Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini ( Parma , March 25 1867 - New York , January 16 1957 ) was an Italian conductor .

Life
After a cello studies he decided to become a conductor in 1885. In 1886 he was the conductor toured Brazil . In 1895 he became principal conductor in Turin, and in 1898 he came to the opera house of La Scala in Milan . In 1908 he was appointed to the Metropolitan Opera in New York and in 1926 to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, but he went back to Europe . In the Netherlands Toscanini conducted several times the Residence Orchestra .

Until 1937 he was one of the leading figures of the Salzburg Festival . He also conducted at the Bayreuth Festival, the operas of Richard Wagner . The young conductorHerbert von Karajan cycled to Bayreuth to hear Toscanini's interpretation. After the Anschluss of Austria to the Third Reich in 1938, he canceled his appearances in Salzburgoff and emigrated permanently to the United States . There he led it in 1937 before he founded NBC Symphony Orchestra . After the Second World War, he conducted the opening concert of La Scala in Milan. His discoveries included the soprano Renata Tebaldi .

Until very old age continued to conduct Toscanini. Especially his interpretations of the works of Beethoven , Brahms , Debussy , Verdi and Puccini are famous. A large number of operas he conducted the premiere, including Pagliacci (1892) of Leoncavallo (1892) and La bohème (1896), La Fanciulla del West (1910) and Turandot (1926) by Puccini.

[Trivia edit ]

 * Toscanini's tantrums were notorious. Recorded rehearsal excerpts show that he constantly shouted at musicians. He made ​​them out of " imbeciles ". According to some, however, he scolded not the musicians, but especially himself: he had to be very unsuccessful if he had to work with such imbeciles. [source?]
 * The story goes that a blower during a performance discovered that his berry-valve is not functioning anymore. Toscanini responded that he valve during that song would no longer need. So great was his knowledge of instrument and score.
 * Toscanini was the father of the famous Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who married his daughter Wanda.