EEMIR ABDULLAH JORDAN VISIT PALESTINE HAIFA RAILWAY STATION 40S 2 PHOTOS POSTER

This is a ticket of the Palestine Orchestra to a concert that held in Levant Fair Hall in Tel Aviv at 17.2.1940 with the famous violinist Bronislaw Huberman. On the back of the ticket a Tel Aviv tax stamp. EXCELLENT, UNUSED condition, includes the control bar. A great exhibited item.

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The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisraelit) is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue is Heichal HaTarbut.HistoryThe Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was founded as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra by violinist Bronisław Huberman in 1936, at a time of the dismissal of many Jewish musicians from European orchestras.[1] Its inaugural concert took place in Tel Aviv on December 26, 1936, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Its first principal conductor was William Steinberg.Its general manager between 1938 and 1945 was Leo Kestenberg, who, like many of the orchestra members, was a German Jew forced out by the rise of Nazism and the persecution of Jews. During the Second World War, the orchestra performed 140 times before Allied soldiers, including a 1942 performance for soldiers of the Jewish Brigade at El Alamein. At the end of the war, it performed in recently liberated Belgium. In 1948, after the creation of the State of Israel, the orchestra was renamed as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.In 1955, the Orchestra played for Pope Pius XII at the Vatican, in appreciation for the assistance the Pope had given to Jewish victims of Nazism during World War Two.[2]Particular conductors notable in the history of the orchestra have included Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta. Bernstein maintained close ties with the orchestra from 1947, and in 1988, the IPO bestowed on him the title of Laureate Conductor, which he retained until his death in 1990. Mehta became the IPOs Music Advisor in 1969. The IPO did not have a formal music director, but instead "music advisors", until 1977, when Mehta was appointed the IPOs first Music Director. In 1981, his title was elevated to Music Director for Life.[3] In December 2016, the Israel Philharmonic announced that Mehta is to conclude his tenure as music director as of October 2019.[4] Principal guest conductors of the orchestra have included Yoel Levi and Gianandrea Noseda.With Mehta, the IPO has made a number of recordings for Decca. With Bernstein, the IPO recorded his own works and works of Igor Stravinsky, for Deutsche Grammophon. The IPO has also collaborated with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno in the soundtrack of the anime Macross Plus.The initial concerts of the Palestine Orchestra in December 1936, conducted by Toscanini, featured the music of Richard Wagner.[5] However, after the Kristallnacht pogroms in November 1938, the orchestra has maintained a de facto ban on Wagners work, due to that composers antisemitism and the association of his music with Nazi Germany.[6]The Secretary-General of the orchestra is Avi Shoshani. The IPO has a subscriber base numbering 26,000.[7] Commentators have noted the musically conservative tastes of the subscriber base,[8] although the IPO is dedicated to performing new works by Israeli composers, such as Avner Dorman.Among the orchestras education initiatives are the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, a partnership between the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Tel Aviv University. Created by Zubin Mehta and philanthropist Josef Buchmann to educate orchestral musicians to supply the artistic future of the IPO and other orchestras,[9] the school is located on the universitys campus in Tel Aviv and works very closely with the IPO, including orchestral training programs, master classes with IPO guest artists and special concerts at the IPOs halls. Several members of the IPO are BMSM alumni, while various IPO musicians serve as BMSM faculty members.In 2007, Lahav Shani first appeared with the IPO as guest soloist. Starting in October 2013, he appeared as guest conductor with the orchestra each year. In January 2018, the IPO announced the appointment of Shani as its next music director, effective with the 2020-2021 season, a position he retains as at April 2022.[10][11]Awards and recognitionIn 1958, the IPO was awarded the Israel Prize, in music, the first time that an organisation received the Prize.[12]Music advisorsWilliam Steinberg (1936–1938)Leonard Bernstein (1947–1949; Laureate Conductor, 1988–1990)Paul Paray (1949–1951)Bernardino MolinariJean Martinon (1957–1959)Zubin Mehta (1969–1977)Music directorsZubin Mehta (1977–2019)Lahav Shani (2020–)Boycott controversiesThe orchestras performance in London at The Proms on September 1, 2011 was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. The radio broadcast was interrupted, but the concert was broadcast again a few days later.[13] The orchestras secretary-general Avi Shoshani declared to Londons The Times newspaper that the orchestra was unlikely to ever perform in the UK again.[14] Nobody was prosecuted for the disruptions, partly because the management of the Royal Albert Hall, where the concert took place, declined to cooperate with a group of Israel-supporting lawyers.[15]American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic OrchestraBronisław Huberman (19 December 1882 – 16 June 1947) was a Polish violinist. He was known for his individualistic interpretations and was praised for his tone color, expressiveness, and flexibility. The Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius violin, which bears his name, was stolen twice and recovered once during the period in which he owned the instrument. Huberman is also remembered for founding the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (then known as the Palestine Philharmonic) and thus providing refuge from the Third Reich for nearly 1,000 European Jews.[1][2]BiographyHuberman was born in Częstochowa, Poland. In his youth he was a pupil of Mieczysław Michałowicz and Maurycy Rosen at the Warsaw Conservatory, and of Isidor Lotto in Paris. In 1892 he studied under Joseph Joachim in Berlin. Despite being only ten years old, he dazzled Joachim with performances of Louis Spohr, Henri Vieuxtemps, and the transcription of a Frédéric Chopin nocturne. However, the two did not get along well, and after Hubermans fourteenth birthday he took no more lessons. In 1893 he toured the Netherlands and Belgium as a virtuoso performer. Around this time, the six-year-old Arthur Rubinstein attended one of Hubermans concerts. Rubinsteins parents invited Huberman back to their house and the two boys struck up what would become a lifetime friendship. In 1894 Adelina Patti invited Huberman to participate in her farewell gala in London, which he did, and in the following year he actually eclipsed her in appearances in Vienna. In 1896 he performed the violin concerto of Johannes Brahms in the presence of the composer, who was stunned by the quality of his playing.He married the German actress Elza Galafrés (also described as a singer[3] and ballerina).[4] They had a son, Johannes, but the marriage did not last. She later met the Hungarian composer and pianist Ernő Dohnányi, but neither Huberman nor Dohnányis then wife would consent to divorce. Elza and Dohnányi nevertheless had a child out of wedlock in 1917, and in 1919, after Huberman had granted her a divorce, she married Dohnányi, who then adopted Hubermans son Johannes.