadcasts, and they can be seen in some photographs of Toscanini and the orchestra. Some of Toscanini's recording sessions for [[RCA Victor]] were mastered on sound film in a process developed around 1930, as detailed by RCA Victor producer Charles O'Connell in his memoirs, ''On and Off The Record''. In addition, hundreds of hours of Toscanini's rehearsals with the NBC Symphony were preserved and are now housed in the Toscanini Legacy archive at the [[New York Public Library]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Toscanini Legacy collection of sound recordings|url=https://archives.nypl.org/rha/20445|access-date=2023-03-17|website=archives.nypl.org}}</ref>{{secondary source needed|date=September 2023}}

Toscanini was sometimes criticized for neglecting American music, but on November 5, 1938, he conducted the world premieres of two orchestral works by [[Samuel Barber]], ''[[Adagio for Strings]]'' and ''[[Essay for Orchestra (Barber)|Essay for Orchestra]]''.<ref name="Music1993">{{cite book|author=Association for the Advancement of Instrumental Music|title=The Instrumentalist|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjpLAAAAYAAJ|access-date=July 25, 2012|year=1993|publisher=The Instrumentalist}}</ref><ref name="Ewen1949">{{cite book|last=Ewen|first=David|title=American composers today: a biographical and critical guide|url=https://archive.org/details/americancomposer00ewen|url-access=registration|access-date=July 25, 2012|year=1949|publisher=H.W. Wilson Co.}}</ref> The performance received significant critical acclaim.<ref name="Music1993"/> In 1945, Toscanini led the orchestra in recording sessions for [[An American in Paris]] by [[George Gershwin]]' and the ''[[Grand Canyon Suite]]'' by [[Ferde Grofé]], with Grofé in attendance. Both works had previously been performed on broadcast concerts. He also conducted broadcast performances of [[Aaron Copland|Copland]]'s ''[[El Salón México]]''; Gershwin's ''[[Rhapsody in Blue]]'' with soloists [[Earl Wild]] and [[Benny Goodman]] and ''[[Concerto in F (Gershwin)|Piano Concerto in F]]'' with pianist [[Oscar Levant]]; and music by several other American composers, including some marches of [[John Philip Sousa]]. He even wrote his own orchestral arrangement of ''[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]'', which was incorporated into the NBC Symphony's performances of Verdi's ''[[Inno delle nazioni|Hymn of the Nations]]'', together with the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Internationale]]. (Earlier, while music director of the New York Philharmonic, he conducted music by [[Abram Chasins]], [[Bernard Wagenaar]], and [[Howard Hanson]].)<ref>A premiere of Wagenaar's Symphony No.&nbsp;2, November 10, 1932; a Chasins premiere April 8, 1931; and the first performance of Hanson's Symphony No.&nbsp;2 (the "Romantic") on March 1, 1933 (programs at archives.nyphil.org).</ref>

In 1940, Toscanini took the NBC Symphony on a tour of South America, sailing from [[Port of New York and New Jersey|New York]] on the [[ocean liner]] {{SS|Brazil|1928|6}} on May 14.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://moore-mccormack.com/SS-Brazil-1938/SS-Brazil-Timeline.htm |last1=Vinson |first1=Bill |last2=Casey |first2=Ginger Quering |title=S.S. Brazil |work=Welcome Aboard Moore-McCormack Lines |access-date=May 21, 2013}}</ref> Later that year, Toscanini had a disagreement with NBC management over their use of his musicians in other NBC broadcasts. This, among other reasons, resulted in a letter of resignation which Toscanini wrote on March 10, 1941, to RCA's president David Sarnoff. He stated that he now wished "to withdraw from the militant scene of Art" and thus declined to sign a new contract for the up-coming winter season, but left the door open for an eventual return "if my state of mind, health and rest will be improved enough". [[Leopold Stokowski]] was engaged on a three-year contract to conduct the orchestra and served as the NBC Symphony's music director from 1941 until 1944. Toscanini's state of mind soon underwent a change and he returned as Stokowski's co-conductor for the latter's second and third seasons, resuming full control in 1944.<ref>"Stokowski out of NBC Symphony; Toscanini Bans Dual Leadership." ''The New York Times'', June 8, 1944</ref>

One of the more remarkable broadcasts{{why|date=June 2023}} was in July 1942, when [[American premieres of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7|Toscanini conducted the American premiere]] of [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]'s [[Symphony No. 7 (Shostakovich)|Symphony No. 7]]. Because of World War&nbsp;II, the score was microfilmed in the Soviet Union and brought by courier to the United States. Stokowski had previously given the US premieres of Shostakovich's First, Third and Sixth Symphonies in Philadelphia, and in December 1941, urged NBC to obtain the score of the Seventh Symphony as he desired to conduct its premiere as well. Toscanini coveted this for himself resulting in a dispute between both conductors which he ultimately won. A major thunderstorm virtually obliterated the NBC radio signals in New York City, but the performance was heard elsewhere and preserved on [[transcription disc]]s.<ref>[http://mog.com/musikfriend/blog/184658 MOG.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629064834/http://mog.com/musikfriend/blog/184658 |date=June 29, 2009 }}. MOG.com. Retrieved June 7, 2012.</ref> RCA Victor first issued the recording on LP in 1967, and on compact disc in 1991.<ref>RCA Victor liner notes</ref> In Toscanini's later years, the conductor expressed disdain for the work and amazement that he had actually bothered to memorize the music and conduct it.<ref>[[Howard Taubman|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 [[B. H. Haggin|Haggin]] in 1967 (at pp. 54–55 of ''The Toscanini Musicians Knew'') quotes him (without citation) as saying "Did I play this? I must have been crazy." [[George Richard Marek|Marek]] in 1975 (at p. 234) quotes him (without citation) as saying "Did I really learn and conduct such junk?"</ref>

In the spring of 1950, Toscanini led the NBC Symphony on the orchestra's only extensive tour of the United States. It was during this tour that the well-known photograph of Toscanini riding the ski lift at [[Sun Valley, Idaho]], was taken. Toscanini and the musicians traveled on a special train chartered by NBC.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

The NBC Symphony concerts continued in Studio 8-H until 1950. That summer, 8-H was remodeled for television broadcasting, and the concerts were moved briefly to Manhattan Center, then soon thereafter moved again to Carnegie Hall at Toscanini's insistence, where many of the orchestra's recording sessions had been held due to the acrid acoustics of Studio 8-H. On April 4, 1954, Toscanini conducted his final broadcast performance, an all-Wagner program, in Carnegie Hall. During this final concert, the aging Toscanini suffered a minor lapse of concentration which became a ''[[wikt:cause célèbre|cause célèbre]]'' when broadcast technicians overreacted with panic and took the music off the air for about a minute, substituting Toscanini's recording of the Brahms ''First Symphony'' and making the lapse appear to be much worse than it actually was; many people still believe the orchestra stopped playing, but it did not; Toscanini quickly regained his composure and the concert continued.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.classicalnotes.net/reviews/toscanini_last.html |title=Toscanini: The Last Concert |author=Peter Gutmann |date=1995 |work=Classical Notes |access-date=October 9, 2015}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=While Gutmann seems to know his stuff, he's just some guy AFAIK |date=October 2015}}

