Toscanini Back

An era of U. S. music seemed at an end last April when little old Arturo Toscanini left the New York Philharmonic and went home to Italy (TIME, May 11). The most beloved conductor living, he had worked with the Philharmonic for eleven seasons, taught it to play as perfectly as any orchestra in the world. But, at 69, Toscanini found continuous performances too great a strain. Thereafter he planned to conduct only occasionally, only in Europe.

Those who feared that the maestro's great days were over were soon undeceived. In August he set musical Salzburg agog with a heaven-storming performance of Beethoven's Fidelio, a glorious Falstaff, an incomparable Die Meister singer (TIME, Aug. 24). Last December he went to Tel Aviv and, with all his oldtime brilliance, led the new Palestine Symphony through its first performance (TIME, Jan. 4). All of this encouraged U. S. music lovers to hope that the maestro was not lost to them forever.

More sanguine than most, the New York Post's music critic, Samuel Chotzinoff, simply refused to believe Toscanini was through with the U. S. Chotzinoff for years has been a great friend of the maestro, is so devoted to him that many call him "Chotzinini." In Manhattan he is known for his pithy paragraphs, his skill as an accompanist, his desire to make music accessible to all. Recently Chotzinoff began to have long talks with David Sarnoff, president of RCA. Last month Critic Chotzinoff went on a mysterious "vacation," stopped in Milan at the house of his old friend Toscanini. Cables and radiograms began to flick back & forth between Chotzinoff and Sarnoff and last week Mr. Sarnoff talked with Toscanini by transatlantic telephone. Next day the press carried exciting news that Toscanini was returning to the U. S. next December to conduct the NBC Orchestra in a national network series.

Save for the fact that Toscanini does not want any concert to last more than an hour, arrangements so far were undetailed. It was not announced how much Toscanini would be paid, how many concerts he would conduct, or even where he would conduct them. Musical wiseacres were convinced, however, that the Toscanini-NBC broadcasts would be given on a tour which will encourage sales of his records made by RCA Victor, NBC's corporate cousin, which arranged a similar tour for Leopold Stokowski last spring (TIME, April 27), will send Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on another this spring.

One group which could not view the return of Toscanini with unmixed emotions was the orchestra he made great. Without him, the Philharmonic-Symphony has managed to maintain its U. S. supremacy under the vigorous baton of young John Barbirolli and assorted guest conductors like Georges Enesco and Igor Stravinsky. With Toscanini back, in command of the first-desk orchestral talent which rich NBC already has and can add to, there will be in the land another competitor for symphonic supremacy, with the continent instead of Carnegie Hall for its auditorium.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.