[5][6]In the 1920s and early 1930s, Huberman toured around Europe and North America with the pianist Siegfried Schultze and performed on the most famous stages (Carnegie in New York, Scala in Milan, Musikverein in Vienna, Konzerthaus in Berlin....). Over the course of many years, the duet Huberman-Schultze were regularly invited in private by European Royal Families. Countless recordings of these artists were done during that period at the "Berliner Rundfunk" and were unfortunately destroyed during the Second World War.In 1937, a year before the Anschluss, Huberman left Vienna and took refuge in Switzerland. The following year, his career nearly ended as a result of an airplane accident in Sumatra in which his wrist and two fingers of his left hand were broken. After intensive and painful retraining he was able to resume performing. At the onset of the Second World War, Huberman was touring South Africa and was unable to return to his home in Switzerland until after the war. Shortly thereafter he fell ill from exhaustion and never regained his strength. He died in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, on 16 June 1947, at age 64.Palestine Symphony OrchestraIn 1929 Huberman first visited Palestine and developed his vision of establishing classical music in the Promised Land. In 1933, during the Nazis rise to power, Huberman declined invitations from Wilhelm Furtwängler to return to preach a "musical peace", but wrote instead an open letter to German intellectuals inviting them to remember their essential values. In 1936 he founded the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (which upon the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was renamed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra). For the orchestra, Huberman recruited leading Jewish musicians from Europe, showing "the prescience to realize that far more than a new job was at stake for these artists" — for "if it hadnt been for Huberman, dozens of musicians and their families — nearly 1000 people in all — would nearly certainly have died if they had stayed in countries including Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary."[1] He was assisted by violinist Jacob Surowicz.[7] Conductor William Steinberg, then known as Hans Wilhelm Steinberg, trained the orchestra. The first concert, on 26 December 1936, was conducted by Arturo Toscanini; Huberman had invited the Italian maestro when he heard of his refusing to perform in Germany to protest the Nazi takeover.[2] The 2012 documentary film Orchestra of Exiles by writer, director and producer Josh Aronson recreates Hubermans work creating the orchestra through interviews and reenactments.[8] Featuring interviews with Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerman, Joshua Bell, and many other notable musicians, the film details how Huberman rescued nearly 1000 Jewish musicians and their families and created the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The film also details how famous Jews and leading historical figures, such as Albert Einstein, were vital in creating the orchestra.Stradivarius theftBefore 1936, Hubermans principal instrument for his concerts was a 1713-vintage Stradivarius "Gibson," which was named after one of its early owners, the English violinist George Alfred Gibson. It was stolen twice. In 1919, it was taken from Hubermans Vienna hotel room but recovered by the police within 3 days. The second time was in New York City. On 28 February 1936, while giving a concert at Carnegie Hall, Huberman switched the Stradivarius "Gibson" with his newly acquired Guarnerius violin, leaving the Stradivarius in his dressing room during intermission. It was stolen either by New York City nightclub musician Julian Altman or a friend of his.[9] Altman kept the violin for the next half-century. Hubermans insurance company, Lloyds of London, paid him US$30,000 for the loss in 1936.Altman went on to become a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and performed with the stolen Stradivarius for many years. In 1985, Altman made a deathbed confession to his wife, Marcelle Hall, that he had stolen the violin. Two years later, she returned it to Lloyds and collected a finders fee of US$263,000. The instrument underwent a 9-month restoration by J & A Beare Ltd., in London. In 1988, Lloyds sold it for US$1.2 million to British violinist Norbert Brainin. In October 2001, the American violinist Joshua Bell purchased it for just under US$4,000,000.The instrument, which is now known as the Gibson-Huberman, was the focus of the 2012 documentary The Return of the Violin by the Israeli television director Haim Hecht which featured interviews with musicians such as Joshua Bell, Zubin Mehta, Holocaust-survivor Sigmund Rolat and many other musicians.[10][11]HonoursThe town of Częstochowa renamed its orchestra as the Bronislaw Huberman Philharmonic in honor of its native violinist.[12]RecordingsExternal audioaudio icon You may hear Bronislaw Huberman performing Ludwig van Beethovens Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 with George Szell conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1934 Here on archive.orgHuberman made several commercial recordings of large-scale works, among which are:Arturo Toscanini (/ɑːrˈtʊəroʊ ˌtɒskəˈniːni/; Italian: [arˈtuːro toskaˈniːni]; March 25, 1867 – 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.[1] 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.BiographyEarly yearsToscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the local music 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.He joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. While presenting Aida in Rio de Janeiro on June 25, Leopoldo Miguez, the locally hired conductor, reached the summit of a two-month escalating conflict with the performers due to his rather poor command of the work, to the point that the singers went on strike and forced the companys general manager to seek a substitute conductor. Carlo Superti and Aristide Venturi tried unsuccessfully to finish the work.In desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant Chorus Master, 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 pm, and led a performance of the two-and-a-half hour opera, completely from memory. 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.[2]Toscanini in 1908Upon 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 4, 1886,[3] in the world premiere of the revised version of Alfredo Catalanis Edmea (it had had its premiere in its original form at La Scala, Milan, on February 27, of that year). This was the beginning of Toscaninis lifelong friendship and championing of Catalani; he even named his first daughter Wally after the heroine of Catalanis opera La Wally.[4] He also returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdis Otello (La Scala, Milan, 1887) under the composers 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 Toscaninis ability to interpret his scores. The composer was also impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally about Verdis 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".[5][6]National and international fameGradually, Toscaninis 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 Puccinis La bohème and Leoncavallos Pagliacci. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert (in Turin, with works by Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner). He exhibited a considerable capacity for hard work, conducting 43 concerts in Turin in 1898.