GREAT PERFORMANCES: TOSCANINI: THE MAESTRO (TV)
Summary
One in this series on the performing arts. Narrator Alexander Scourby opens this profile of conductor Arturo Toscanini with a sketch incorporating Toscanini's own words. To the accompaniment of Giuseppe Verdi's overture to "La Forza del Destino," Metropolitan Opera conductor James Levine, as host, describes Toscanini's childhood and opposition to Mussolini, and introduces an excerpt from Act I of Verdi's "Aida" (in a 1949 performance by the NBC Symphony under Toscanini). Reminiscences by NBC Symphony violinist Edwin Bachmann (who discusses Toscanini's relationship with the singer Geraldine Farrar) and New York Philharmonic members Martin Bernstein and Saul Goodman alternate with Levine's account of Toscanini's years at La Scala in the 1920s and quotations (read by Scourby) from conductors Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer. Additional reminiscences by Toscanini's grandson Walfredo and soprano Jarmila Novotna are interspersed with excerpts from performances of the "Liebestod" from Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" (with the NBC Symphony, 1951) and the 1936 inaugural concert of the Palestine Orchestra (which later became the Israel Philharmonic). The program traces the impact of the rise of Fascism and the outbreak of World War II on Toscanini's life and career, including his association with the Lucerne Festival (after Hitler's annexation of Austria) and his 1943 propaganda film for the U.S., which featured his own orchestration of Verdi's "Hymn of the Nations," incorporating the American and Soviet national anthems. Other NBC Symphony alumni interviewed include Leonard Sharrow, Milton Katims, Alan Shulman, and Frank Brieff.
Next, Levine introduces a profile of conductor Arturo Toscanini with excerpts from a 1952 NBC Symphony performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, led by Toscanini. Veteran opera singers Robert Merrill, Licia Albanese, and Bidu Sayao discuss Toscanini's concert-opera performances. A 1949 performance of the Act IV Finale of Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida," with Richard Tucker and Herva Nelli, is followed by Nelli's reminiscences of the maestro. Gen. David Sarnoff (RCA board chairman) is seen introducing the pioneering 1948 television broadcast of Toscanini leading the NBC Symphony in the "Ride of the Valkyries" from Richard Wagner's "Die Walkure." James Levine's summation of Toscanini's life and work concludes the program.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: January 8, 1988 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:26:32
- COLOR/B&W: B&W
- CATALOG ID: T88:0200
- GENRE: Music; Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Biography; Conductors (music); Fascism; Music - Analysis, appreciation; Operas - Excerpts; World War II
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1974-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jac Venza … Executive Producer, For "Great Performances"
- Peter Rosen … Producer, Director
- Martin Bookspan … Co-Producer, Interviewer
- Walfredo Toscanini … Adviser
- Harvey Sachs … Writer, Interviewer
- James Levine … Host
- Alexander Scourby … Narrator
- Mortimer H. Frank … Interviewer
- John W. Freeman … Interviewer
- Arturo Toscanini … Conductor
- NBC Symphony Orchestra … Symphony Orchestra
- Israel Philharmonic … Symphony Orchestra
- Palestine Symphony Orchestra … Symphony Orchestra
- Giuseppe Verdi … Composer
- Richard Wagner … Composer
- Edwin Bachmann
- Martin Bernstein
- Frank Brieff
- Geraldine Farrar
- Saul Goodman
- Milton Katims
- Benito Mussolini
- Jarmila Novotna
- Leonard Sharrow
- Alan Shulman