[[File:Toscanini portrait circa 1950.jpg|thumb|upright|Toscanini, {{circa| 1950}}]]
In June 1954, Toscanini participated in his final RCA Victor sessions, recording re-takes of isolated unsatisfactory passages from his NBC radio broadcasts of the Verdi operas ''Aida'' and ''Un Ballo in Maschera'', for release on records. Toscanini was 87 years old when he finally retired. After his retirement in 1954, NBC disbanded the orchestra.<ref>"Survival Sought by NBC Orchestra." ''The New York Times'', June 18, 1954</ref> Most of the orchestra's membership reorganized as the [[Symphony of the Air]],<ref>"Symphony of the Air: Former NBC Symphony Players Still Great Ensemble." ''The New York Times'', November 14, 1954</ref> The ensemble appeared in concert and made recordings until its disbandment in 1963. NBC used the "NBC Symphony Orchestra" name once more for its 1963 telecast of [[Gian Carlo Menotti]]'s [[List of Christmas operas|Christmas opera]] for television, ''[[Amahl and the Night Visitors]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Toscanini prepared and conducted seven complete operas for NBC radio broadcasts: ''[[Fidelio]]'', ''[[La bohème]]'', ''[[La Traviata]]'', ''[[Otello]]'', ''[[Aida]]'', ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' and ''[[Un Ballo in Maschera]]'' (the two-part concert performances of ''Aida'' were also broadcast on television). All of these performances were eventually released on records and CD by RCA Victor, thus enabling modern listeners an opportunity to hear what an opera conducted by Toscanini sounded like. He also conducted, broadcast and recorded entire acts and various excerpts from several other operas.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

===Toscanini and Cantelli===

In May 1948, Toscanini attended a series of rehearsals at [[La Scala]], in which he was flabbergasted by the young conductor leading the orchestra, [[Guido Cantelli]]. Toscanini saw in Cantelli "a vision of his younger self", and took him under his protective wing, much like a son.<ref name="Nyt">{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=David |title=A Conductor's Career, Cut Short, Still Blazes on Recordings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/arts/music/guido-cantelli-conductor.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=20 August 2025 |date=5 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="Greenberg"/> Toscanini invited Cantelli to conduct his own NBC Symphony in New York. In the following years, he developed a strong bond with the Cantellis. In a letter, he predicted to Cantelli's wife, Iris, a bright future for her husband.<ref name="Fondazione">{{cite web |title=Il segno di Cantelli |url=https://www.fondazionetoscanini.it/il-segno-di-cantelli |publisher=[[Fondazione Arturo Toscanini]] |access-date=20 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820161632/https://www.fondazionetoscanini.it/il-segno-di-cantelli |archive-date=20 August 2025 |language=it |trans-title=The mark of Cantelli}}</ref><ref name="Greenberg">{{cite web |last1=Greenberg |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Greenberg |title=Music History Monday: This is What Heroism Looks Like |url=https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-this-is-what-heroism-looks-like/ |website=rgmusic.com |access-date=20 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820162017/https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-this-is-what-heroism-looks-like/ |archive-date=20 August 2025 |date=27 April 2020}}</ref> Cantelli, considered one of the most talented conductors ever,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=David |title=A Conductor's Career, Cut Short, Still Blazes on Recordings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/arts/music/guido-cantelli-conductor.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=20 August 2025 |date=5 July 2022|quote=Emerging as if fully formed in the works Schumann and Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Debussy, Cantelli was arguably the greatest conductor who never quite was—as the New York Times critic Olin Downes wrote in 1953, one who "understands the notes and wraps his heart around every one of them."}}</ref><ref name="Corriere">{{cite web |last1=Cappelli |first1=Valerio |url=https://www.google.com/s/roma.corriere.it/notizie/cultura_e_spettacoli/20_aprile_26/vulcano-podio-eeeadf12-8707-11ea-9b77-4fc0668b38e0.html |title=Un vulcano sul podio|publisher=[[Corriere della Sera]] |access-date=6 September 2025 |language=it |date=26 April 2020 |quote=[[Le Monde]]: «This young genius is indisputably the second [world's greatest] conductor: second, only because Maestro Toscanini preceded him».}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Greenberg |first1=Robert |author1-link=Robert Greenberg |title=Music History Monday: This is What Heroism Looks Like |url=https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-this-is-what-heroism-looks-like/ |website=rgmusic.com |access-date=20 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820162017/https://robertgreenbergmusic.com/music-history-monday-this-is-what-heroism-looks-like/ |archive-date=20 August 2025 |date=27 April 2020|quote=Cantelli was indeed one of the most prodigiously gifted conductors of his generation.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Eder |first1=Bruce |title=Guido Cantelli - Biography |url=https://classical.music.apple.com/us/artist/622943 |publisher=[[Apple Music]] |access-date=31 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250831144717/https://classical.music.apple.com/us/artist/622943 |archive-date=31 August 2025 |quote=Cantelli should have been one of the conducting giants of the 20th century.}}</ref> did indeed rise to the point of becoming [[La Scala#Principal conductors or music directors|Music Director]] of La Scala, en route to becoming director of the New York Philharmonic.<ref name="Encyclopedia">{{cite web |last1=Slonimsky |first1=Nicolas |last2=Kuhn |first2=Laura |last3=McIntire |first3=Dennis |title=Cantelli, Guido|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/cantelli-guido-0 |publisher=[[Encyclopedia.com]] |access-date=20 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820163107/https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/cantelli-guido-0 |archive-date=20 August 2025}}</ref><ref name="Nyt"/><ref name="Greenberg"/>

Cantelli was heading to New York to conduct the Philharmonic in November 1956, but he died in the [[Linee Aeree Italiane Flight 451 (1956)|Linee Aeree Italiane Flight 451 airplane clash]]. The Maestro, ailing and past 89 years of age, was waiting for Guido in New York. His family decided not to inform him of the tragedy, fearing the news might kill him. They instead contrived a fake telegram, in which Cantelli informed Toscanini that he had to delay his departure due to an attack of [[lumbago]].<ref name="Greenberg"/><ref name="Fondazione"/><ref name="Nyt"/>

===Last years===
With the help of his son Walter, Toscanini spent his last years evaluating and editing tapes and transcriptions of his broadcast performances with the NBC Symphony for possible future release on records. Many of these recordings were eventually issued by RCA Victor.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Sachs and other biographers have documented the numerous conductors, singers, and musicians who visited Toscanini during his retirement. He enjoyed watching boxing and wrestling matches, as well as comedy programs on television.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

[[File:Arturo Toscanini grave Milan 2015.jpg|thumb|Toscanini's family tomb at the [[Monumental Cemetery of Milan]] in 2015]]
Toscanini suffered a stroke on New Year's Day 1957, and he died on January 16, at the age of 89 at his home in the [[Riverdale, Bronx|Riverdale]] section of [[the Bronx]] in New York City.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Arturo Toscanini, 89, dies in sleep at New York Home|newspaper=Desert Sun|agency=IP| date=16 January 1957|volume=XXX|issue=104|page=1|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19570116.2.20&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|access-date=2023-03-17}}</ref> It was his daughter Wally's 57th birthday. Toscanini died 54 days after the death of his protégé Guido Cantelli, never being told of the death of the latter.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spedicato |first1=Emilio |author-link= Emilio Spedicato|title=Stelle della lirica di grande longevità. Capitolo 2: Arturo Toscanini |url=https://www.ilpensieromediterraneo.it/stelle-della-lirica-di-grande-longevita-capitolo-2-arturo-toscanini/ |website=www.ilpensieromediterraneo.it |publisher=Il Pensiero Mediterraneo |access-date=10 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250910074036/https://www.ilpensieromediterraneo.it/stelle-della-lirica-di-grande-longevita-capitolo-2-arturo-toscanini/ |archive-date=10 September 2025 |language=it |quote=[Toscanini] died close to the 90 years of age, a few days after the death of his favorite pupil, Cantelli, in a plane crash. |trans-title=Opera Stars of Great Longevity. Chapter 2: Arturo Toscanini}}</ref><ref name="Greenberg"/><ref name="Nyt"/> His body was returned to Italy and was entombed in the [[Cimitero Monumentale]] in Milan.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/arteecultura/personaggi/artistieletterati/arturo_toscanini |title=Turismo Milano |access-date=November 7, 2019 |archive-date=November 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191107014212/http://www.turismo.milano.it/wps/portal/tur/en/arteecultura/personaggi/artistieletterati/arturo_toscanini |url-status=dead }}</ref> His epitaph is taken from one account of his remarks concluding the 1926 premiere of Puccini's unfinished ''[[Turandot]]'': "''Qui finisce l'opera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto''" ("Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died").<ref>{{cite journal|author=William Ashbrook|author-link=William Ashbrook|year=1984|title=''Turandot'' and Its Posthumous Prima|journal=Opera Quarterly|volume=2|issue=3|pages=126–132|issn=0736-0053|id=Online|doi=10.1093/oq/2.3.126}}</ref>
During his funeral service, [[Leyla Gencer]] sang an excerpt from Verdi's ''[[Requiem (Verdi)|Requiem]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

