- Born
- Died
- Arturo Toscanini was the most celebrated conductor of his time, considered by many to be the greatest conductor of the twentieth century. He revolutionized musical interpretation by frequently insisting that his orchestras play the music exactly as written, a highly unusual practice in the nineteenth century, when Toscanini began his career. He conducted the world premieres of such operas as Puccini's "La Boheme" and "Turandot", and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci". During his lifetime and for a short while afterwards,he was revered by critics (and still is by the older ones.) Today's younger critics, however, tend to look down on him, and call his fidelity to the printed score "lack of imagination" - a term which shows a total misunderstanding of Toscanini's achievements.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Albert Sanchez Moreno
- SpouseCarla De Martini(June 21, 1897 - June 23, 1951) (her death, 4 children)
- Toscanini was on the verge of retirement at age 70 when RCA chairman David Sarnoff asked him if he would like to conduct a radio orchestra especially created and trained just for him. Toscanini, not wishing to return to Fascist Italy because of possible personal harassment from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, chose to take up permanent residence in the U.S. and accepted the offer.Thus was born his incredible 17-year tenure with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, trained by Artur Rodzinski, which enabled him to be heard by millions at once, and extended his career into the age of LP records, television, hi-fi, and even two stereo recordings, the first of which was not released until 1986 (the second was not released in a stereo edition until January of 2007). Toscanini didn't retire until 1954, when he was 87. He remained an Italian citizen all his life, and was buried in Milan, Italy.
- Grandfather of Walfredo Toscanini.
- Father of Wanda Toscanini-Horowitz
- Father-in-law of world-famous pianist Vladimir Horowitz.
- Principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic from 1928 to 1936, after making guest appearances in 1926 and 1927.
- To some it is Napoleon; to some it is Alexander the Great; to some it is philosophical struggle. To me it is simply Allegro con Brio. [discussing the first movement of Beethoven's third (Eroica) symphony. Other versions of this quote have Toscanini saying, Some say this is Napoleon; some Hitler; some Mussolini. To me it is simply Allegro Con Brio.]
- "If you want to please only the critics, don't play too loud, too soft, too fast and too slow".
- I kissed my first girl and smoked my first cigarette on the same day. I haven't had time for tobacco since.
- [of German composer Richard Strauss, who accepted the sponsorship of the Nazis while Hitler was in power] To Strauss the composer I take off my hat. To Strauss the man I put it on again.
- After I die, I shall return to earth as a gatekeeper of a bordello and I won't let any of you enter.
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