We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
The Maestro Retires A small, white-haired man walked slowly off the stage in Carnegie Hall, New York, last April 4, his head bowed. It was Arturo Toscanini leaving for the last time after his farewell appearance with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Toscanini at 87 had decided to retire. He revealed the decision in a letter written to Brig. General David Sarnoff, Chairman of the Board of RCA, the man who founded the NBC Symphony 17 years ago as an instru- ment for the incomparable talents of the veteran con- ductor. At the end of the final concert, neither the orchestra itself nor the cheering audience in the hall knew that this was Toscanini's farewell — which was the way he wanted it. He left as he had always worked, simply and modestly. The first Toscanini concert with the NBC Symphony took place on Christmas night, 1937. Except for one year when he was on leave (1941-42) and conducted only five Treasury concerts for Bond sales, he was regular conductor of the orchestra up to the end of the season just completed. His broadcast concerts with this group, according to music critics, were among the most exciting musical events in America. During World War II, Toscanini directed the orchestra in many other War Bond concerts, raising large sums of money. He also conducted for the Red Cross. And although he had refused a quarter-million dollar offer to make a single film for Hollywood, he worked free for the United States government in making the film "Hymn of Nations" in 1944. In 1950, at the age of 83, he took the NBC Sym- phony on a coast-to-coast tour of the United States, covering 20 cities in personal appearances before thou- sands who previously had enjoyed his music only over the air or through recordings. 35 Years of Recordings Even in retirement from his 17-year association with NBC, Toscanini has left a rich musical heritage in the form of symphonic and operatic recordings made over the past 33 years — and others, already recorded by RCA Victor but not yet processed for distribution, are yet to come. His recordings of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, "Missa Solemnis" and "The Pines of Rome" and "The Fountains of Rome" were RCA Victors" sales leaders among all albums during February. The Beethoven Arturo Toscanini Nmth, which has sold more than 140,000 albums since its 1952 release, has been the company's leading Red Seal album for the past two years. Best-Selling Compositions The variety of Toscanini's musical interests and appeal is illustrated by his best-selling recordings since 1921 — besides the compositions of Beethoven and Brahms, they have included the "Skaters' Waltz" and the "Grand Canyon Suite." The most popular of the Toscanini recordings was his collaboration with Vladi- mir Horowitz on the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto, of which 350,000 albums have been bought up to the present time. His recorded versions of the operas "La Boheme," 'La Traviata" and "Otello" have been hailed as definitive by the leading music critics, and the repertoire of opera is to be increased by the "Falstaff" and "Masked Ball" albums which RCA Victor hopes to release this fall. RADIO AGE ?9