In his will, he left his baton to his protégée [[Herva Nelli]], who sang in the broadcasts of ''Otello'', ''Aida'', ''Falstaff'', the Verdi Requiem, and ''Un ballo in maschera''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Toscanini was posthumously awarded the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 1987.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Achievement Award {{!}} GRAMMY.com |url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/lifetime-achievement-awards |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=grammy.com}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Toscanini wife and unidentified woman.jpg|thumb|Toscanini with his wife and daughter Wally]]
Toscanini married Carla De Martini on June 21, 1897, when she was not yet 20 years old. Their first child, [[Walter Toscanini|Walter]], was born on March 19, 1898. A daughter, Wally, was born on January 16, 1900. Carla gave birth to a boy, Giorgio, in September 1901, but he died of [[diphtheria]] on June 10, 1906, in [[Buenos Aires]]. Then, that same year (1906), Carla gave birth to their second daughter, [[Wanda Toscanini|Wanda]].{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Toscanini worked with many great singers and musicians throughout his career, but few impressed him as much as pianist [[Vladimir Horowitz]]. They worked together a number of times and recorded Brahms' [[Piano Concerto No. 2 (Brahms)|second piano concerto]] and Tchaikovsky's [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)|first piano concerto]] with the NBC Symphony for RCA Victor. Horowitz also became close to Toscanini and his family. In 1933, Wanda Toscanini married Horowitz, with the conductor's blessings and warnings; they remained married until Vladimir Horowitz' death in 1989. Wanda's daughter Sonia was photographed by ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' playing with the conductor.<ref>"The Maestro Plays Games with Sonia on the Lawn." ''LIFE'', November 27, 1939, 66&ndash;67</ref>

During World War&nbsp;II, Toscanini lived in [[Wave Hill (New York)|Wave Hill]], a historic home in Riverdale.<ref>Frank, Mortimer H. [http://www.juilliard.edu/update/journal/353journal_story_0204.asp "A Toscanini Odyssey"], ''The Juilliard Journal Online'', April 2002. Retrieved February 26, 2008. "That archive was housed at Wave Hill, Toscanini's Riverdale residence during World War II."</ref>

Despite the reported infidelities revealed in Toscanini's letters documented by Harvey Sachs (most famously, with soprano [[Geraldine Farrar]]), he remained married to Carla until she died on June 23, 1951, and Toscanini remained widowed.<ref>{{cite news
 |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4727826/Conductor-con-brio.html
 |title = Conductor con brio
 |newspaper = Telegraph
 |author = Michael Kennedy
 |date = May 12, 2002
|access-date = October 21, 2014
| location=London
 |author-link = Michael Kennedy (music critic)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021232712/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4727826/Conductor-con-brio.html|archive-date=October 21, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 |url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4727826/Conductor-con-brio.html
 |title = Letters detail Toscanini's affairs
 |newspaper = Telegraph
 |author = Catherine Milner
 |date = April 20, 2002
|access-date = October 21, 2014
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021232558/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1391720/Letters-detail-Toscaninis-affairs.html
 |archive-date=October 21, 2014}}</ref>

==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 dimming the house-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."{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Boult|first1=Adrian|last2=Goldberg|first2=Rachelle|date=1973|title=Stereo Strings|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/955185|journal=The Musical Times|volume=114|issue=1562|pages=378–379|doi=10.2307/955185|jstor=955185 |issn=0027-4666|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Premieres==
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 also took an active role in [[Franco Alfano|Alfano]]'s completion of Puccini's ''Turandot''.<ref>He refused to conduct the section that Alfano composed at the opera's world premiere.</ref> He conducted the first Italian performances of ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', ''[[Götterdämmerung]]'', ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]'', ''[[Pelléas et Mélisande (opera)|Pelléas et Mélisande]]'', and ''[[Euryanthe]]'', as well as the South American premieres of ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' and ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'' and the North American premieres of ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' and [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]'s [[Symphony No. 7 (Shostakovich)|Symphony No. 7]]. He also conducted the world premiere of [[Samuel Barber]]'s ''[[Adagio for Strings]].''<ref>"Toscanini Plays Two New Works." ''The New York Times'', November 6, 1938; first performance of Barber's setting for string orchestra; originally a movement of his Op. 11 string quartet.</ref>

===Operatic premieres===
* ''Edmea'' (revised version) by [[Alfredo Catalani]] – [[Turin]], November 4, 1886
* ''Pagliacci'' by [[Ruggero Leoncavallo]] – [[Milan]], May 21, 1892
* ''Guglielmo Swarten'' by Gnaga – Rome, November 15, 1892
* ''Savitri'' by Natale Canti – Bologna, December 1, 1894
* ''Emma Liona'' by Antonio Lozzi – Venice, May 24, 1895
* ''La bohème'' by [[Giacomo Puccini]] – Turin, February 1, 1896
* ''Forza d'Amore'' by [[Arturo Buzzi-Peccia]] – Turin, March 6, 1897
* ''La Camargo'' by Enrico De Leva – Turin, March 2, 1898
* ''Anton'' by Cesare Galeotii – Milan, December 17, 1900
* ''Zaza'' by Leoncavallo – Milan, November 10, 1900
* ''Le Maschere'' by [[Pietro Mascagni]] – Milan, January 17, 1901
* ''Mosè'' by Don [[Lorenzo Perosi]] – Milan, November 16, 1901
* ''Germania'' by [[Alberto Franchetti]] – Milan, March 11, 1902
* ''Oceana'' by Antonio Smareglia – Milan, January 22, 1903
* ''Cassandra'' by [[Vittorio Gnecchi]] – Bologna, December 5, 1905
* ''Gloria'' by [[Francesco Cilea]] – Milan, April 15, 1907
* ''La fanciulla del West'' by Puccini – New York, December 10, 1910
*''Madame Sans-Gène'' by [[Umberto Giordano]] – New York, January 25, 1915
* ''Debora e Jaele'' by [[Ildebrando Pizzetti]] – Milan, December 16, 1922
* ''Nerone'' by [[Arrigo Boito]] (completed by Toscanini and [[Vincenzo Tommasini]]) – Milan, May 1, 1924
* ''La Cena delle Beffe'' by Giordano – Milan, December 20, 1924
* ''I Cavalieri di Ekebu'' by Riccardo Zandonai – Milan, March 7, 1925
* ''[[Turandot]]'' by Puccini – Milan, April 25, 1926 (Note: Toscanini informed the audience that the opera was incomplete due to Puccini's death.)
* ''Fra Gherado'' by Pizzetti – Milan, May 16, 1928
* ''[[Il re]]'' by Giordano – Milan, January 12, 1929

=== Orchestral premieres ===
* ''[[Adagio for Strings]]'' and ''First Essay for Orchestra'' by [[Samuel Barber]] – [[NBC Symphony Orchestra]], New York, November 5, 1938
* Overture to [[Aida]] by [[Giuseppe Verdi]] with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York on 30 March, 1940.
* ''Western Suite'' by [[Elie Siegmeister]] – NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York, November 1945.