[7] By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director, from 1921 to 1929. During this time he collaborated with Alfredo Antonini – a young pianist and organist in La Scala Orchestra.[8] In 1920, he brought the La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour during which he made his first recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company.[9]Caricature of Toscanini drawn, by Enrico CarusoIn 1908, Toscanini joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York, along with Giulio Gatti-Casazza who left La Scala to assume the post as the Mets general manager. During Toscaninis 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, but instead cut his concert schedule short and left a week early, aboard the Italian liner Duca degli Abruzzi.[10] 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 (1930–1931), and the New York Philharmonic was the first non-German orchestra to play there.[11]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, the son of the last Master of the Sultans 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.[12]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 StatesIn 1919, Toscanini unsuccessfully ran on the Socialist ticket for a minor municipal office in Milan.[13] 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 Mussolinis photograph or conduct the Fascist anthem Giovinezza at La Scala.[14] He raged to a friend, "If I were capable of killing a man, I would kill Mussolini."[15]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.[16] Mussolini, incensed by the conductors refusal, had his phone tapped, placed him under constant surveillance, and confiscated his passport. His passport was returned only after a world outcry over Toscaninis treatment.[14] Upon the outbreak of World War 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.[17]NBC Symphony OrchestraArturo ToscaniniIn 1936, Toscanini resigned from the New York Philharmonic, returned to Italy and was considering retirement; David Sarnoff, president of the Radio Corporation of America, proposed creating a symphony orchestra for radio concerts and engaging Toscanini to conduct it. Toscanini was initially uninterested in the proposal, but Sarnoff sent Toscaninis friend Samuel Chotzinoff to visit the conductor in Milan; Chotzinoff was able to persuade the wary Toscanini to accept Sarnoffs offer. Toscanini returned to the United States to conduct his first broadcast concert with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on December 25, 1937, in NBC Studio 8-H in New York Citys Rockefeller Center.[18] 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 Stokowskis 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 NBCs 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.[19]The NBC broadcasts were initially preserved on large 16-inch transcription discs recorded at 33-1/3 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 Toscaninis recording sessions for RCA Victor were mastered on sound film in a process developed around 1930, as detailed by RCA Victor producer Charles OConnell in his memoirs, On and Off The Record. In addition, hundreds of hours of Toscaninis rehearsals with the NBC Symphony were preserved and are now housed in the Toscanini Legacy archive at the New York Public Library.[20]Toscanini was sometimes unjustly 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.[21][22] The performance received significant critical acclaim.[21] In 1945, he led the orchestra in recording sessions of the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé in Carnegie Hall, attended by Grofé, and An American in Paris by George Gershwin in NBCs Studio 8-H. Both works had earlier been performed on broadcast concerts. He also conducted broadcast performances of Coplands El Salón México; Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue with soloists Earl Wild and Benny Goodman and Piano Concerto in F with pianist Oscar Levant; and music by other American composers, including marches of John Philip Sousa. He even wrote his own orchestral arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner, which was incorporated into the NBC Symphonys performances of Verdis Hymn of the Nations, together with the Soviet Internationale. (Earlier, while music director of the New York Philharmonic, he conducted music by Abram Chasins, Bernard Wagenaar, and Howard Hanson.)[23]In 1940, Toscanini took the NBC Symphony on a tour of South America, sailing from New York on the ocean liner SS Brazil on May 14.[24] 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 RCAs 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 Symphonys music director from 1941 until 1944. Toscaninis state of mind soon underwent a change and he returned as Stokowskis co-conductor for the latters second and third seasons, resuming full control in 1944.[25]One of the more-remarkable broadcasts was in July 1942, when Toscanini conducted the American premiere of Dmitri Shostakovichs Symphony No. 7. Because of World War 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 Shostakovichs 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; but Toscanini coveted this for himself and there were a number of remarkable letters between the two conductors (reproduced by Harvey Sachs in his Toscanini biography), before Stokowski agreed to let Toscanini have the privilege of conducting the first performance. Unfortunately for New York listeners, a major thunderstorm virtually obliterated the NBC radio signals there, but the performance was heard elsewhere and preserved on transcription discs.[26] RCA Victor first issued the recording on LP in 1967, and on compact disc in 1991.[27] In Toscaninis later years, the conductor expressed dislike for the work and amazement that he had actually bothered to memorize the music and conduct it.[28]In the spring of 1950, Toscanini led the NBC Symphony on the orchestras 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]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 Toscaninis insistence, where many of the orchestras recording sessions had been held due to the acrid acoustics of Studio 8-H. Toscaninis final broadcast performance, an all-Wagner program, took place on April 4, 1954, in Carnegie Hall. During this final concert, the aging Toscanini suffered a minor lapse of concentration which became a cause célèbre when broadcast technicians overreacted with panic and took the music off the air for about a minute, substituting Toscaninis 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.[29][better source needed]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 stepped down. After his retirement, NBC disbanded the Symphony in 1954.[30] Most of the orchestras membership reorganized as the Symphony of the Air,[31] 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 Menottis Christmas opera for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors.Toscanini prepared and conducted seven complete operas for NBC radio broadcasts: Fidelio, La bohème, La Traviata, Otello, Aida, 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.Last yearsWith the help of his son Walter, Toscanini spent his remaining 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.Sachs and other biographers have documented the numerous conductors, singers, and musicians who visited Toscanini during his retirement. He reportedly enjoyed watching boxing and wrestling matches, as well as comedy programs on television.