The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is a European ad hoc seasonal orchestra based at the annual Lucerne Festival in Switzerland.
105-608: The Lucerne Festival had featured a resident orchestra as far back as 1938, with Arturo Toscanini conducting the first concert of that ensemble. From 1943 until its disbandment in 1993, the festival orchestra consisted primarily of musicians from Switzerland. A few years later, a reconstituted festival orchestra arose, based around players from the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and the European Community Youth Orchestra (now
210-545: A $ 25-a-year membership fee. Key's first package offering included Brahms ' German Requiem , Haydn 's 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, Mendelssohn 's "Scottish" Symphony, dating from the same NBC period; and a Rossini-Verdi-Puccini LP emanating from
315-688: A conductor, at age 19. Upon 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, in the world premiere of the revised version of Alfredo Catalani 's 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 Toscanini's lifelong friendship and championing of Catalani; he even named his first daughter Wally after
420-407: 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". Among his most critically acclaimed recordings, many of which were not officially released during his lifetime, are the following (with
525-506: 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 RCA's 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
630-424: A foreign language that she did not understand years after she had first seen the poem. She also could seemingly recall random dot patterns with such fidelity as to combine two patterns from memory into a stereoscopic image. She remains the only person documented to have passed such a test. However, the methods used in the testing procedures could be considered questionable (especially given the extraordinary nature of
735-559: A friend, "If I were capable of killing a man, I would kill Mussolini." 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
840-540: A game, their recall was no better than that of the nonexperts, suggesting that they had developed an ability to organize certain types of information, rather than possessing innate eidetic ability. Individuals identified as having a condition known as hyperthymesia are able to remember very intricate details of their own personal lives, but the ability seems not to extend to other, non-autobiographical information. They may have vivid recollections such as who they were with, what they were wearing, and how they were feeling on
945-636: A harsh, flat quality; some remodeling in 1942, at Leopold Stokowski 's 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 NBC's 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 ,
1050-549: A horse in a story book, she generated images of what a horse should look like in any posture. She could draw other animals, objects, and parts of human bodies accurately, but represented human faces as jumbled forms. Others have not been thoroughly tested, though savant Stephen Wiltshire can look at a subject once and then produce, often before an audience, an accurate and detailed drawing of it, and has drawn entire cities from memory, based on single, brief helicopter rides; his six-metre drawing of 305 square miles of New York City
1155-519: A minute, substituting Toscanini's 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. In June 1954, Toscanini participated in his final RCA Victor sessions, recording re-takes of isolated unsatisfactory passages from his NBC radio broadcasts of
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#17327867177121260-702: 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
1365-412: A number of times and recorded Brahms' second piano concerto and Tchaikovsky's 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 conductor's blessings and warnings; they remained married until Vladimir Horowitz' death in 1989. Wanda's daughter Sonia was photographed by Life playing with
1470-399: A person has an almost faithful mental image snapshot or photograph of an event in their memory. However, eidetic memory is not limited to visual aspects of memory and includes auditory memories as well as various sensory aspects across a range of stimuli associated with a visual image." Author Andrew Hudmon commented: "Examples of people with a photographic-like memory are rare. Eidetic imagery
1575-555: A process developed around 1930, as detailed by RCA Victor producer Charles O'Connell in his memoirs, On and Off The Record . In addition, hundreds of hours of Toscanini's rehearsals with the NBC Symphony were preserved and are now housed in the Toscanini Legacy archive at the New York Public Library . Toscanini was sometimes criticized for neglecting American music, but on November 5, 1938, he conducted
1680-661: A questo punto il maestro è morto " ("Here the opera ends, because at this point the maestro died"). During his funeral service, Leyla Gencer sang an excerpt from Verdi's 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. Toscanini married Carla De Martini on June 21, 1897, when she
1785-579: 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. Over the years as the recording process improved, so did Toscanini's attitude towards making records and eventually he became more interested in preserving his performances for posterity. The majority of Toscanini's recordings were made with