==Recorded legacy==
{{main|Arturo Toscanini discography}}

===Overview===
Toscanini made his first recordings in December 1920 with the La Scala Orchestra in the Trinity Church studio of the [[Victor Talking Machine Company]] in [[Camden, New Jersey]], and his last with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in June 1954 in [[Carnegie Hall]]. His entire catalog of commercial recordings was issued by [[RCA Victor]], save for two recordings for Brunswick in 1926 (his first by the electrical process) with the [[New York Philharmonic]] and a series of recordings with the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] from 1937 to 1939 for [[EMI]]'s [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] label (issued in the US by RCA Victor, EMI's American affiliate). Toscanini also conducted the New York Philharmonic in Carnegie Hall for RCA Victor in several recordings in 1929 and 1936. He made a series of long-unissued recordings with the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]] for RCA Victor in Philadelphia's Academy of Music in 1941 and 1942. All of Toscanini's commercially issued RCA Victor and EMI recordings have been digitally remastered and released on [[compact disc]]. There are also recorded concerts with various European orchestras, especially with [[La Scala]] Orchestra and the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]].
In 2012, [[RCA Red Seal]] released a new 84 CD boxed set reissue of Toscanini's complete RCA Victor recordings and commercially issued EMI recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.<ref>{{Citation|title=Arturo Toscanini: The Complete RCA Collection|date=2012|url=https://www.amazon.com/Arturo-Toscanini-The-Complete-Collection/dp/B006VKKAWQ/ref=pd_rhf_ee_shvl39|access-date=2023-03-17|publisher=RCA Red Seal|language=English}}</ref> In 2013, [[EMI Classics]] issued a 6-CD set containing Toscanini's complete EMI recordings with the BBC Symphony. 
Toscanini's dislike of recording was well-known; he especially despised the acoustic method, and for several years he recorded only sporadically as a result. He was fifty-three years old and had been conducting for thirty-four years when he made his first records in 1920, and did not begin recording on a regular basis until 1938, after he became conductor of the NBC Symphony Orchestra at the age of seventy. Over the years as the recording process improved, so did Toscanini's attitude towards making records and eventually he became more interested in preserving his performances for posterity. The majority of Toscanini's recordings were made with the NBC Symphony and cover the bulk of his repertoire. These recordings document the final phase of his 68-year conducting career.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

===Specialties===
Toscanini was especially famous for his performances of [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], [[Richard Strauss]], [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]] and his own compatriots [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]], [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]], [[Arrigo Boito|Boito]] and [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]. He made many recordings, especially towards the end of his career, most of which are still in print. In addition, there are many recordings available of his broadcast performances, as well as his rehearsals with the NBC Symphony.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

===Charles O'Connell on Toscanini===
[[Charles O'Connell (music producer)|Charles O'Connell]], who produced many of Toscanini's early NBC Symphony recordings, stated that RCA Victor decided to record the orchestra in Carnegie Hall whenever possible, after numerous customer complaints about the flat and dull-sounding early recordings made in Studio 8-H in 1938 and 1939. Nevertheless, some recording sessions continued to be held in Studio 8-H as late as June 1950, probably because of alterations to the studio beginning in 1939, including installation of an acoustical shell in 1941 at the insistence of Leopold Stokowski before he temporarily replaced Toscanini as principal conductor of the NBC Symphony in the fall of 1941. O'Connell and others often complained the Maestro was little interested in the details of recorded sound and, as Harvey Sachs wrote, Toscanini was frequently disappointed that the microphones failed to pick up everything he heard as he led the orchestra. O'Connell even complained of Toscanini's failure to cooperate with him during the sessions. Toscanini himself was often disappointed that the 78-rpm discs failed to fully capture all of the instruments in the orchestra or altered their sound to such an extent they became unrecognizable. Those who attended Toscanini's concerts later said the NBC string section was especially outstanding.<ref>Eyewitness accounts by William Knorp, B.H. Haggin and others.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}</ref>

===The Philadelphia Orchestra recordings===
O'Connell also extensively documented RCA's technical problems with the series of recordings by Toscanini and the Philadelphia Orchestra, made in 1941–42, which required extensive electronic editing before they could be issued (well after Toscanini's death, beginning in 1963, with the rest following in 1977). Harvey Sachs also recounts that the wax masters were damaged during processing, possibly because of the use of somewhat-inferior materials imposed by wartime restrictions. Toscanini had listened to several of the test pressings and had given his approval to some of the recordings, rejected others and was prepared to re-record the unsatisfactory sides. Unfortunately, the 1942-44 [[James Petrillo|Petrillo]]/[[1942–44 musicians' strike|AFM recording ban]] had begun and prevented immediate retakes; by the end of the ban over two years later, the Philadelphia Orchestra's contract with RCA Victor had expired and the orchestra had signed with [[Columbia Records]]. RCA Victor apparently was now hesitant to promote the orchestra and recordings since it was now under contract to arch-rival Columbia and declared the defective Philadelphia masters unsalvageable. When told that RCA had finally decided to scrap the Philadelphia recordings, Toscanini vehemently exclaimed, "I worked like a dog!". The conductor eventually recorded all of the same music with the NBC Symphony. The best sounding of the Philadelphia recordings is the Schubert C-Major Symphony (The "Great"), which had been successfully restored and issued by RCA Victor in 1963. In 1968, the Philadelphia Orchestra returned to RCA and the company was now more favorable toward issuing all of the discs. RCA finally released a complete edition of the Toscanini/Philadelphia recordings in 1977, and it was suggested by Sachs and others at that date some of the masters may have deteriorated further. As for the historic nature of the recordings, even on the first RCA Victor compact disc issue, released in 1991, some of the sides have considerable [[surface noise]] and some distortion, especially during the louder passages. Nevertheless, despite the occasional problems, the sound has been markedly improved on CD, and the entire set is an impressive document of Toscanini's collaboration with the Philadelphia musicians. A second RCA CD reissue of the Philadelphia recordings from 2006 makes even more effective use of digital editing and processing in an attempt to produce improved sound. Longtime Philadelphia conductor [[Eugene Ormandy]] expressed his admiration for what Toscanini achieved with the orchestra.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

===High fidelity and stereo===
When [[magnetic tape]] replaced direct wax disc recording and high fidelity long-playing records were both introduced in the late 1940s, Toscanini 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] [[Symphony No. 9 (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."<ref>Harvey Sachs, ''Toscanini'', pp. 302–303</ref>

NBC recorded all of Toscanini's broadcast performances on 16-inch {{frac|33|1|3}}&nbsp;rpm transcription discs from the start of the Maestro's broadcasts in December 1937, but the infrequent use of higher-fidelity sound film for recording sessions began as early as 1933 with the Philharmonic, and by December 1948, improved high fidelity made its appearance when RCA began using magnetic tape on a regular basis. High fidelity quickly became the norm for the company and the industry. NBC Radio followed, adopting the new technology in the fall of 1949 for its NBC Symphony broadcasts, among others. The first Toscanini recording sessions in Carnegie Hall followed immediately thereafter, although individual takes continued as with 78s, each running only about {{frac|4|1|2}} minutes. RCA continued in this vein with 7-inch tape reels until 1953, when long takes on 10-inch reels were finally implemented for the recording of Beethoven's ''Missa Solemnis''. With RCA's experiments in stereo beginning in early 1953 when two-track decks were first delivered by the engineers to the record producers (per Jack Pfeiffer, 11/77 interview, NYC, by CWR), stereo tapes were eventually made of Toscanini's final two broadcast concerts, plus the dress rehearsal for the final broadcast, as documented by Samuel Antek in ''This Was Toscanini'' and by Pfeiffer. These followed test sessions in New York's [[Manhattan Center]] in December of Delibes with members of the Boston Symphony under Pierre Monteux, in February 1954 with the full Boston Symphony under Charles Munch in Berlioz' ''Damnation of Faust'', and in early March with the NBC Symphony in Manhattan Center again under Stokowski doing the Beethoven ''Pastoral'' symphony. For Toscanini, later in March and in early April, the microphones were placed relatively close to the orchestra with limited separation, so the stereo effects were not as dramatic as the commercial "Living Stereo" recordings RCA Victor began to make in March with the Chicago Symphony, just a few weeks earlier. Two days after the final concert, [[Guido Cantelli]] took the podium in a hastily organized session to record the Franck Symphony in D minor, for RCA Victor using the same microphone and equipment set-up put in place for the Maestro. The stereo version of the recording was finally released on LP by RCA in 1978 ([[Warner Music Group]] now holds the rights and has issued several CD versions). Toscanini's June sessions were recorded monophonically to correct unsatisfactory portions of the broadcast recordings of ''Aida'' and ''Un Ballo in Maschera''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