[citation needed]Toscaninis family tomb at the Monumental Cemetery of Milan in 2015Toscanini suffered a stroke on New Years Day 1957, and he died on January 16, at the age of 89 at his home in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City.[32] It was his daughter Wallys 57th birthday. His body was returned to Italy and was entombed in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan.[33] His epitaph is taken from one account of his remarks concluding the 1926 premiere of Puccinis unfinished Turandot: "Qui finisce lopera, perché a questo punto il maestro è morto" ("Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died").[34] During his funeral service, Leyla Gencer sang an excerpt from Verdis Requiem.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.Toscanini was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987.Personal lifeToscanini with his wife and daughter WallyToscanini married Carla De Martini on June 21, 1897, when she was not yet 20 years old. Their first child, Walter, was born on March 19, 1898. A daughter, Wally, was born on January 16, 1900. Carla gave birth to 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 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 second piano concerto and Tchaikovskys 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 conductors blessings and warnings; they remained married until Vladimir Horowitz death in 1989. It was Wandas daughter, Sonia, who was once photographed by Life playing with the conductor.[35]During World War II, Toscanini lived in Wave Hill, a historic home in Riverdale.[36]Despite the reported infidelities revealed in Toscaninis 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.[37][38]InnovationsAt 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]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.[39]PremieresToscanini 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 Alfanos completion of Puccinis Turandot.[40] He conducted the first Italian performances of Siegfried, Götterdämmerung, Salome, 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 and Dmitri Shostakovichs Symphony No. 7. He also conducted the world premiere of Samuel Barbers Adagio for Strings.[41]Operatic premieresEdmea (revised version) by Alfredo Catalani – Turin, November 4, 1886Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo – Milan, May 21, 1892Guglielmo Swarten by Gnaga – Rome, November 15, 1892Savitri by Natale Canti – Bologna, December 1, 1894Emma Liona by Antonio Lozzi – Venice, May 24, 1895La bohème by Giacomo Puccini – Turin, February 1, 1896Forza dAmore by Arturo Buzzi-Peccia – Turin, March 6, 1897La Camargo by Enrico De Leva – Turin, March 2, 1898Anton by Cesare Galeotii – Milan, December 17, 1900Zaza by Leoncavallo – Milan, November 10, 1900Le Maschere by Pietro Mascagni – Milan, January 17, 1901Mosè by Don Lorenzo Perosi – Milan, November 16, 1901Germania by Alberto Franchetti – Milan, March 11, 1902Oceana by Antonio Smareglia – Milan, January 22, 1903Cassandra by Vittorio Gnecchi – Bologna, December 5, 1905Gloria by Francesco Cilea – Milan, April 15, 1907La fanciulla del West by Puccini – New York, December 10, 1910Madame Sans-Gène by Umberto Giordano – New York, January 25, 1915Debora e Jaele by Ildebrando Pizzetti – Milan, December 16, 1922Nerone by Arrigo Boito (completed by Toscanini and Vincenzo Tommasini) – Milan, May 1, 1924La Cena delle Beffe by Giordano – Milan, December 20, 1924I Cavalieri di Ekebu by Riccardo Zandonai – Milan, March 7, 1925Turandot by Puccini – Milan, April 25, 1926 (Note: Toscanini informed the audience that the opera was incomplete due to Puccinis death.)Fra Gherado by Pizzetti – Milan, May 16, 1928Il re by Giordano – Milan, January 12, 1929Orchestral premieresAdagio for Strings and First Essay for Orchestra by Samuel Barber – NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York, November 5, 1938Western Suite by Elie Siegmeister – NBC Symphony Orchestra, New York, November 1945.Recorded legacyMain article: Arturo Toscanini discographyOverviewToscanini 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 excellent recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1937 to 1939 for EMIs His Masters Voice label (issued in the US by RCA Victor, HMV/EMIs 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 Philadelphias Academy of Music in 1941 and 1942. All of Toscaninis commercially issued RCA Victor and HMV 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 Toscaninis complete RCA Victor recordings and commercially issued HMV recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.[42] In 2013, EMI Classics issued a 6-CD set containing Toscaninis complete HMV recordings with the BBC Symphony. Toscaninis 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. As the recording process improved, so did Toscaninis attitude towards making records and he eventually became more interested in preserving his performances for posterity. The majority of Toscaninis 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.SpecialtiesToscanini was especially famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Debussy and his own compatriots Rossini, Verdi, Boito and 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]Charles OConnell on ToscaniniCharles OConnell, who produced many of Toscaninis RCA Victor recordings in the 1930s and early 1940s, said that RCA Victor decided to record the NBC Symphony 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 in Studio 8-H persisted as late as June 1950, probably because of alterations to the studio beginning in 1939, including installation of an acoustical shell in 1941 at Leopold Stokowskis insistence, before he would temporarily replace Toscanini as principal conductor in the fall.) OConnell 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. OConnell even complained of Toscaninis 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 Toscaninis concerts later said the NBC string section was especially outstanding.[43]Philadelphia Orchestra recordingsOConnell also extensively documented RCAs technical problems with the Philadelphia Orchestra recordings of 1941–42, which required extensive electronic editing before they could be issued (well after Toscaninis death, beginning in 1963, with the rest following in 1977). Harvey Sachs also recounts that the 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 Petrillo/AFM recording ban had begun and prevented immediate retakes; by the end of the ban over two years later, the Philadelphia Orchestras 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 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 Symphony No. 9 (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 more favorable toward issuing all of the discs. When RCA finally released a complete edition of the Toscanini/Philadelphia recordings in 1977, Sachs and others suggested that 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 Toscaninis collaboration with the Philadelphia musicians. A second RCA CD reissue from 2006 makes 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.High fidelity and stereoWhen 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] 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."