1890-428: A specific date many years in the past. Patients under study, such as Jill Price , show brain scans that resemble those with obsessive–compulsive disorder . In fact, Price's unusual autobiographical memory has been attributed as a byproduct of compulsively making journal and diary entries. Hyperthymestic patients may additionally have depression stemming from the inability to forget unpleasant memories and experiences from
1995-725: A stroke on New Year's 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. It was his daughter Wally's 57th birthday. His body was returned to Italy and was entombed in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan. His epitaph is taken from one account of his remarks concluding the 1926 premiere of Puccini's unfinished Turandot : " Qui finisce l'opera, perché
2100-454: A total of three weeks together, with 10 days of rehearsals. Then, the orchestra performs the opening concerts of the festival. One overriding philosophy that Abbado emphasized was for the musicians to listen to each other, as in chamber music, but in the context of a full orchestral ensemble. In the string sections, the section leaders assign the seating, after discussion with Abbado. Rehearsals commence with individual instrument sections before
2205-454: Is the ability to recall an image from memory with high precision—at least for a brief period of time—after seeing it only once and without using a mnemonic device . Although the terms eidetic memory and photographic memory are popularly used interchangeably, they are also distinguished, with eidetic memory referring to the ability to see an object for a few minutes after it is no longer present and photographic memory referring to
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#17327867177122310-435: Is the ability to remember an image in so much detail, clarity, and accuracy that it is as though the image were still being perceived. It is not perfect, as it is subject to distortions and additions (like episodic memory), and vocalization interferes with the memory." "Eidetikers", as those who possess this ability are called, report a vivid afterimage that lingers in the visual field with their eyes appearing to scan across
2415-617: Is typically found only in young children, as it is virtually nonexistent in adults. Hudmon stated, "Children possess far more capacity for eidetic imagery than adults, suggesting that a developmental change (such as acquiring language skills) may disrupt the potential for eidetic imagery." Eidetic memory has been found in two to ten percent of children aged six to twelve. It has been hypothesized that language acquisition and verbal skills allow older children to think more abstractly and thus rely less on visual memory systems. Extensive research has failed to demonstrate consistent correlations between
2520-970: The European Union Youth Orchestra ). The most recent incarnation of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra occurred at the instigation of Claudio Abbado (1933–2014), after a conversation in 2000 with Lucerne Festival artistic director Michael Haefliger. The core of the ensemble is the Mahler Chamber Orchestra . The LFO features some soloists and orchestral principals from major orchestras in its ranks, including Kolja Blacher, Wolfram Christ [ de ] , Mirijam Contzen , Diemut Poppen , Natalia Gutman , Jens-Peter Maintz, Jacques Zoon , Reinhold Friedrich , Stefan Dohr , Alessio Allegrini, Mark Templeton , Franz Bartolomey, Alois Posch, Emmanuel Pahud , Albrecht Mayer , Stefan Schweigert, members of
2625-617: The NBC Symphony unless otherwise shown): There are many pieces which Toscanini never recorded in the studio; among these are: Many hundreds of hours of Toscanini's 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
2730-656: 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. Toscanini was born in Parma , Emilia-Romagna, His father was a tailor. He won a scholarship to the Parma Conservatory , where he studied the cello. Living conditions at
2835-682: The Philharmonia Orchestra . In 2012, RCA Red Seal released a new 84 CD boxed set reissue of Toscanini's complete RCA Victor recordings and commercially issued HMV recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, EMI Classics issued a 6-CD set containing Toscanini's complete HMV recordings with the BBC Symphony. Toscanini's dislike of recording was well-known; he especially despised the acoustic method, and for several years he recorded only sporadically as
2940-846: The Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble, the Alban Berg Quartet and Hagen Quartet . The orchestra also includes members of ensembles with whom Abbado had a connection, such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra , the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra . Abbado hand-picked the orchestra members, and the musicians assemble at the beginning of each August in Lucerne for
3045-460: 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
3150-540: 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 Maestro's family. RCA's 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
3255-662: 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). Toscanini's June sessions were recorded monophonically to correct unsatisfactory portions of
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3360-899: The La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour during which time he made his first recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company in Camden, New Jersey . In 1908, Toscanini joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York, along with Giulio Gatti-Casazza who left La Scala to assume the post as the Met's general manager. During Toscanini's 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