One more example of Toscanini and the NBC Symphony in stereo now also exists in a commercially available edition. This one is of the January 27, 1951, concert devoted to the Verdi ''Requiem'', previously recorded and released in high-fidelity monophonic sound by RCA Victor. Recently a separate NBC tape of the same performance, using a different microphone in a different location, was acquired by [[Pristine Audio]]. Using modern digital technology the company constructed a stereophonic version of the performance from the two recordings which it made available in 2009. The company calls this an example of "accidental stereo".{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

===Notable recordings===
{{ external media | float = right| width = 230px | audio1 = 1952 performance featuring Arturo Toscanini (conductor) of [[Johannes Brahms]] [[Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)|Symphony No. 4 in E Minor Opus 98]] with the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]] [https://archive.org/details/JohannesBrahms-SymphonyNo.4InEMinorOp.98-PhilharmoniaOrchestra '''on archive.org''']}}

Among his most critically acclaimed recordings, many of which were not officially released during his lifetime, are the following (with the [[NBC Symphony Orchestra|NBC Symphony]] unless otherwise shown):

*[[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]], [[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 3]] "Eroica" (1953; also 1939 and 1949 recordings)
*Beethoven, [[Symphony No. 6 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 6]] "Pastoral" (1952)
*Beethoven, [[Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 7]] (1936, [[New York Philharmonic|Philharmonic-Symphony of New York]])
*Beethoven, [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 9]] (1952 and 1938) (only the 1952 recording was released officially)
*Beethoven, [[Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa Solemnis]], (1953 and 1940 NBC broadcast) (Only the 1953 version was released officially.)
*[[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]], ''[[Roméo et Juliette (Berlioz)|Roméo et Juliette]]'' (1947 NBC broadcast) (only excerpts released during Toscanini's lifetime)
*[[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|Symphony No. 1]] (1941)
*Brahms, [[Symphony No. 2 (Brahms)|Symphony No. 2]] (1952 and February 1948 broadcast)
*Brahms, Symphony No. 3 (February 1948 broadcast) (October 1952 concert, Philharmonia Orchestra)
*Brahms, [[Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)|Symphony No. 4]] (1951 and 1948 broadcast)
*[[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]], Four Symphonies, Tragic Overture and Haydn Variations, 1952, [[Philharmonia Orchestra]], London (his only appearances with that orchestra, produced by [[Walter Legge]]).
*[[Claude Debussy|Debussy]], ''[[La mer (Debussy)|La mer]]'' (1950 and 1940 broadcast; only the 1950 version was released officially)
*[[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]], [[Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)|Symphony No. 9 "From the New World"]] (1953)
*Mendelssohn, Incidental Music from ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', (NBC 1947, studio and broadcast versions; Philadelphia 1941); Scherzo, New York Philharmonic, (1929)
*[[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]], [[Symphony No. 4 (Mendelssohn)|Symphony No. 4 "Italian"]], (1954, exists in two versions: one as approved by Toscanini with excerpts from the rehearsals, and the unedited broadcast)
*Mendelssohn, [[Symphony No. 5 (Mendelssohn)|Symphony No. 5 "Reformation"]], (1942 broadcast, 1953 studio recording. The 1953 version is the one officially released.)
*[[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]], ''[[La bohème]]'' (1946 broadcast)
*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], ''[[Die Zauberflöte]]'' (1937, [[Salzburg Festival]]; poor sound)
*[[Modeste Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky]], ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]'' (1938, 1948 and 1953 broadcast, studio recording 1953, all of them in the version orchestrated by [[Maurice Ravel]]. The studio recording from January 1953 is the only one to have been officially released.)
*[[Franz Schubert|Schubert]], [[Symphony No. 9 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 9]] (Philadelphia, 1941; NBC 1947 and 1953)
*[[Tchaikovsky]], [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky)|Piano concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23]], Vladimir Horowitz and NBC Symphony, (live recording of April 25, 1943 [[War Bonds]] benefit concert at Carnegie Hall, first issued in 1959 on LP by RCA Victor)
*[[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]], ''[[Requiem (Verdi)|Requiem]]'' (1940 NBC broadcast; and 1951 studio recording)
*Verdi, ''[[Un ballo in maschera]]'' (1954 NBC broadcast)
*Verdi, ''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'' (1937, [[Salzburg Festival]] with restored sound on the Treasury of Immortal Performances label (Andante version out of print); 1950 NBC broadcast)
*Verdi, ''[[Rigoletto]]'' (Act III only, 1944; from World War&nbsp;II [[Red Cross]] benefit concert held in [[Madison Square Garden]], with the combined forces of the New York Philharmonic and the NBC Symphony; the entire concert, complete with an auctioning of one of Toscanini's batons, was released on an unofficial recording in 1995)
*Verdi, ''[[Otello]]'' (1947 NBC broadcast)
*[[Richard Wagner|Wagner]], ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' (1937, [[Salzburg Festival]]; original Selenophone sound-on-film recording restored on Treasury of Immortal Performances label (Andante version out of print).)

===Rarities===
There are many pieces which Toscanini never recorded in the studio; among these are:

*[[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]] Overture to ''Dinorah'' (1938, on Testament)<ref>{{Citation|title=NBC Symphony Broadcasts|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LPS4NO|access-date=2023-03-17|publisher=Testament UK}}</ref>
*[[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]], Suite from ''[[Petrushka (ballet)]]'' (1940, on RCA Victor)
*[[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]], Symphony No. 3 "Scottish" (1941, on Testament)
*[[Franz Schubert]], Symphony No. 2 (1940, on Testament)
*[[Dmitri Shostakovich]], Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad" (1942, on RCA Victor)
*[[Vasily Kalinnikov]], [[Symphony No. 1 (Kalinnikov)|Symphony No. 1]] (1943, on Testament)
*[[Robert Schumann|Schumann]], Symphony No. 2 (1946, on Testament)
*[[Arrigo Boito|Boito]], scenes from ''[[Mefistofele]]'' and ''[[Nerone (Boito)|Nerone]]'', [[La Scala]], Milan, 1948 – [[Arrigo Boito|Boito]] Memorial Concert.
*[[Modest Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky]], Prelude to ''[[Khovanshchina]]'' (1953)

===Rehearsals and broadcasts===
[[File:Toscanini rehearsals.jpg|thumb|A few of the hundreds of hours of rehearsal tapes featuring Toscanini, residing in the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archive of Recorded Sound, a division of the [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]]]
Many hundreds of hours of Toscanini's rehearsals were recorded. 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 to 1936, 1942, and 1945; The BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1935 to 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 until 1952 include a live recording of Verdi's ''Requiem'' with the young [[Renata Tebaldi]]. Toscanini's ten NBC Symphony telecasts from 1948 until 1952 were preserved in [[kinescope]] films of the live broadcasts. These films, issued by RCA on VHS tape and laser disc and on DVD by Testament, provide unique video documentation of the passionate yet restrained podium technique for which he was well known.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

===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 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)

===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 the magazine ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' 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 LPs annually for a $25-a-year membership fee. Key's first package offering included [[Brahms]]' ''German Requiem'', [[Haydn]]'s Symphonies Nos. 88 and 104, and [[Richard Strauss]]' ''[[Ein Heldenleben]]'', all NBC Symphony broadcasts dating from the late 1930s or early 1940s. In 1970, the Society releases included [[Sibelius]]' Symphony No. 4, [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]]'s "Scottish" 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. That same year it released a Beethoven bicentennial set that included the 1935 ''Missa Solemnis'' with the Philharmonic and LPs 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 re-released 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 February 20, 1936, at which [[Rudolf Serkin]] made his New York debut, and a 1940 broadcast version of [[Beethoven]]'s ''[[Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa Solemnis]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

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. 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 at that time (an estimated $100&nbsp;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.<ref>''Time'', March 2, 1970</ref>

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 [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]]'s ''[[Symphonic Variations (Dvořák)|Symphonic Variations]]'', released on an LP by the Society. (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, had sought to defend the Maestro's original decisions (made mostly during his last years) on what should be released. Walter Toscanini later admitted that his father likely rejected performances that were satisfactory. Whatever the real reasons, the Arturo Toscanini Society was forced to disband and cease releasing any further recordings.

