[irene soggia]

Arturo Toscanini, can not miss here in the SFF!
Here is a brief biography, also carry links of the source.

http://www.google.it/url?sa=t&rct=j&...yw3nhoXErTSckA

I also include 4 images dedicated to the Master.
1: Toscanini conducts the orchestra at Metropolitan-New York-
2: The cover of "TIME" 1926
3: Toscanini in the house of Giuseppe Verdi
4: The star on the Walk of Fame dedicated to Toscanini.

Arturo Toscanini (Conductor)

Born: March 25, 1867 - Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Died: January 16, 1957 - Bronx, New York City, NY, USA

Please see above link for text.

[Ace917]

Toscanini graces many of my early LPs, the Beethoven symphonies, the operas, the overtures. By all accounts, a strict taskmaster.

[johnofphilly]

He conducted the Philly Philharmonic prior to Eugene Ormandy.
Although he died at 90 in 1957, I don't know when he left the Philly Philharmonic.
Made Time's cover in '26, '34, and '48. (Regardless of the magazine's watered down status today)

[Jake]

When Fiorello La Guardia, invited to conduct the joint police and sanitation department bands at Carnegie Hall, was asked if he wanted any special treatment for lighting purposes, he responded, "Hell no, just treat me like Toscanini."

[lorenzotedesco]

John: Magazines ain't what they used to be I guess. It did mean something once to be on the cover of Time.

Ace: Last evening I watched "He Ran All the Way" starring John Garfield and Shelley Winters. At one point the psychopathic Garfield character is trying to worm his way into Winters' family apartment and they are interrupted on the stairs by a "nerdy" looking guy who invites Winters' character up to his place bragging that he has a new copy of Beethoven's 5th with Arturo. No last name just Arturo. Hmmm Winters had to choose between Garfield and the guy with the Arturo album. She lost. She picked Garfield.

Didn't they used to describe him as the house conductor for NBC?

Larry

[BrianFStevenson]

Fascinating post, Irene, about a true giant in the world of conducting.

Quite often figures in the entertainment world have to stand up and be counted, but it is not so often that they do so at the risk of their lives as he did. A brave man as well as a great artist.

Thank you for posting!

[Amicus]

Toscanini's preference for brisk tempos and fidelity to the printed score (especially relative to other noted conductors of his day) gibe very well with contemporary classical music taste, so you could say he was ahead of his day.

He left us recordings of all four of the composers honored by Frank (with the assistance of Gordon Jenkins) in The Future, but was specially acclaimed for recordings of the Beethoven symphonies (as noted above) and of works by "Joe" Verdi, in particular the Requiem, Otello and Falstaff. I wonder if Frank had any of those in his collection?

[sschweiger]

Larry -- Toscanini WAS the house conductor of the NBC Symphony in the latter part of his career! Mr. Sarnoff worshipped The Maestro, and paid him some ridiculous amount of money (at the time), so he, Sarnoff, could one-up Mr. Paley of CBS. This was after Paley had stolen Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and other radio giants away from NBC! The Maestro also introduced a pretty good tunesmith named Giacomo Puccini to American audiences!

[Nancy]

Mr. Sarnoff "worshipped" The Maestro, and paid him some "ridiculous" amount of money (at the time), so he, Sarnoff, could 'one-up' Mr. Paley of CBS. This was after Paley had "stolen" Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and other radio giants away from NBC!

And you know this because....???

[irene soggia]

The biography of Sarnoff said that gave birth to a broadcasting system, which is a radio system with a transmitter and multiple receiver stations. It was also the chief executive of RCA, Radio Corporation of America, the foundation of the company in 1919 until 1970, when he retired from the asset.

Sarnoff was the inspiration, along with Joseph P. Kennedy, the creation of the film studio RKO Radio Pictures, obtained through the merger of several companies in the sector controlled by RCA and Joseph P. Kennedy.

Photo: David Sarnoff in 1922

Called to direct the NBC Orchestra (training violuta by the president of RCA David Sarnoff because Toscanini was to direct it), became an international celebrity, thanks to radio and television broadcasts of its concerts and numerous recordings of opera and symphonic repertoire.

[sschweiger]

Nancy -- When I started at CBS Spot Sales in '64, our VP & GM was a wonderful man named Maurie Webster, who was a dear friend of both Arthur Hull Hayes, the President of CBS Radio, and Mr. Paley, and had been a CBS employee "since the dawn of man," as he liked to say! He used to do a "History of CBS" presentation to new-hires, and loved to add throwaway lines, which wouldn't be in his regular script. I ran the slides that he used in the presentation. If the throwaway line brought laughs from his audience, he would incorporate them into the script.

