Full Description
This is the first book to describe Arturo Toscanini's activities - the life he led, his concerts and recording sessions - during his visits to London and elsewhere in Britain in the years 1900-1952.
During the 1930s Arturo Toscanini conducted many concerts broadcast by the BBC from London's Queen's Hall, where he also made some unsurpassed recordings. Drawing on newly researched material in British and American archives, Christopher Dyment reveals how the most renowned and influential conductor of the twentieth century, notoriously microphone-shy though he was, came to conduct so frequently in London, a tale replete with unexpected twists, turns and ingenious stratagems. Toscanini's dominating influence on London critics and audiences in the period covered by the narrative, extending through to his final appearances at the Royal Festival Hall in 1952, is copiously documented from contemporary sources. Dyment also presents fresh evidence showing how the remarkable combination of passionate conviction and architectural mastery that characterised Toscanini's conducting was grounded not only in his obsessive study of the score but also in his awareness of performing traditions dating back to the mid-nineteenth century.
This book will fascinate those with a particular interest in Toscanini's career and recorded legacy. It is also essential reading for anyone with an interest in the history of conducting and recording in the first half of the twentieth century, set against the vividly evoked backdrop of London's concert scene of the period. This comprehensive study includes both an annotated table of all Toscanini's London concerts and his EMI discography.
CHRISTOPHER DYMENT has written extensively about historic conductors since the 1970s, particularly Felix Weingartner and Arturo Toscanini. His first book, on Weingartner, was published in 1976.
Contents
Foreword by Harvey Sachs
Introduction
Arturo Toscanini - Chronicle of a life, 1867-1957
1900-30: Towards the Philharmonic Tour
1931-35: The London Music Festival 1935
Recording the 1935 concerts
1936-37: The London Music Festival 1937
The first HMV recording session
Autumn 1937: Two choral concerts and more records
1938: The London Music Festival 1938
1939: The last London Music Festival
1940-45: War efforts and beyond
1946-51: La Scala
1951-52: Royal Festival Hall
The London recordings - a study in style
Annex A. Discography of EMI recordings 1935-51
Annex B. The Concerts 1930-52: Programmes and Recordings
Annex C. Brahms and Toscanini: an historical excursus
Sources and Bibliography
