The Toscanini Legacy collection of sound recordings, 1926-1968, 1940-1957 (bulk).

Links

• View catalog record
• View PDF finding aid (11.35 MB)

Creator

Toscanini, Arturo, 1867-1957. cnd

Location

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound

Extent

• ca. 760 cubic feet : sound recordings.

Access Restrictions

Access to this collection is restricted; application must be made to the Curator of the Archives for permission to use.

Preservation tape copies of portions of this collection are available for listening in the repository. For detailed listing of these materials, consult finding aid in repository.

Scope/Contents Notes

The Toscanini Legacy collection of sound recordings forms a part of the Toscanini Legacy housed at The New York Public Library. The recordings collection consists of acetate discs, shellac discs, vinyl discs, reel tapes, Selenophone recordings, kinescope films, and metal parts for 78 rpm recordings. It includes a set of 1926 La Scalarehearsals for concerts on October 7-9, 1926, then skips to the 1939/40 season, beginning with the rehearsals on April 10-12, 1940. The collection contains comprehensive holdings of rehearsals from the 1946/47 season to the 1953/54 season, as well as performance recordings from the 1932/33 season through the 1953/54 season, and recording sessions from 1920 to 1954.

In addition, the collection includes tapes from several large recording projects that began before Toscanini died,but were completed after he died. Among these large projects were Toscanini: the man behind the legend, a biographical documentary project; The Riverdale project, aproject to transfer Toscanini's commercial disc recordingsto tape; and a preservation project carried out by the Toscanini family which systematically transferred acetate disc recordings in the collection to tape.

Biographical/Historical Notes

Arturo Toscanini was a renowned Italian conductor famous for his work with the NBC Symphony Orchestra from 1937 to 1954. Born in Parma, Italy in 1867, Toscanini was educated at the Parma Conservatory. He first conducted inRio de Janeiro in 1886; by 1898, he was chief conductor atLa Scala, where he was to work until 1929. During this period, he also conducted at the Metropolitan Opera (1908-1915) and was a guest conductor for the New York Philharmonic (1926-1928).

In 1928, he accepted the conductorship of the newly formed Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, where he stayed until his first retirement in 1936. In 1937, NBC persuaded him to return to conduct a series of concerts with the NBC Symphony ORchestra, an orchestra created especially for him. He led this orchestra until he was forced into a second retirement in 1954.

Toscanini's other important engagements included the BBCSymphony Orchestra (1935, 1937-1939), the Bayreuth Festival (1930, 1931), the Vienna Philharmonic (1933, and at the Salzburg Festival 1934-1937), and the Lucerne Festival (1938, 1939). He also worked with many famous performers, including Jussi Björling, Emanuel Feuermann, Jascha Heifetz, Vladimir Horowitz, Alexander Kipnis, ZinkaMilanov, Jan Peerce, and William Primrose. He died in Riverdale, N.Y. on January 16, 1957.

Additional Creator Names

• Björling, Jussi, 1911-1960. prf
• Feuermann, Emanuel, 1902-1942. prf
• Heifetz, Jascha, 1901- prf
• Horowitz, Vladimir, 1903-1989. prf
• Kipnis, Alexander, 1891-1978. prf
• Milanov, Zinka. prf
• Peerce, Jan, 1904-1984. prf
• Primrose, William, 1904- prf
• BBC Symphony Orchestra.
• Metropolitan Opera (New York, N.Y.)
• NBC Symphony Orchestra.
• New York Philharmonic.
• Teatro alla Scala. Orchestra.
• Wiener Philharmoniker.
• Bayreuther Festspiele.
• Internationale Musikalische Festwochen (Lucerne, Switzerland)
• Salzburger Festspiele.
• Toscanini: the man behind the legend.
• Man behind the legend.
• The Riverdale project.
• The Toscanini Legacy.