Toscanini

[Peter]

Watched a docu-drama on the great man last night - 'Toscanini in his own words' based on tapes his son recorded. The actor who plays Toscanini is a remarkable look alike and the whole programme was very interesting. In this short You-tube clip he talks about his hatred for the fascists. Not shown in this clip, he refers to Beethoven as the greatest composer above all others and I particularly liked his comments on the 9th symphony when he said we should conduct it on our knees! Anyone else seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsQZl_qXp1c

[Peter]

Thanks for your kind considerations Philip for my lonesome post! Well I was only quoting what Toscanini said - that drama is based on recorded taped conversations made by his son. It is well worth watching as he never gave interviews but in these discussions we have a wide range of reminiscences and opinions including his meeting with Verdi. He comes across as a courageous and decent human being who stood up to Mussolini and Hitler - he himself contrasts this with other musicians such as Furtwangler.

[Sorrano]

I would suggest that conduction the 9th on knees was meant metaphorically, and not literally. I do have a couple of VHS tapes that talk about Toscanini and one might be the same as what Peter has referred to; I will have to see about digging them out and seeing what they are, again.

[Preston]

I am assuming that Toscanini was saying that Beethoven's 9th was such a sacred piece of music that we should kneel before it? As Sorrano says metaphorically speaking of course.

[Hofrat]

Toscanini was an avid anti-fascist. Toscanini was suppose to conduct a concert in Nazi Germany, but days before the scheduled event a German audience spat upon the young conductor Bruno Walter. Toscanini was so outraged that he cancelled his appearance and sailed for Palestine where he conducted the Palestinian Philharmonic (which would later change its name to the Israeli Philharmonic).