Arturo Toscanini - The Final New York Philharmonic Concert (1945) [2015]

Toscanini's final concert with the New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, 1945

"A stunning performance ... urgently recommended" - Fanfare

When Toscanini took to the podium at Carnegie Hall on the evening of 13 January 1945 he was to conduct the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York (now known simply as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra) for the very last time. He opted to repeat the programme he had conducted in his debut with the orchestra almost exactly 19 years earlier, on 14 January 1926. He had conducted the orchestra a dozen times in the 1942 season, after his Gala Farewell concert of April 29, 1936, and once more in 1944 as part of a combined Red Cross concert in Madison Square Garden with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, but this really was his last farewell to the orchestra: a special one-off concert in aid of the orchestra's pension fund.

The concert was not broadcast live, and as a result it is unclear as to exactly where our source recording originated. It was clearly an in-house recording, cut onto acetate discs, and there is a suggestion it may have been made for Toscanini's personal use. It is also possible that the concert was broadcast overseas as part of the war effort.
These performances were very well received indeed!
Andrew Rose


Tracks:

HAYDN Symphony No.101
RESPIGHI The Pines of Rome
SIBELIUS The Swan of Tuonela
WAGNER Siegfried's Funeral Music
WEBER Euryanthe Overture

Personnel:

Arturo Toscanini, conductor
Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York