When he got to the parts on the TV division, and how it naturally grew out of the Radio division, he would show slides of Jack Benny, Crosby, Red Skelton, and other legends, and say...and I'm paraphrasing, "Many of these great entertainers started their radio careers with NBC, until Mr. Paley, Mr. Hayes, and their pals on the 18th floor, with the help of the Bank of America, hired them and a number of other stars away from NBC, and added them to the CBS Family! One of the legends, however, whom Mr. Paley could never get from his buddy, Mr. Sarnoff, was the great conductor, Arturo Toscanini!" Mr. Sarnoff told Mr. Paley that Signor Toscanini meant as much to him & NBC, as one of Mr. Paley's Monets or Van Goghs (Mr. Webster would change the names of the famous painters from time to time) meant to HIM! This, of course, always bothered Mr. Paley, who "was used to getting everything he wanted!"

And then, Mr. Webster would conclude that portion of his presentation, with something like, "and, eventually, CBS had its own Toscanini," when Mr. Paley signed Leonard Bernstein to a VERY long-term TV contract! Mr. Bernstein, of course, became a matinee idol and one of our proudest possessions! Of course!

Over the six years I worked at Black Rock -- The CBS Building, I heard loads of wonderful stories from Mr. Webster; Leon Luxenberg (a neighbor from Paramus, who got me my job); and John Horn, Mr. Murrow's Line Producer on "Person To Person" (I have loads of stories about PTP's guests), who became my MENTOR, and who also followed me over to Westinghouse Broadcasting!

Nancy-- Thanks for opening this cascade of wonderful memories! Happy 4th to You & Yours, most especially "Jersey Girl" from this "Jersey Boy!" Luv Ya!

[irene soggia]

Museum Card Collection
Postcard and stamp printed by American Bank-Note Company to Commemoration Arturo Toscanini (conductor) in the Performing Arts and Artist.
Date of issue: March 25, 1989
City: New York-U.S.A.
Issue copies: 152.250.00
Print Mode: photoengraving
Face Value: 25 c

[BrianFStevenson]

Stanley: Interesting 'cascade of wonderful memories.'

Irene: Interesting postcard and stamp. I love to see postcards and stamps that tie in together.

[irene soggia]

Brian, I chose these images to show because also to me like postcards and stamps, especially those dedicated to the commemoration. They are gifts of Great Respect!

[BrianFStevenson]

Yes. Stamps are fascinating and miniature works of art that reflect social conditions, geography, history and culture in an infinite variety of ways.

[irene soggia]

Brian, I completely agree with you!

[irene soggia]

New York Public Library, which houses a large collection of photos, notes, letters and documents belonging to a famous musician : Arturo Toscanini.
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is the third largest library in North America.

A few of the has 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.

[Jake]

I love the New York Public Library. When Anna and I got married in New York City we wanted to make a few wedding photos there, but time restraints, plus permission issues, made this non-feasible.

The 2 Lions in front of the Public Library's 5th Ave side, named "Patience" and "Fortitude", celebrated their 100th anniversary last year, in 2011, I think.

[sschweiger]

Jake, I only wish I had a... let's not be overly greedy...a quarter for every hour I spent in The New York Public Library from the time I was nine years old, and my cousin Sylvia (a friend of Eydie Gorme's; from the same building) used to baby sit me every Saturday, and we'd join her friends and chase celebrities for their autographs! I did have an unusual childhood -- and loved every second! The group would meet at 10 in the Library, and we'd plan our day...which Broadway theatres, restaurants, hotels, and celebrity hangouts to target that Saturday!

As I said earlier this year, the time leading up to my seventieth birthday was going to be filled with memory after memory...more nostalgic, than sentimental; tons of happy memories; some unhappy ones. The SFF gives me a wonderful stage, and, because so much of my life has been show-business-referenced, I can drop names, situations, & experiences to which many SFFers can relate. As I've said many times, I never made the big bucks, but I've had some neat jobs, and met loads of fascinating people. I can tell enough stories & rattle off information that, over the years, a number of people have found to be somewhat entertaining.

Not exactly, Sir Noel Coward's talent to amuse; my stuff is, IMO, a step up from the boring, inane & mundane! But that's just MY opinion!

[Rich K]

Originally Posted by sschweiger

The SFF gives me a wonderful stage, and, because so much of my life has been show-business-referenced, I can drop names, situations, & experiences to which many SFFers can relate.

Stanley, keep dropping those names, situations and experiences. They're great.
By the way, my very first album, which I received for Christmas 1954, was Toscanni and the NBC Symphony Orchestra performing the Nutcracker Suite, Skater's Waltz, and William Tell Overture. Still have it.....my introduction to classical music.