3465-762: 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 recordings with the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1937 to 1939 for EMI 's His Master's Voice label (issued in the US by RCA Victor, HMV/EMI's American affiliate). Toscanini also conducted
3570-530: The NBC Symphony and cover the bulk of his repertoire. These recordings document the final phase of his 68-year conducting career. Toscanini 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
3675-564: The NBC Symphony. Charles O'Connell , who produced many of Toscanini's early NBC Symphony recordings, stated that RCA Victor decided to record the 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 continued to be held in Studio 8-H as late as June 1950, probably because of alterations to
3780-418: The NBC radio signals in New York City, but the performance was heard elsewhere and preserved on transcription discs . RCA Victor first issued the recording on LP in 1967, and on compact disc in 1991. In Toscanini's later years, the conductor expressed disdain for the work and amazement that he had actually bothered to memorize the music and conduct it. In the spring of 1950, Toscanini led the NBC Symphony on
3885-403: 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 Mozart 's Piano Concerto No. 27 on February 20, 1936, at which Rudolf Serkin made his New York debut, and a 1940 broadcast version of Beethoven 's Missa Solemnis . Because
3990-539: The NBC string section was especially outstanding. O'Connell also extensively documented RCA's technical problems with the series of recordings by Toscanini and the Philadelphia Orchestra, made in 1941–42, which required extensive electronic editing before they could be issued (well after Toscanini's death, beginning in 1963, with the rest following in 1977). Harvey Sachs also recounts that the wax masters were damaged during processing, possibly because of
4095-619: 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 Philadelphia's Academy of Music in 1941 and 1942. All of Toscanini's 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
4200-795: The New York Philharmonic, his concert master was Hans Lange , the son of the last Master of the Sultan's 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. 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 . In 1919, Toscanini unsuccessfully ran on
4305-714: 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. With
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4410-586: The Salzburg Festival in the late 1930s. Documents of Toscanini's guest appearances with the La Scala Orchestra from 1946 until 1952 include a live recording of Verdi's Requiem with the young Renata Tebaldi . Toscanini's 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
4515-633: The Socialist ticket for a minor municipal office in Milan. 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 Mussolini's photograph or conduct the Fascist anthem Giovinezza at La Scala. He raged to
4620-705: The South American premieres of Tristan und Isolde and Madama Butterfly and the North American premieres of Boris Godunov and Dmitri Shostakovich 's Symphony No. 7 . He also conducted the world premiere of Samuel Barber 's Adagio for Strings . Toscanini 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
4725-712: 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. Most of the orchestra's membership reorganized as the Symphony of the Air , 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 Menotti 's Christmas opera for television, Amahl and
4830-651: The ability to recall pages of text or numbers, or similar, in great detail. When the concepts are distinguished, eidetic memory is reported to occur in a small number of children and is generally not found in adults, while true photographic memory has never been demonstrated to exist. The term eidetic comes from the Greek word εἶδος ( pronounced [êːdos] , eidos ) "visible form". The terms eidetic memory and photographic memory are commonly used interchangeably, but they are also distinguishable. Scholar Annette Kujawski Taylor stated, "In eidetic memory,
4935-417: The age of three, is autistic and has been closely studied. During her childhood, she produced highly precocious, repetitive drawings from memory, remarkable for being in perspective (which children tend not to achieve until at least adolescence) at the age of three, which showed different perspectives on an image she was looking at. For example, when at the age of three, she was obsessed with horses. After seeing
5040-542: 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
5145-545: The claims being made), as is the fact that the researcher married his subject. Additionally, the fact that the tests have never been repeated (Elizabeth has consistently refused to repeat them) raises further concerns for journalist Joshua Foer who pursued the case in a 2006 article in Slate magazine concentrating on cases of unconscious plagiarism, expanding the discussion in Moonwalking with Einstein to assert that, of
5250-537: The conductor in Milan ; Chotzinoff was able to persuade the wary Toscanini to accept Sarnoff's 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 City's Rockefeller Center . The infamous dry acoustics of the specially built radio studio gave the orchestra, as heard on early broadcasts and recordings,
5355-684: The conductor. During World War II, Toscanini lived in Wave Hill , a historic home in Riverdale. Despite the reported infidelities revealed in Toscanini's 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. At 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