==Television==
Arturo Toscanini was one of the first conductors to make extended appearances on [[live television]]. 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 (tenor)|Richard Tucker]], and the first complete telecast of Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|Ninth Symphony]]. 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]]s.<ref>Harvey Sachs, ''Toscanini''</ref>

The telecasts began on March 20, 1948, with an all-[[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] program, including the Prelude to Act III of ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]''; the overture and bacchanale from ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]''; "Forest Murmurs" from ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]''; "Dawn and Siegfried's Rhine Journey" from ''[[Götterdämmerung]]''; and "The Ride of the Valkyries" from ''[[Die Walküre]]''. On the very same day that this concert was telecast live, conductor [[Eugene Ormandy]] also made his live television concert debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/ormandy/usher.html |title=Penn Special Collections – Ormandy/Usher |publisher=Library.upenn.edu |access-date=November 1, 2012}}</ref> They performed [[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]]'s overture to ''[[Der Freischutz]]'' and [[Rachmaninoff]]'s Symphony no. 1, which had been recently rediscovered.<ref name="upenn1">{{cite web|url=http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/music/ormandy/first_concert.html |title=The First Televised Orchestra Concert |publisher=Library.upenn.edu |access-date=November 1, 2012}}</ref> The Ormandy concert was telecast by rival network CBS, but the schedules were arranged so that the two programs would not interfere with one another.<ref name="upenn1"/>

Less than a month after the first Toscanini televised concert, a complete performance by the conductor of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was telecast on April 3, 1948. On November 13, 1948, there was an all-[[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] program, including the [[Double Concerto (Brahms)|Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra in A minor]] (Mischa Mischakoff, violin; Frank Miller, cello); ''Liebeslieder-Walzer'', Op. 52 (with two pianists and a small chorus); and ''Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor.'' On December 3, 1948, Toscanini conducted [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s [[Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)|Symphony No. 40 in G minor]]; [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]]'s ''Symphonic Variations''; and Wagner's original overture to ''Tannhäuser''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

There were two Toscanini telecasts in 1949, both devoted to the concert performance of Verdi's ''[[Aida]]'' from studio 8H. Acts I and II were telecast on March 26 and III and IV on April 2. Portions of the audio were rerecorded in June 1954 for the commercial release on LP records. As the video shows, the soloists were placed close to Toscanini, in front of the orchestra, while the robed members of the [[Robert Shaw Chorale]] were on risers behind the orchestra.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

There were no Toscanini telecasts in 1950, but they resumed from [[Carnegie Hall]] on November 3, 1951, with [[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]]'s overture to ''[[Euryanthe]]'' and Brahms' [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|Symphony No. 1]]. On December 29, 1951, there was another all-Wagner program that included the two excerpts from ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'' and ''[[Die Walküre]]'' featured on the March 1948 telecast, plus the Prelude to Act II of ''[[Lohengrin (opera)|Lohengrin]]''; the Prelude and Liebestod from ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]''; and "Siegfried's Death and Funeral Music" from ''[[Götterdämmerung]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

On March 15, 1952, Toscanini conducted the Symphonic Interlude from [[César Franck|Franck]]'s ''Rédemption''; [[Jean Sibelius|Sibelius]]'s ''[[En saga]]''; [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]]'s "Nuages" and "Fêtes" from ''[[Nocturnes (Debussy)|Nocturnes]]''; and the overture of [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]]'s ''[[William Tell (opera)|William Tell]]''. The final live Toscanini telecast, on March 22, 1952, included Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 5]], and [[Ottorino Respighi|Respighi]]'s ''[[Pini di Roma|Pines of Rome]]''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

The NBC cameras were often left on Toscanini for extended periods, documenting not only his baton techniques but his deep involvement in the music. At the end of a piece, Toscanini generally nodded rather than bowed and exited the stage quickly. Although NBC continued to broadcast the orchestra on radio until April 1954, telecasts were abandoned after March 1952.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

As part of a restoration project initiated by the Toscanini family in the late 1980s, the kinescopes were fully restored and issued by RCA on VHS and [[laser disc]] beginning in 1989. The audio portion of the sound was taken, not from the noisy kinescopes, but from 33-1/3&nbsp;rpm 16-inch transcription disc and [[high fidelity]] audio tape recordings made simultaneously by RCA technicians during the televised concerts. The hi-fi audio was synchronized with the kinescope video for the home video release. Original introductions by NBC's longtime announcer [[Ben Grauer]] were replaced with new commentary by [[Martin Bookspan]]. The entire group of Toscanini videos has since been reissued by Testament on DVD, with further improvements to the sound.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

==Film==
In December 1943, Toscanini appeared in a 31-minute film for the United States [[Office of War Information]] titled ''[[Hymn of the Nations]]'', directed by [[Alexander Hammid]]. Mostly filmed in NBC's Studio 8-H, the film, narrated by [[Burgess Meredith]], consists of Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a performance of Verdi's overture to ''La forza del destino'' and ''[[Inno delle nazioni]]'' (Hymn of the Nations), a [[cantata]] which contains the national anthems of England, France, and Italy (the World War&nbsp;I allied nations), to which Toscanini added the Soviet "[[Internationale]]" and "[[The Star-Spangled Banner]]". Tenor [[Jan Peerce]] and the [[Westminster Choir]] performed in the latter work.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-01-13|title=Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations|url=https://time.com/archive/6775098/cinema-toscanini-hymn-of-the-nations/|access-date=2023-03-17|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113155431/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,778680,00.html |archive-date=January 13, 2009 }}</ref>

The film was commercially released by RCA/BMG on DVD in 2004. The "Internationale" was cut from the 1943 film after its original release, but the complete recording of ''Hymn of the Nations'' including the "Internationale" can be heard on all RCA LP and CD releases of the cantata.<ref>{{Citation|last=Rosen|first=Peter|title=Toscanini: The Maestro / Verdi - Hymn of the Nations|date=March 9, 2004 |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00017HWLW|access-date=2023-03-17|language=English}}</ref> ''Hymn of the Nations'' was nominated for a 1944 [[Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject|Best Documentary Short]].<ref>{{IMDb title|0036023|Hymn of the Nations}}</ref>

''[[Toscanini: The Maestro]]'' is a 1985 documentary made for cable television. It was originally televised on [[Bravo (American TV network)|Bravo]], and subsequently on [[PBS]], in 1988.<ref>{{cite web |title=Toscanini: The Maestro |url=https://cinematecadamusica.com/cinemadamusica/toscanini-the-maestro/ |website=Cinematecadamusica.com |date=April 28, 2023 }}</ref><ref name="Lat">{{cite web |last1=Henken |first1=John |title=TV REVIEW : PBS' 'Toscanini' Takes a Look at the Life, Work of the Maestro |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-08-ca-23099-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=21 August 2025 |date=8 January 1988}}</ref> The film features archival footage of the conductor and interviews with musicians who worked with him. This film was released on VHS and in 2004 on the same DVD which included the film, ''Hymn of the Nations''.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

Toscanini is the subject of the 1988 fictionalized biography ''Il giovane Toscanini'' (''[[Young Toscanini]]''), starring [[C. Thomas Howell]] and [[Elizabeth Taylor]], and directed by [[Franco Zeffirelli]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/130532/Young-Toscanini/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224070249/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/130532/Young-Toscanini/overview|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-12-24|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Matthew Tobey|date=2007|title=Movies: About ''Il Giovane Toscanini''}}</ref> It received scathing reviews and was never officially released in the United States. The film is a fictional recounting of the events that led up to Toscanini making his conducting debut in Rio de Janeiro in 1886. Although nearly all of the plot is embellished, the events surrounding the sudden and unexpected conducting debut are based on fact.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

