If you wish us to send a CD to an address other than your own please e-mail us with the full address details of the recipient, stating the CD order reference.
NBC Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Arturo Toscanini
Rec. 20 April 1940, 6 May 1940
Original transfer to CD by Music and Arts, 1994
XR remastering by Andrew Rose, April 2007
Download ID: 295107
(Duration 67'58")
The Marriage of Figaro is
beautiful; I heard a performance
many years ago
conducted by Richard Strauss
and I was entranced. But I
thought: ...there is something
about it which I cannot
understand, which eludes me
and which is lacking in me.
The Barber of Seville is a
magnificent opera, but there
are some poor moments,
unnecessary pages which
aren't beautiful and need
cutting; but compared with
Figaro,-how much sunlight,
and variety and genuine gaiety
there is in the music!
And again of Mozart:
He was
too perfect, everything is just where
it should be. Some of his music I find
cold. But he was a unique genius
Evidently Toscanini had
difficulty with Mozart. It is not
therefore surprising that his exploration
of the symphonic repertoire was
sketchy and incomplete. Of the late
symphonies, no Linz, just one
Prague in 1938, a single 39th in the
last thirty years of his career - both
of these demonstrating, in their
barely trammelled ferocity, why he
never conducted them more often.
Just three scores were programmed
with any frequency: the Haffner and
the G minor, both of which featured
in concerts throughout his career,
and the Jupiter. It is apparent why
these scores appealed: the heroics of
Symphonies Nos. 35 and 41 and the
passionate utterances of No.40 are
major elements of the works to
which Toscanini's musical make-up
could respond without equivocation.
Nevertheless, it seems that
Mozart's last symphony did not enter
Toscanini's repertoire until the
conductor was sixty-two, in his first
season as director of the New York
Philharmonic-Symphony, when in
the course of 1929-1930 he programmed
it on five occasions.
Further performances followed in
1933, but thereafter the work
achieved just three outings, with the
BBC Symphony Orchestra in the
Queen's Hall on June 3 1938, the
present performance, his first with
the NBC Symphony, and finally again
with NBC on 4 February 1945. He
recorded the work with this orchestra
in sessions taking place in June
1945 and March 1946.
It is fortunate that all three
performances (plus the commercial
recording) have been preserved,
since they show substantial changes.
In particular, those dating from 1938
and 1940 are characterised by a
greater breadth and majesty than the
final renditions, in which the
melodic lines are free of the
straitjacketing which at times afflicts
the commercial recording -
magnificent though that is in some
movements...
Our MP3 files are encoded at at a constant rate of 320kbps for all issues since mid-August 2008, and using the LAME encoder at high variable bitrate settings for older issues.
Each recording is presented as a single, long MP3 which can be split using the CUE sheet at the bottom of the page, automatically adding track titles and other tag information.
Most modern CD writing programs such as Nero and Burrrn can write these files directly to CD with all track information added using MP3+CUE - see our tutorial
Alternatively a cue splitter program can automatically cut and name the MP3 into individual MP3 tracks
There are also media players which use the MP3+CUE system, allowing gapless playback of all long MP3 files - essential for opera and many other classical works
Save money when you buy several downloads together
Use the following discount codes in the shopping cart:
Buy 5 or more - save 10%: Code: 85187052
Buy 10 or more - save 20%: Code: 12W07104
How To Use: Once you've made your selections, copy the correct code into the space marked Discount or Coupon Code in your shopping cart, then click the Update Cart button to apply the discount before heading to the checkout.
N.B. These discounts apply to all our FLAC and MP3 downloads only. Discounts do not apply to CD purchases
Free postage worldwide on the highest quality discs available.
Our CDs are made to order on highest quality Taiyo Yuden Watershield CD-R discs, recorded directly from our master files
CDs are shipped worldwide by Air Mail from France.
All our CDs hold the same quality of audio - the Standard €10 CD comes in a slip case with no covers, the Premium and Ambient Stereo €14 CD comes in a jewel case with printed covers.
The prices shown include all packing and shipping costs anywhere in the world.
All payments are processed by PayPal, one of the world's biggest and most reliable global online payment services
You can pay by credit card directly with PayPal acting as a secure card payment processing facility. Your card details remain with PayPal and are not passed to us.
You can use a free PayPal account for quicker and easier secure payments: sign up.
We do not recommend using the e-check option for download purchases as there is always a delay of 3-4 working days between purchase and receipt of goods while the check clears
Payments are shown in Euros and will be converted to your local currency at the current exchange rate before payment is completed.