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#17327867177125460-466: 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 organized by Claudio Rossi, with which he toured Brazil in 1886. After performing in Sao Paulo, the locally hired conductor, Leopoldo Miguez relinquished
5565-459: The details of a painting immediately in front of us with near perfect accuracy." By contrast, photographic memory may be defined as the ability to recall pages of text, numbers, or similar, in great detail, without the visualization that comes with eidetic memory. It may be described as the ability to briefly look at a page of information and then recite it perfectly from memory. This type of ability has never been proven to exist. Eidetic memory
5670-454: The difference between ordinary memory and exceptional memory appears to be one of degree." To constitute photographic or eidetic memory, the visual recall must persist without the use of mnemonics, expert talent, or other cognitive strategies. Various cases have been reported that rely on such skills and are erroneously attributed to photographic memory. An example of extraordinary memory abilities being ascribed to eidetic memory comes from
5775-582: 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 . Toscanini conducted the New York Philharmonic from 1926 until 1936; he toured Europe with the Philharmonic in 1930. At each performance, he and
5880-642: The engineers to the record producers (per Jack Pfeiffer, 11/77 interview, NYC, by CWR), stereo tapes were eventually made of Toscanini's 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 York's Manhattan Center in December of Delibes with members of the Boston Symphony under Pierre Monteux, in February 1954 with
5985-432: The entire ensemble collects with Abbado. Abbado led the first performances of the newest Lucerne Festival Orchestra at the 2003 festival. Their first residency abroad in Rome was in the autumn of 2005. October 2006 brought their first overseas guest performance, which gave a concert in Tokyo at Suntory Hall . The orchestra made its first Proms debut in August 2007, with Gustav Mahler 's Symphony No. 3 . Abbado and
6090-516: The entire set is an impressive document of Toscanini's collaboration with the Philadelphia musicians. A second RCA CD reissue of the Philadelphia recordings from 2006 makes even 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. When magnetic tape replaced direct wax disc recording and high fidelity long-playing records were both introduced in
6195-422: The face" by a group of Blackshirts . Mussolini, incensed by the conductor's refusal, had his phone tapped , placed him under constant surveillance , and confiscated his passport. His passport was returned only after a world outcry over Toscanini's treatment. 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
6300-529: 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 Beethoven's Missa Solemnis . With RCA's experiments in stereo beginning in early 1953 when two-track decks were first delivered by
6405-616: The festival orchestra's concert as the replacement for Claudio Abbado, who died in January 2014. In August 2015, the Lucerne Festival announced the appointment of Riccardo Chailly as its next music director, effective with the 2016 Lucerne Festival, with an initial contract of 5 years. In February 2021, the orchestra announced an extension of Chailly's contract as music director through 2026. Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini ( / ɑːr ˈ t ʊər oʊ ˌ t ɒ s k ə ˈ n iː n i / ; Italian: [arˈtuːro toskaˈniːni] ; March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957)
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#17327867177126510-482: The first one being a tribute to Toscanini, punctuated by clips from his NBC television concerts. 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 Toscanini's recording sessions for RCA Victor were mastered on sound film in
6615-466: 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
6720-531: 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. Toscanini suffered
6825-465: The heroine of Catalani's opera La Wally . He also returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdi 's Otello (La Scala, Milan, 1887) under the composer's 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 Toscanini's ability to interpret his scores. The composer
6930-440: The iconic image in some lucky people". They added: "More recent evidence raises questions about whether any memories are truly photographic (Rothen, Meier & Ward, 2012). Eidetikers' memories are clearly remarkable, but they are rarely perfect. Their memories often contain minor errors, including information that was not present in the original visual stimulus. So even eidetic memory often appears to be reconstructive" (referring to
7035-480: The image as it is described. Contrary to ordinary mental imagery , eidetic images are externally projected, experienced as "out there" rather than in the mind. Vividness and stability of the image begin to fade within minutes after the removal of the visual stimulus. Lilienfeld et al. stated, "People with eidetic memory can supposedly hold a visual image in their mind with such clarity that they can describe it perfectly or almost perfectly ..., just as we can describe
7140-485: 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. 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
7245-478: 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." NBC recorded all of Toscanini's broadcast performances on 16-inch 33 + 1 ⁄ 3 rpm transcription discs from