[[John Kavanagh (actor)|John Kavanagh]] plays Toscanini in a brief scene in the 2016 biographical comedy-drama ''[[Florence Foster Jenkins (film)|Florence Foster Jenkins]]''. Toscanini was also portrayed by [[Barry Jackson (actor)|Barry Jackson]] in the 2008 dramatized documentary<ref name="BBC">{{cite web |title=Toscanini in His Own Words |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00llh29 |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=20 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820095610/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00llh29 |archive-date=20 August 2025}}</ref> ''[[Toscanini: In His Own Words]]''.<ref name="RONDO">{{cite web |last1=Fischer |first1=Guido |title=Toscanini: In His Own Words|url=https://www.rondomagazin.de/kritiken.php?kritiken_id=6394 |publisher=[[:de:Rondo (Musikmagazin)|RONDO]] |access-date=20 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250820102851/https://www.rondomagazin.de/kritiken.php?kritiken_id=6394 |archive-date=20 August 2025 |language=de |date=18 April 2009}}</ref><ref name="Shulman">{{cite journal |last1=Shulman |first1=Ivan |title=Toscanini: In His Own Words (review)- Music Library Association Volume 66, Number 3 |journal=Notes |date=March 2010 |volume=66 |issue=3 |publisher=[[Music Library Association]] |pages=640–641|doi=10.1353/not.0.0301 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/376355/summary |quote=[...] these multiple revelations are woven together to create one fictional New Year's Eve celebration at home in 1954 where a widowed Toscanini (Barry Jackson) is joined by his son Walter (Joseph Long), his daughter Wally (Carolina Giammetta), the Canadian conductor Wilfred Pelletier (Michael Brandon), his long serving assistant and friend Anita Colombo (Jennie Goossens), and Iris Cantelli, the wife of his protégé, conductor Guido Cantelli (Valentina Chico) for a discussion of the maestro's entire life.}}</ref>

==Acclaim and criticism==
Throughout his career, Toscanini was virtually idolized by the critics, as well as by most fellow musicians and the public alike. He enjoyed the kind of consistent critical acclaim during his life that few other musicians have had.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} He was featured three times on the cover of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, in 1926, 1934, and again in 1948. In the magazine's history, he is the only conductor to have been so honored.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-09-30|title=TIME Magazine Cover: Arturo Toscanini - Apr. 26, 1948 - Arturo Toscanini - Conductors - Classical Music - Music|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19480426,00.html|access-date=2023-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930075957/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19480426,00.html |archive-date=September 30, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-11-29|title=TIME Magazine Cover: Arturo Toscanini - Apr. 2, 1934 - Arturo Toscanini - Conductors - Classical Music - Music|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19340402,00.html|access-date=2023-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081129125233/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19340402,00.html |archive-date=November 29, 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2008-06-18|title=TIME Magazine Cover: Arturo Toscanini - Jan. 25, 1926 - Arturo Toscanini - Conductors - Classical Music - Music|url=http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19260125,00.html|access-date=2023-03-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618165303/http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19260125,00.html |archive-date=June 18, 2008 }}</ref>{{fv|date=September 2023}}
On March 25, 1989, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a 25 cent postage stamp in his honor.<ref>[[Scott catalog]] # 2411.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=September 2023}} Some online critics such as [[Peter Gutmann (journalist)|Peter Gutmann]] have dismissed much of what was written about Toscanini during his lifetime and for about ten years afterwards as "adoring puffery".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Toscanini, The Recorded Legend |author=Peter Gutmann|url=http://www.classicalnotes.net/features/toscaweb.html#legacy|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.classicalnotes.net}}</ref> Nevertheless, composers and others who worked with Toscanini, including [[Aaron Copland]] in an audio interview, readily acknowledged what they felt was his greatness.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Search Results - - 173 Results|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/TNMBL/browse/|access-date=2023-03-17|website=UNT Digital Library|language=en}}</ref>{{fv|date=September 2023}}

[[File:Portrait photograph of Arturo Toscanini.jpg|thumb|left|Arturo Toscanini, March 1934]]
Over the past thirty years or so, as a new generation has appeared, an increasing amount of [[Historical revisionism (negationism)|revisionist]] criticism has been directed at Toscanini. These critics contend that Toscanini was ultimately a detriment to American music rather than an asset because of the tremendous marketing of him by RCA as the greatest conductor of all time and his preference to perform mostly 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. Frank, in his 2002 book ''Toscanini: The NBC Years'', rejects this revisionism quite strongly,<ref>[http://www.klassi.net/new_reviews/opus30/ Klassi.net] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040817062818/http://www.klassi.net/new_reviews/opus30/ |date=August 17, 2004 }}. Klassi.net. Retrieved June 7, 2012.</ref> and cites the author [[Joseph Horowitz]] (author of ''Understanding Toscanini'') as perhaps the most extreme of these critics. Frank writes that this revisionism has unfairly influenced younger listeners and critics, who may have not heard as many of Toscanini's performances as older listeners, and as a result, Toscanini's 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Some contemporary critics, particularly [[Virgil Thomson]], also took Toscanini to task for not paying enough attention to the "modern repertoire" (i.e., 20th-century composers, of which Thomson was one). It may be speculated, knowing Toscanini's antipathy toward much 20th-century music, that perhaps Thomson had a feeling that the conductor would never have played any of his (Thomson's) music, and that perhaps because of this, Thomson bore a resentment against him. During Toscanini's middle years, however, such now widely accepted composers as [[Richard Strauss]] and [[Claude Debussy]], whose music the conductor held in very high regard, were considered to be radical and modern. He performed works by [[Zoltán Kodály]], and in 1930 Toscanini requested him to compose a symphony which would be premiered in 1961 and dedicated to the memory of Toscanini.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-16 |title=Kodaly's Symphony |url=https://www.yourclassical.org/episode/2015/08/16/kodalys-symphony |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=Your Classical}}</ref> He also performed excerpts from [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Petrushka (ballet)|Petrushka]]'' and his ''[[Feu d'artifice]]'', two of [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]'s symphonies (Nos. 1 and 7), and three of [[George Gershwin]]'s most famous works, ''[[Rhapsody in Blue]]'', ''[[An American in Paris]]'', and the [[Concerto in F (Gershwin)|Piano Concerto in F]], though his performances of these last three works have been criticized as not being "jazzy" enough.{{who|date=March 2014}}

Another criticism leveled at Toscanini stems from the constricted sound quality that comes from many of his recordings, notably those made in NBC's [[NBC Radio City Studios|Studio 8-H]]. Studio 8-H was foremost a radio and later a television studio, not a true concert hall. Its dry [[acoustics]] lacking in much reverberation, while ideal for broadcasting, were unsuited for symphonic concerts and opera. It is widely held that Toscanini favored it because its close miking enabled listeners to hear every instrumental strand in the orchestra clearly, something in which the conductor strongly believed.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

Toscanini has also been criticized for [[metronome|metronomic]] (rhythmically too rigid) performances:

{{blockquote|Others attacked the conductor on the ground that he was a slave to the metronome. They said that his beat was inexorable, that his rhythms were rigid, that he was an enemy of Italian song and a wrecker of the art of bel canto.{{sfn|Taubman|1951}}{{rp|109}}<br />When he was young as a conductor, it was complained of Toscanini that he held the tempo and rhythm of the music firmly to its course and that it had the mechanical exactitude of a metronome.{{sfn|Taubman|1951}}{{rp|280}}|''The Maestro: The Life Of Arturo Toscanini'' (1951) by [[Howard Taubman]]}}

Toscanini has also been noted for his temper in rehearsals. Apparently less controlled later in life, he was known to vent his anger in front of the orchestra when he thought they were not playing well. One well-known example comes from a recording of a rehearsal for ''La Traviata'' in which he yells in frustration when the double basses are not quite together.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Real Toscanini: Musicians Reveal the Maestro|url=http://www.therealtoscanini.com/|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.therealtoscanini.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Toscanini in a rage - scary rehearsal {{pipe}} Ghostarchive|url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/e89cjFuxhwk|access-date=2023-03-17|website=ghostarchive.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Toscanini DESTROYS a bass section {{pipe}} Ghostarchive|url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/i-1KtSOwLXE|access-date=2023-03-17|website=ghostarchive.org}}</ref>{{secondary source needed|date=September 2023}}

The song "[[(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini)]]" is a satire of Toscanini.<ref>Tick, Judith; Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song; 2023; W. W. Norton & Company</ref>

==Legacy==
In 1939, a school in New York was established in Toscanini's name.