[44]NBC recorded all of Toscaninis broadcast performances on 16-inch 33+1⁄3 rpm transcription discs from the start of the Maestros 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 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 Beethovens Missa Solemnis. With RCAs 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 Toscaninis 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 Yorks 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). Toscaninis June sessions were recorded monophonically to correct unsatisfactory portions of the broadcast recordings of Aida and Un Ballo in Maschera.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".Notable recordingsExternal audioaudio icon 1952 performance featuring Arturo Toscanini (conductor) of Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 4 in E Minor Opus 98 with the Philharmonia Orchestra on archive.orgAmong his most critically acclaimed recordings, many of which were not officially released during his lifetime, are the following (with the NBC Symphony unless otherwise shown):Beethoven, Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" (1953; also 1939 and 1949 recordings)Beethoven, Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" (1952)Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 (1936, Philharmonic-Symphony of New York)Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 (1952 and 1938) (only the 1952 recording was released officially)Beethoven, Missa Solemnis, (1953 and 1940 NBC broadcast) (Only the 1953 version was released officially.)Berlioz, Roméo et Juliette (1947 NBC broadcast) (only excerpts released during Toscaninis lifetime)Brahms, Symphony No. 1 (1941)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 (1951 and 1948 broadcast)Brahms, Four Symphonies, Tragic Overture and Haydn Variations, 1952, Philharmonia Orchestra, London (his only appearances with that orchestra, produced by Walter Legge).Debussy, La mer (1950 and 1940 broadcast; only the 1950 version was released officially)Dvořák, Symphony No. 9 "From the New World" (1953)Mendelssohn, Incidental Music from A Midsummer Nights Dream, (NBC 1947, studio and broadcast versions; Philadelphia 1941); Scherzo, New York Philharmonic, (1929)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 "Reformation", (1942 broadcast, 1953 studio recording. The 1953 version is the one officially released.)Puccini, La bohème (1946 broadcast)Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (1937, Salzburg Festival; poor sound)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.)Schubert, Symphony No. 9 (Philadelphia, 1941; NBC 1947 and 1953)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)Verdi, Requiem (1940 NBC broadcast; and 1951 studio recording)Verdi, Un ballo in maschera (1954 NBC broadcast)Verdi, 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 IV only, 1944; from World War 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 Toscaninis batons, was released on an unofficial recording in 1995)Verdi, Otello (1947 NBC broadcast)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).)RaritiesThere are many pieces which Toscanini never recorded in the studio; among these are:Meyerbeer Overture to Dinorah (1938, on Testament)[45]Stravinsky, Suite from Petrushka (ballet) (1940, on RCA Victor)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 (1943, on Testament)Schumann, Symphony No. 2 (1946, on Testament)Boito, scenes from Mefistofele and Nerone, La Scala, Milan, 1948 – Boito Memorial Concert.Mussorgsky, Prelude to Khovanshchina (1953)Rehearsals and broadcastsA 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 ArtsMany hundreds of hours of Toscaninis 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 Toscaninis guest appearances with the La Scala Orchestra from 1946 until 1952 include a live recording of Verdis Requiem with the young Renata Tebaldi. Toscaninis 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]Recording guideA guide to Toscaninis recording career can be found in Mortimer H. Franks "From the Pit to the Podium: Toscanini in America" in International Classical Record Collector (1998, 15 8–21) and Christopher Dyments "Toscaninis European Inheritance" in International Classical Record Collector (1998, 15 22–8). Frank and Dyment also discuss Maestro Toscaninis 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 Toscaninis interpretation of Brahmss First Symphony – Norman C. Nelson, First Among Equals ... Toscaninis interpretation of Brahmss First Symphony in the context of others (28–33)Arturo Toscanini SocietyIn 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 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. Keys first package offering included Brahms German Requiem, Haydns 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, Mendelssohns "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 Grauers 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 Mozarts Piano Concerto No. 27 on February 20, 1936, at which Rudolf Serkin made his New York debut, and a 1940 broadcast version of Beethovens Missa Solemnis.[citation needed]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 Maestros family. RCAs 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 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.[46]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 Maestros musical talents. One outstanding example of a remarkable performance not approved by the Maestro was his December 1948 NBC broadcast of Dvořáks 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 Maestros 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.TelevisionArturo 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 Verdis complete opera Aida starring Herva Nelli and Richard Tucker, and the first complete telecast of Beethovens 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 kinescopes.[47]The telecasts began on March 20, 1948, with an all-Wagner program, including the Prelude to Act III of Lohengrin; the overture and bacchanale from Tannhäuser; "Forest Murmurs" from Siegfried; "Dawn and Siegfrieds 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.[48] They performed Webers overture to Der Freischutz and Rachmaninoffs Symphony no. 1, which had been recently rediscovered.[49] 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.[49]Less than a month after the first Toscanini televised concert, a complete performance by the conductor of Beethovens Ninth Symphony was telecast on April 3, 1948. On November 13, 1948, there was an all-Brahms program, including the 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 Mozarts Symphony No. 40 in G minor; Dvořáks Symphonic Variations; and Wagners original overture to Tannhäuser.There were two Toscanini telecasts in 1949, both devoted to the concert performance of Verdis 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.There were no Toscanini telecasts in 1950, but they resumed from Carnegie Hall on November 3, 1951, with Webers overture to Euryanthe and Brahms Symphony No. 1. On December 29, 1951, there was another all-Wagner program that included the two excerpts from Siegfried and Die Walküre featured on the March 1948 telecast, plus the Prelude to Act II of Lohengrin; the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde; and "Siegfrieds Death and Funeral Music" from Götterdämmerung.On March 15, 1952, Toscanini conducted the Symphonic Interlude from Francks Rédemption; Sibeliuss En saga; Debussys "Nuages" and "Fêtes" from Nocturnes; and the overture of Rossinis William Tell. The final live Toscanini telecast, on March 22, 1952, included Beethovens Symphony No. 5, and Respighis Pines of Rome.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.