7350-511: The left, the violas on the near right, and the second violins on the far right. Toscanini 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 Alfano 's completion of Puccini's Turandot . He conducted the first Italian performances of Siegfried , Götterdämmerung , Salome , Pelléas et Mélisande , and Euryanthe , as well as
7455-417: The microphones failed to pick up everything he heard as he led the orchestra. O'Connell even complained of Toscanini's 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 Toscanini's concerts later said
7560-420: 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 Philadelphia 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
7665-855: 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. 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
7770-545: The orchestra were scheduled to appear in the US for the first time, at Carnegie Hall in New York City , in October 2007. However, in September 2007, Abbado announced that he had to withdraw from these scheduled New York concerts because of health concerns. The orchestra performed these concerts with substitute conductors Pierre Boulez and David Robertson . For the 2014 Lucerne Festival, Andris Nelsons conducted
7875-527: The orchestra's 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. 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 Toscanini's insistence, where many of
7980-413: The orchestra's recording sessions had been held due to the acrid acoustics of Studio 8-H. On April 4, 1954, Toscanini conducted his final broadcast performance, an all-Wagner program, 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
8085-789: The passionate yet restrained podium technique for which he was well known. A guide to Toscanini's recording career can be found in Mortimer H. Frank's "From the Pit to the Podium: Toscanini in America" in International Classical Record Collector (1998, 15 8–21) and Christopher Dyment's "Toscanini's European Inheritance" in International Classical Record Collector (1998, 15 22–8). Frank and Dyment also discuss Maestro Toscanini's performance history in
8190-618: The past. It is a misconception that hyperthymesia suggests any eidetic ability. Each year at the World Memory Championships , the world's best memorizers compete for prizes. None of the world's best competitive memorizers in these competitions has claimed to have a photographic memory. There are a number of individuals whose extraordinary memory has been labeled "eidetic", but it is not established conclusively whether they use mnemonics and other, non-eidetic memory-enhancement. "Nadia", who began drawing realistically at
8295-608: The people rigorously scientifically tested, no one claiming to have long-term eidetic memory had this ability proven. American cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky , in his book The Society of Mind (1988), considered reports of photographic memory to be an "unfounded myth", and that there is no scientific consensus regarding the nature, the proper definition, or even the very existence of eidetic imagery, even in children. Lilienfeld et al. stated: "Some psychologists believe that eidetic memory reflects an unusually long persistence of
8400-425: 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." Toscanini favored the traditional orchestral seating plan with the first violins and cellos on
8505-422: The popular interpretations of Adriaan de Groot 's classic experiments into the ability of chess grandmasters to memorize complex positions of chess pieces on a chessboard. Initially, it was found that these experts could recall surprising amounts of information, far more than nonexperts, suggesting eidetic skills. However, when the experts were presented with arrangements of chess pieces that could never occur in
8610-515: The post a few hours before the performance of Aida in Rio de Janeiro on June 25, telling the newspapers that his decision had been caused by the behavior of the orchestra. His substitute, Carlo Superti, was heavily contested by the public, failing even to give the attack to the orchestra. In desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant chorusmaster, who knew the whole opera from memory. Although he had no conducting experience, Toscanini
8715-464: 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 Grauer's comments. (In the early 1990s, the kinescopes of these and the other televised concerts were released by RCA with soundtracks dubbed in from
8820-418: The presence of eidetic imagery and any cognitive, intellectual, neurological, or emotional measure. A few adults have had phenomenal memories (not necessarily of images), but their abilities are also unconnected with their intelligence levels and tend to be highly specialized. In extreme cases, like those of Solomon Shereshevsky and Kim Peek , memory skills can reportedly hinder social skills. Shereshevsky
8925-485: The release of these performances in every case, many of them were found to be further proof of the greatness of the Maestro's musical talents. One outstanding example of a remarkable performance not approved by the Maestro was his December 1948 NBC broadcast of Dvořák 's 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
9030-580: The same music with the NBC Symphony. The best sounding of the Philadelphia recordings is the Schubert C-Major Symphony (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 now more favorable toward issuing all of the discs. RCA finally released a complete edition of the Toscanini/Philadelphia recordings in 1977, and it
