Arturo Toscanini [1867–1957] was born in Parma, Italy, the eldest of four children. He attended the city’s Royal School of Music from the age of nine, graduating with honors nine years later with particular skill in playing the cello and in composition. His photographic memory, legendary among his peers, became evident upon his first opportunity on the podium. While performing as principal cellist for an Italian opera company on tour in South America, he was called upon to lead the evening’s performance of Aïda when the ensemble’s conductor became ill; he did so from memory! Upon returning to Italy, Toscanini began to pursue a career in conducting by taking itinerant jobs with various regional opera houses around the country. At Milan’s second opera house—the Teatro Del Verme—in 1892, he conducted the world premiere of Leoncavallo’s I pagliacci and, three years later, he achieved the same goal in Turin with Puccini’s signature opera, La bohème.
When he was 31, Toscanini assumed the prestigious post of music director at Milan’s famed Teatro alla Scala (La Scala), considered the most important opera house in Europe at the time. In addition to providing Milanese with their first exposure to many great operas that would become strong elements of the repertoire—works by such leading composers of the day as Puccini, Mascagni, Cilea, Franchetti, and Giordano—he also revamped the opera house’s administrative functions and streamlined the way artists and musicians were hired. He left this post in 1908 but returned during the 1920s for a short stint. Toscanini led New York’s Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1915, a tenure that included the world premiere of La fanciulla del West by Giacomo Puccini (featuring Enrico Caruso). He left his native land over his opposition to Fascist rule, settling in the United States. He would return to Europe annually once WWII was over, but the New York City area remained his home for the rest of his life.
The NBC Orchestra was created expressly for Toscanini in 1937. He conducted his first radio broadcast with that ensemble on Christmas Day of that year. The studio in the company’s Rockefeller Center facility that served as the orchestra’s home was renovated in 1950 and is now used by NBC for its television show, Saturday Night Live. The maestro served as the leader of the NBC Orchestra until his retirement in 1954 at the remarkable age of 87. During his time with that organization he continued his penchant for presenting premieres of many major works. These included the world premiere of Barber’s Adagio for Strings and the first U.S performance of Symphony No. 7 by Dmitri Shostakovich.
Toscanini leads the NBC Orchestra in a 1944 performance of the overture to the opera La forza del destino by Giuseppe Verdi (note that he conducts without using a score!):