OTD in Music History: Legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini (1867 - 1957) dies in New York.
Toscanini was one of the most acclaimed and influential "classical" musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century -- revered for his intensity, for his perfectionism, for his incredible ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and for his eidetic memory.
At various points in his career, Toscanini served as the Director of La Scala in Milan, the New York Philharmonic, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. It was this final position, however, that truly made him a household name (especially in the United States) through his radio and television broadcasts and many recordings of the operatic and symphonic repertoire.
During his own lifetime, Toscanini enjoyed a degree of public and critical adulation that is virtually unparalleled in the history of music: He was featured no less than *three* times on the cover of "Time" magazine (in 1926, 1934, and 1948), and for most of his career he enjoyed universally glowing reviews and played to consistently packed houses.
History always moves in cycles, however, and thus in recent decades it should come as no surprise that Toscanini has come in for growing criticism on a number of fronts -- most notably, for his alleged antipathy toward most 20th-century music (it is certainly truly that he rarely programmed "modern" works), for what some perceive as a certain rigidity in his beat and a regrettable tendency towards fast tempos, and (on a more personal level) for his well-known temper -- a temper which he was more than happy to unleash on players who displeased him...
Nevertheless, notwithstanding all of the above, Toscanini's place in the pantheon of all-time-great conductors remains just as secure in 2023 as it was back in 1923.
PICTURED: A c. 1920 real photo postcard showing the dapper middle-aged Toscanini staring intensely into the camera.