9135-608: The score was microfilmed in the Soviet Union and brought by courier to the United States. Stokowski had previously given the US premieres of Shostakovich's 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. Toscanini coveted this for himself resulting in a dispute between both conductors which he ultimately won. A major thunderstorm virtually obliterated
9240-414: The secrets of his hold over singers, orchestras and audiences.' (34–7). There is also a feature article on Toscanini's interpretation of Brahms's First Symphony – Norman C. Nelson, 'First Among Equals ... Toscanini's interpretation of Brahms's First Symphony in the context of others' (28–33) In 1969, Clyde J. Key acted on a dream he had of meeting Toscanini by starting the Arturo Toscanini Society to release
9345-420: The start of the Maestro's 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
9450-403: The studio beginning in 1939, including installation of an acoustical shell in 1941 at the insistence of Leopold Stokowski before he temporarily replaced Toscanini as principal conductor of the NBC Symphony in the fall of 1941. O'Connell 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
9555-450: The theory of memory recall known as reconstructive memory ). Scientific skeptic author Brian Dunning reviewed the literature on the subject of both eidetic and photographic memory in 2016 and concluded that there is "a lack of compelling evidence that eidetic memory exists at all among healthy adults, and no evidence that photographic memory exists. But there's a common theme running through many of these research papers, and that's that
9660-468: 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 Orchestra's contract with RCA Victor had expired and
9765-526: The world premieres of Puccini 's La bohème and Leoncavallo 's 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. By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director, from 1921 to 1929. In December 1920, he brought
9870-980: The world premieres of two orchestral works by Samuel Barber , Adagio for Strings and Essay for Orchestra . The performance received significant critical acclaim. In 1945, Toscanini led the orchestra in recording sessions for An American in Paris by George Gershwin ' and the Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofé , with Grofé in attendance. Both works had previously been performed on broadcast concerts. He also conducted broadcast performances of Copland 's El Salón México ; Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with soloists Earl Wild and Benny Goodman and Piano Concerto in F with pianist Oscar Levant ; and music by several other American composers, including some marches of John Philip Sousa . He even wrote his own orchestral arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner , which
9975-453: Was a trained mnemonist , not an eidetic memoriser, and there are no studies that confirm whether Kim Peek had true eidetic memory. According to Herman Goldstine , the mathematician John von Neumann was able to recall from memory every book he had ever read. Skepticism about the existence of eidetic memory was fueled around 1970 by Charles Stromeyer, who studied his future wife, Elizabeth, who claimed that she could recall poetry written in
10080-459: Was also impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally about Verdi's 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". Gradually, Toscanini's 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
10185-408: 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 . 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
10290-585: Was engaged on a three-year contract to conduct the orchestra and served as the NBC Symphony's music director from 1941 until 1944. Toscanini's state of mind soon underwent a change and he returned as Stokowski's co-conductor for the latter's second and third seasons, resuming full control in 1944. One of the more remarkable broadcasts was in July 1942, when Toscanini conducted the American premiere of Dmitri Shostakovich 's Symphony No. 7 . Because of World War II,
10395-458: 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
10500-513: Was heavily damaged by bombing during the war. In 1936, Toscanini resigned from the New York Philharmonic, returned to Italy and was considering retirement; David Sarnoff , president of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), proposed creating a symphony orchestra for radio concerts and engaging Toscanini to conduct it. Toscanini was initially uninterested in the proposal, but Sarnoff sent Toscanini's friend Samuel Chotzinoff to visit
10605-582: Was incorporated into the NBC Symphony's performances of Verdi's 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 .) 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. Later that year, Toscanini had
10710-556: 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
10815-634: 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 Verdi's complete opera Aida starring Herva Nelli and Richard Tucker , and the first complete telecast of Beethoven's 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 . Eidetic memory Eidetic memory ( / aɪ ˈ d ɛ t ɪ k / eye- DET -ik ), also known as photographic memory and total recall ,
10920-440: Was speculation that the Toscanini family itself, prodded by his daughter Wanda, had sought to defend the Maestro's 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. Arturo Toscanini
11025-417: Was suggested by Sachs and others at that date 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
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