Hey everyone! Welcome to Day 57!
I probably shouldn't have tried to pursue this project while the World Series was going on, but I'm doing the best I can. On to Game 7, and one more evening of avoiding doing anything worthwhile for society!
Today's listening comprised all of the recordings Toscanini approved from his fourteenth season at NBC. This season was shortened by the conductor's knee troubles, which limited him to only four broadcasts. Toscanini evidently had a feeling that his last concert from this season would be the last of his career, but not only did he return for another season (plus two more after that), but season fifteen would prove to be his most prolific year of recording. An incredible forty-three works were to be recorded that year, showing that Toscanini had no intention of letting age get to him. And to think I already complain about feeling old and I'm only thirty-one.
Strauss: Don Juan - January 10th, 1951
Arturo Toscanini is not usually associated with the music of Strauss, but their association went back to the end of the 19th century. Toscanini gave the Italian premieres of many Strauss works during the early years of his career, and first led Don Juan in 1906. The same year Toscanini even stalked Strauss outside his home in Berlin, when hoping to engage the composer in negotiations for the first Italian performance of Salome (I don't know if Toscanini went through his garbage, though I'd like to think he did).
Toscanini was an incredible philanderer well into his old age, which should mean that Don Juan was the perfect music for him. While this recording of the first major tone poem of Richard Strauss is quite respectable, it is nothing special. Perhaps the now eighty-three year-old conductor had finally run out of energy for such things.
(I feel I should be congratulated for not using the word "flaccid" in the preceding paragraph. You're welcome.)
Verdi: Requiem - January 27th, 1951
Toscanini conducted the Verdi Requiem throughout his career, beginning with a special performance at La Scala to honor the first anniversary of Verdi's death in 1902. This NBC recording was culled from his last performance of the work, though the broadcast account was patched up with large quantities of rehearsal material for the RCA release. Toscanini only agreed to release this last Verdi Requiem when the alternate rehearsal takes were offered to him.
This recording is far from perfect. It is a bit rigid and lacking in nuance. But good heavens, is it dramatic! I will never forget my first experience with the Dies Irae, while observing a Seattle Symphony rehearsal in June of 1999. The famous bass drum notes left a major impression on me, and I have always felt that these notes are the key to the effectiveness of any performance of this work. Just wait until you hear the bass drum in this recording. This is such a powerful moment that I would really prefer to not comment on the rest of the performance (though there is an interesting mix of affects to the rest of the work that are worth listening to). Sometimes there are moments that you just want to remember without thinking about the other moments around them (Indiana Jones shooting the swordsman in Raiders of the Lost Ark is another of those moments).
This is hellfire and damnation of the most powerful sort, and yet somehow I feel morally elevated. I must be looking forward to watching Game 7 tomorrow.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 4 - February 3rd, 1951
As Toscanini only performed this symphony twice during his seventeen years at NBC (the first broadcast was in 1939; the present recording was culled from the second), it is natural to judge this account primarily against his 1939 recording with the BBC Symphony. The latter performance is one of Toscanini's finest Beethoven recordings, combining supple grandeur with biting strength.
Skipping ahead twelve years, the NBC broadcast is an impressive achievement in its own way, and even exceeds the BBC recording in its visceral energy. The scherzo is particular impressive in its explosive articulations. But the NBC cannot compete with its British counterpart in the moments of the symphony that call for a more full-bodied approach. The misterioso introduction to the first movement simply feels slack, while the fortissimo outbursts lack the sustained power that make them an effective contrast to the fleeter passages.
This performance has its strengths, but on the whole I prefer the BBC recording. But then again, I also used to strain the mushrooms out of Cream of Mushroom soup, so what do I know?
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That's it for Day 57!
Check back tomorrow for another even-numbered Beethoven symphony (isn't it interesting that the even-numbered ones are the most even-tempered?), two Italian overtures, and some Berlioz dance music that was composed by Weber.
Happy Thursday!
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