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 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 NBCs 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.FilmIn December 1943, Toscanini made a 31-minute film for the United States Office of War Information called Hymn of the Nations, directed by Alexander Hammid. It was mostly filmed in NBCs Studio 8-H and consists of Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony in a performance of Verdis overture, La forza del destino and Verdis cantata Inno delle nazioni (Hymn of the Nations), which contains national anthems of England, France, and Italy (the World War 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 and the film was narrated by Burgess Meredith.[50]The film was released by RCA/BMG on DVD in 2004. Long before this time, the "Internationale" had been cut from the 1943 film, 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.[51] Hymn of the Nations was nominated for a 1944 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.[52]Toscanini: The Maestro is a 1985 documentary made for cable television. 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.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.[53] 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.Acclaim and criticismThroughout 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] He was featured three times on the cover of Time magazine, in 1926, 1934, and again in 1948. In the magazines history, he is the only conductor to have been so honored.[54][55][56] On March 25, 1989, the United States Postal Service issued a 25 cent postage stamp in his honor.[57] Some online critics such as Peter Gutmann have dismissed much of what was written about Toscanini during his lifetime and for about ten years afterwards as "adoring puffery".[58] Nevertheless, composers and others who worked with Toscanini, including Aaron Copland in an audio interview, readily acknowledged what they felt was his greatness.[59]Arturo Toscanini, March 1934Over the past thirty years or so, as a new generation has appeared, an increasing amount of 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,[60] 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 Toscaninis performances as older listeners, and as a result, Toscaninis 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]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 Toscaninis antipathy toward much 20th-century music, that perhaps Thomson had a feeling that the conductor would never have played any of his (Thomsons) music, and that perhaps because of this, Thomson bore a resentment against him. During Toscaninis 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. Toscanini also performed excerpts from Igor Stravinskys Petrushka, two of Dmitri Shostakovichs symphonies (Nos. 1 and 7), and three of George Gershwins most famous works, Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and the Piano Concerto in F, though his performances of these last three works have been criticized as not being "jazzy" enough.[who?]Another criticism leveled at Toscanini stems from the constricted sound quality that comes from many of his recordings, notably those made in NBCs 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]Toscanini has also been criticized for metronomic (rhythmically too rigid) performances:Others attacked the conductor on the ground th" class="zoomMainImage swiper-slide">


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The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisraelit) is an Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert venue is Heichal HaTarbut.HistoryThe Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was founded as the Palestine Symphony Orchestra by violinist Bronisław Huberman in 1936, at a time of the dismissal of many Jewish musicians from European orchestras.[1] Its inaugural concert took place in Tel Aviv on December 26, 1936, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Its first principal conductor was William Steinberg.Its general manager between 1938 and 1945 was Leo Kestenberg, who, like many of the orchestra members, was a German Jew forced out by the rise of Nazism and the persecution of Jews. During the Second World War, the orchestra performed 140 times before Allied soldiers, including a 1942 performance for soldiers of the Jewish Brigade at El Alamein. At the end of the war, it performed in recently liberated Belgium. In 1948, after the creation of the State of Israel, the orchestra was renamed as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.In 1955, the Orchestra played for Pope Pius XII at the Vatican, in appreciation for the assistance the Pope had given to Jewish victims of Nazism during World War Two.[2]Particular conductors notable in the history of the orchestra have included Leonard Bernstein and Zubin Mehta. Bernstein maintained close ties with the orchestra from 1947, and in 1988, the IPO bestowed on him the title of Laureate Conductor, which he retained until his death in 1990. Mehta became the IPOs Music Advisor in 1969. The IPO did not have a formal music director, but instead "music advisors", until 1977, when Mehta was appointed the IPOs first Music Director. In 1981, his title was elevated to Music Director for Life.[3] In December 2016, the Israel Philharmonic announced that Mehta is to conclude his tenure as music director as of October 2019.[4] Principal guest conductors of the orchestra have included Yoel Levi and Gianandrea Noseda.With Mehta, the IPO has made a number of recordings for Decca. With Bernstein, the IPO recorded his own works and works of Igor Stravinsky, for Deutsche Grammophon. The IPO has also collaborated with Japanese composer Yoko Kanno in the soundtrack of the anime Macross Plus.The initial concerts of the Palestine Orchestra in December 1936, conducted by Toscanini, featured the music of Richard Wagner.[5] However, after the Kristallnacht pogroms in November 1938, the orchestra has maintained a de facto ban on Wagners work, due to that composers antisemitism and the association of his music with Nazi Germany.[6]The Secretary-General of the orchestra is Avi Shoshani. The IPO has a subscriber base numbering 26,000.[7] Commentators have noted the musically conservative tastes of the subscriber base,[8] although the IPO is dedicated to performing new works by Israeli composers, such as Avner Dorman.Among the orchestras education initiatives are the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, a partnership between the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Tel Aviv University. Created by Zubin Mehta and philanthropist Josef Buchmann to educate orchestral musicians to supply the artistic future of the IPO and other orchestras,[9] the school is located on the universitys campus in Tel Aviv and works very closely with the IPO, including orchestral training programs, master classes with IPO guest artists and special concerts at the IPOs halls. Several members of the IPO are BMSM alumni, while various IPO musicians serve as BMSM faculty members.In 2007, Lahav Shani first appeared with the IPO as guest soloist. Starting in October 2013, he appeared as guest conductor with the orchestra each year. In January 2018, the IPO announced the appointment of Shani as its next music director, effective with the 2020-2021 season, a position he retains as at April 2022.[10][11]Awards and recognitionIn 1958, the IPO was awarded the Israel Prize, in music, the first time that an organisation received the Prize.