Beginning in 1963, NBC Radio broadcast a weekly series of programs entitled ''Toscanini: The Man Behind The Legend'', commemorating Toscanini's years with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The show, hosted by NBC announcer Ben Grauer, who had also hosted many of the original Toscanini broadcasts, featured interviews with members of the conductor's family, as well as musicians of the NBC Symphony, David Sarnoff, and noted classical musicians who had worked with the conductor, such as [[Giovanni Martinelli]]. It spotlighted partial or complete rebroadcasts of many of Toscanini's recordings. The program ran for at least three years, and did not feature any of the revisionist commentary about the conductor one finds so often today in magazines such as [[American Record Guide]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Search Results - - 173 Results|url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/TNMBL/browse/?start=170|access-date=2023-03-17|website=UNT Digital Library|language=en}}</ref>{{fv|date=September 2023}} The series was rebroadcast by [[PBS]] radio in the late 1970s.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

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 and sound recordings is available on the library's website. In-house finding aids are available for other parts of the collection.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

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]].{{citation needed|date=September 2023}}

==''The Maestro Revisited''==
In 1967, ''[[The Bell Telephone Hour]]'' telecast a program entitled ''Toscanini: The Maestro Revisited'', written and narrated by ''New York Times'' music critic [[Harold C. Schonberg]], and featuring commentary by conductors [[Eugene Ormandy]], [[George Szell]], [[Erich Leinsdorf]] and [[Milton Katims]] (who had played viola in the NBC Symphony Orchestra). The program also featured clips from two of Toscanini's television concerts, in the days before they were remastered for video and DVD.

==Quotations==
* Of German composer [[Richard Strauss]], whose political stance during World War&nbsp;II was controversial: "To Strauss the composer I take off my hat; to Strauss the man I put it back on again."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MT5MDwAAQBAJ&q=to+strauss+the+composer+i+take+off+my+hat&pg=PT203|title=The Oxford Illustrated History of the Third Reich|last=Gellately|first=Robert|date=February 14, 2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-104402-1|language=en}}</ref>
* "The conduct of my life has been, is, and will always be the echo and reflection of my conscience."{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
* "Gentlemen, be democrats in life but aristocrats in art."{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}
* Referring to the first movement of the ''[[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|Eroica]]'': "Some say this is [[Napoleon]], some [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]], some [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]]. Bah! For me it is simply [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|allegro con brio."]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/livesofgreatcomp00scho_1|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/livesofgreatcomp00scho_1/page/143 143]|quote=Toscanini allegro con brio comment.|title=The Lives of the Great Composers|last=Schonberg|first=Harold C.|date=January 1, 1997|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0-393-03857-6|language=en}}</ref>
* At the point where Puccini left off writing the finale of his unfinished opera, ''Turandot'': "Here Death triumphed over art" (Toscanini then left the opera pit, the lights went up and the audience left in silence).<ref>[[Mosco Carner]], ''Puccini'', 1974; [[Howard Taubman]], ''Toscanini'', 1951; quoted in [[Norman Lebrecht]], ''The Book of Musical Anecdotes''</ref>
* While in California in 1940, Toscanini was invited to visit a movie set at the [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] studios. There he said with tears in his eyes, "I will remember three things in my life: the sunset, the [[Grand Canyon]] and [[Eleanor Powell]]'s dancing."{{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[[Samuel Antek|Antek, Samuel]] (author) and [[Robert Hupka|Hupka, Robert]] (photographs), ''This Was Toscanini'', New York: Vanguard Press, 1963 (Essays by an NBC Symphony musician who played under Toscanini; also includes rehearsal photographs from the latter part of Toscanini's career.)
*Frank, Mortimer H., ''Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years'', New York: Amadeus Press, 2002. (Complete list and analysis of Toscanini's NBC Symphony performances and recordings.)
*[[B. H. Haggin|Haggin, B. H.]], ''Arturo Toscanini: Contemporary Recollections of the Maestro'', New York: Da Capo Press, 1989 (A reprint of ''Conversations with Toscanini'' and ''The Toscanini Musicians Knew''.)
*Horowitz, Joseph, ''Understanding Toscanini'', New York: Knopf, 1987 (contains many inaccuracies corrected by Sachs in ''Reflections on Toscanini'' and Frank in ''Arturo Toscanini: The NBC Years'')
*[[George Richard Marek|Marek, George R.]], ''Toscanini'', New York: Atheneum, 1975. {{ISBN|0-689-10655-6}} (contains inaccuracies corrected by Sachs in ''Toscanini'')
*Marsh, R. C. Toscanini on Records – Part I: ''[[High Fidelity (magazine)|High Fidelity]]'', vol. 4, 1954, pp.&nbsp;55–58
*Marsh Part II: vol 4,1955, pp.&nbsp;75–81
*Marsh Part III: vol 4,1955, pp.&nbsp;83–91
*[[Denis Matthews|Matthews, Denis]], ''Arturo Toscanini''. New York: Hippocrene, 1982. {{ISBN|0-88254-657-0}} (includes discography)
*Meyer, Donald Carl, ''The NBC Symphony Orchestra''. UMI Dissertation Services, 1994.
*O'Connell, Charles, ''The Other Side of the Record''. New York: A. A. Knopf, 1947.
*[[Harvey Sachs|Sachs, Harvey]], ''Toscanini'', New York: Prima Publishing, 1995. (Reprint of standard and best biography originally published 1978)
*Harvey Sachs, ''Reflections on Toscanini'', New York: Prima Publishing, 1993. (Series of essays on various aspects of Toscanini's life and impact)
*Harvey Sachs, ed., ''The Letters of Arturo Toscanini'', New York: Knopf, 2003.
*Harvey Sachs, ''Toscanini: Musician of Conscience'', New York/London: Liveright, 2017. (Completely new and more detailed biography.)
*[[Gisela Selden-Goth|Selden-Goth, Gisela]], editor. ''Arturo Toscanini'' Vienna: Reichner Verlag 1937
*{{cite book|first=Howard|last=Taubman|author-link=Howard Taubman|title=The Maestro: The Life of Arturo Toscanini|location=New York|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year=1951}} (contains inaccuracies corrected by Sachs in ''Toscanini'')
*[[Terry Teachout|Teachout, Terry]], ''Toscanini Lives'', ''Commentary'' Magazine, July/August 2002

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q57138}}
* {{The Interviews about|arturo-toscanini}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311033428/http://www.classicalrecordings.org/znbc/index.html Toscanini and the History of the NBC Symphony plus Live WWII broadcast]
* [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6427815 NPR special] on the selection of the 1938 radio broadcast of Toscanini conducting the NBC Orchestra to the 2005 [[National Recording Registry]]
* [https://www.scribd.com/document/342450854 Four lists compiled by Harvey Sachs as addenda to his new biography: chronological list of all performances, alphabetical list by composer of all works in repertoire, select bibliography, and reference notes for the biography itself.]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/035868}}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/101920 Arturo Toscanini recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].

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{{succession box | title=Music Director, [[La Scala]] | before=[[Franco Faccio]] | years=1898–1908 | after=[[Tullio Serafin]]}}
{{succession box | title=Music Director, La Scala | before=Tullio Serafin | years=1921–1929 | after=[[Victor de Sabata]]}}
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{{Arturo Toscanini}}
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{{Gramophone Hall of Fame}}
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