[12]Music advisorsWilliam Steinberg (1936–1938)Leonard Bernstein (1947–1949; Laureate Conductor, 1988–1990)Paul Paray (1949–1951)Bernardino MolinariJean Martinon (1957–1959)Zubin Mehta (1969–1977)Music directorsZubin Mehta (1977–2019)Lahav Shani (2020–)Boycott controversiesThe orchestras performance in London at The Proms on September 1, 2011 was disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters. The radio broadcast was interrupted, but the concert was broadcast again a few days later.[13] The orchestras secretary-general Avi Shoshani declared to Londons The Times newspaper that the orchestra was unlikely to ever perform in the UK again.[14] Nobody was prosecuted for the disruptions, partly because the management of the Royal Albert Hall, where the concert took place, declined to cooperate with a group of Israel-supporting lawyers.[15]American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic OrchestraBronisław Huberman (19 December 1882 – 16 June 1947) was a Polish violinist. He was known for his individualistic interpretations and was praised for his tone color, expressiveness, and flexibility. The Gibson ex-Huberman Stradivarius violin, which bears his name, was stolen twice and recovered once during the period in which he owned the instrument. Huberman is also remembered for founding the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (then known as the Palestine Philharmonic) and thus providing refuge from the Third Reich for nearly 1,000 European Jews.[1][2]BiographyHuberman was born in Częstochowa, Poland. In his youth he was a pupil of Mieczysław Michałowicz and Maurycy Rosen at the Warsaw Conservatory, and of Isidor Lotto in Paris. In 1892 he studied under Joseph Joachim in Berlin. Despite being only ten years old, he dazzled Joachim with performances of Louis Spohr, Henri Vieuxtemps, and the transcription of a Frédéric Chopin nocturne. However, the two did not get along well, and after Hubermans fourteenth birthday he took no more lessons. In 1893 he toured the Netherlands and Belgium as a virtuoso performer. Around this time, the six-year-old Arthur Rubinstein attended one of Hubermans concerts. Rubinsteins parents invited Huberman back to their house and the two boys struck up what would become a lifetime friendship. In 1894 Adelina Patti invited Huberman to participate in her farewell gala in London, which he did, and in the following year he actually eclipsed her in appearances in Vienna. In 1896 he performed the violin concerto of Johannes Brahms in the presence of the composer, who was stunned by the quality of his playing.He married the German actress Elza Galafrés (also described as a singer[3] and ballerina).[4] They had a son, Johannes, but the marriage did not last. She later met the Hungarian composer and pianist Ernő Dohnányi, but neither Huberman nor Dohnányis then wife would consent to divorce. Elza and Dohnányi nevertheless had a child out of wedlock in 1917, and in 1919, after Huberman had granted her a divorce, she married Dohnányi, who then adopted Hubermans son Johannes.[5][6]In the 1920s and early 1930s, Huberman toured around Europe and North America with the pianist Siegfried Schultze and performed on the most famous stages (Carnegie in New York, Scala in Milan, Musikverein in Vienna, Konzerthaus in Berlin....). Over the course of many years, the duet Huberman-Schultze were regularly invited in private by European Royal Families. Countless recordings of these artists were done during that period at the "Berliner Rundfunk" and were unfortunately destroyed during the Second World War.In 1937, a year before the Anschluss, Huberman left Vienna and took refuge in Switzerland. The following year, his career nearly ended as a result of an airplane accident in Sumatra in which his wrist and two fingers of his left hand were broken. After intensive and painful retraining he was able to resume performing. At the onset of the Second World War, Huberman was touring South Africa and was unable to return to his home in Switzerland until after the war. Shortly thereafter he fell ill from exhaustion and never regained his strength. He died in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland, on 16 June 1947, at age 64.Palestine Symphony OrchestraIn 1929 Huberman first visited Palestine and developed his vision of establishing classical music in the Promised Land. In 1933, during the Nazis rise to power, Huberman declined invitations from Wilhelm Furtwängler to return to preach a "musical peace", but wrote instead an open letter to German intellectuals inviting them to remember their essential values. In 1936 he founded the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (which upon the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 was renamed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra). For the orchestra, Huberman recruited leading Jewish musicians from Europe, showing "the prescience to realize that far more than a new job was at stake for these artists" — for "if it hadnt been for Huberman, dozens of musicians and their families — nearly 1000 people in all — would nearly certainly have died if they had stayed in countries including Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary."[1] He was assisted by violinist Jacob Surowicz.[7] Conductor William Steinberg, then known as Hans Wilhelm Steinberg, trained the orchestra. The first concert, on 26 December 1936, was conducted by Arturo Toscanini; Huberman had invited the Italian maestro when he heard of his refusing to perform in Germany to protest the Nazi takeover.[2] The 2012 documentary film Orchestra of Exiles by writer, director and producer Josh Aronson recreates Hubermans work creating the orchestra through interviews and reenactments.[8] Featuring interviews with Zubin Mehta, Pinchas Zukerman, Joshua Bell, and many other notable musicians, the film details how Huberman rescued nearly 1000 Jewish musicians and their families and created the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The film also details how famous Jews and leading historical figures, such as Albert Einstein, were vital in creating the orchestra.Stradivarius theftBefore 1936, Hubermans principal instrument for his concerts was a 1713-vintage Stradivarius "Gibson," which was named after one of its early owners, the English violinist George Alfred Gibson. It was stolen twice. In 1919, it was taken from Hubermans Vienna hotel room but recovered by the police within 3 days. The second time was in New York City. On 28 February 1936, while giving a concert at Carnegie Hall, Huberman switched the Stradivarius "Gibson" with his newly acquired Guarnerius violin, leaving the Stradivarius in his dressing room during intermission. It was stolen either by New York City nightclub musician Julian Altman or a friend of his.[9] Altman kept the violin for the next half-century. Hubermans insurance company, Lloyds of London, paid him US$30,000 for the loss in 1936.Altman went on to become a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. and performed with the stolen Stradivarius for many years. In 1985, Altman made a deathbed confession to his wife, Marcelle Hall, that he had stolen the violin. Two years later, she returned it to Lloyds and collected a finders fee of US$263,000. The instrument underwent a 9-month restoration by J & A Beare Ltd., in London. In 1988, Lloyds sold it for US$1.2 million to British violinist Norbert Brainin. In October 2001, the American violinist Joshua Bell purchased it for just under US$4,000,000.The instrument, which is now known as the Gibson-Huberman, was the focus of the 2012 documentary The Return of the Violin by the Israeli television director Haim Hecht which featured interviews with musicians such as Joshua Bell, Zubin Mehta, Holocaust-survivor Sigmund Rolat and many other musicians.[10][11]HonoursThe town of Częstochowa renamed its orchestra as the Bronislaw Huberman Philharmonic in honor of its native violinist.[12]RecordingsExternal audioaudio icon You may hear Bronislaw Huberman performing Ludwig van Beethovens Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 with George Szell conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 1934 Here on archive.orgHuberman made several commercial recordings of large-scale works, among which are:Arturo Toscanini (/ɑːrˈtʊəroʊ ˌtɒskəˈniːni/; Italian: [arˈtuːro toskaˈniːni]; March 25, 1867 – 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.[1] 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.BiographyEarly yearsToscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the local music 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.He joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. While presenting Aida in Rio de Janeiro on June 25, Leopoldo Miguez, the locally hired conductor, reached the summit of a two-month escalating conflict with the performers due to his rather poor command of the work, to the point that the singers went on strike and forced the companys general manager to seek a substitute conductor. Carlo Superti and Aristide Venturi tried unsuccessfully to finish the work.In desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant Chorus Master, 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 pm, and led a performance of the two-and-a-half hour opera, completely from memory. 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.[2]Toscanini in 1908Upon 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 4, 1886,[3] in the world premiere of the revised version of Alfredo Catalanis Edmea (it had had its premiere in its original form at La Scala, Milan, on February 27, of that year). This was the beginning of Toscaninis lifelong friendship and championing of Catalani; he even named his first daughter Wally after the heroine of Catalanis opera La Wally.[4] He also returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdis Otello (La Scala, Milan, 1887) under the composers 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 Toscaninis ability to interpret his scores. The composer was also impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally about Verdis 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".[5][6]National and international fameGradually, Toscaninis 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 Puccinis La bohème and Leoncavallos Pagliacci. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert (in Turin, with works by Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner). He exhibited a considerable capacity for hard work, conducting 43 concerts in Turin in 1898.[7] By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director, from 1921 to 1929. During this time he collaborated with Alfredo Antonini – a young pianist and organist in La Scala Orchestra.[8] In 1920, he brought the La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour during which he made his first recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company.[9]Caricature of Toscanini drawn, by Enrico CarusoIn 1908, Toscanini joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York, along with Giulio Gatti-Casazza who left La Scala to assume the post as the Mets general manager. During Toscaninis 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, but instead cut his concert schedule short and left a week early, aboard the Italian liner Duca degli Abruzzi.[10] 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 (1930–1931), and the New York Philharmonic was the first non-German orchestra to play there.[11]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, the son of the last Master of the Sultans 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.[12]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 StatesIn 1919, Toscanini unsuccessfully ran on the Socialist ticket for a minor municipal office in Milan.[13] 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 Mussolinis photograph or conduct the Fascist anthem Giovinezza at La Scala.[14] He raged to a friend, "If I were capable of killing a man, I would kill Mussolini."[15]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.[16] Mussolini, incensed by the conductors refusal, had his phone tapped, placed him under constant surveillance, and confiscated his passport. His passport was returned only after a world outcry over Toscaninis treatment.[14] Upon the outbreak of World War 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.[17]NBC Symphony OrchestraArturo ToscaniniIn 1936, Toscanini resigned from the New York Philharmonic, returned to Italy and was considering retirement; David Sarnoff, president of the Radio Corporation of America, proposed creating a symphony orchestra for radio concerts and engaging Toscanini to conduct it. Toscanini was initially uninterested in the proposal, but Sarnoff sent Toscaninis friend Samuel Chotzinoff to visit the conductor in Milan; Chotzinoff was able to persuade the wary Toscanini to accept Sarnoffs offer. Toscanini returned to the United States to conduct his first broadcast concert with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on December 25, 1937, in NBC Studio 8-H in New York Citys Rockefeller Center.[18] 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 Stokowskis 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 NBCs 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.[19]The NBC broadcasts were initially preserved on large 16-inch transcription discs recorded at 33-1/3 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 Toscaninis recording sessions for RCA Victor were mastered on sound film in a process developed around 1930, as detailed by RCA Victor producer Charles OConnell in his memoirs, On and Off The Record. In addition, hundreds of hours of Toscaninis rehearsals with the NBC Symphony were preserved and are now housed in the Toscanini Legacy archive at the New York Public Library.[20]Toscanini was sometimes unjustly 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.[21][22] The performance received significant critical acclaim.[21] In 1945, he led the orchestra in recording sessions of the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé in Carnegie Hall, attended by Grofé, and An American in Paris by George Gershwin in NBCs Studio 8-H. Both works had earlier been performed on broadcast concerts. He also conducted broadcast performances of Coplands El Salón México; Gershwins Rhapsody in Blue with soloists Earl Wild and Benny Goodman and Piano Concerto in F with pianist Oscar Levant; and music by other American composers, including marches of John Philip Sousa. He even wrote his own orchestral arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner, which was incorporated into the NBC Symphonys performances of Verdis Hymn of the Nations, together with the Soviet Internationale. (Earlier, while music director of the New York Philharmonic, he conducted music by Abram Chasins, Bernard Wagenaar, and Howard Hanson.)[23]In 1940, Toscanini took the NBC Symphony on a tour of South America, sailing from New York on the ocean liner SS Brazil on May 14.[24] 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 RCAs 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 u