Parma, Italy, 1867 — New York, 1957

 

Conductor

 

One of the most brilliant maestros of the 19th and 20th centuries, at the age of 19 was cellist in an opera company on tour in Latin American when, in Rio de Janeiro, he was invited to substitute the local conductor, Leopoldo Miguez, and conducted a two-and-a-half opera by heart. He conducted 18 operas during the rest of the tour, the beginning of a magisterial career. Back in Italy, he reached the position of resident conductor of the orchestra of La Scala in Milan.

 

On tour through the United States in 1920-1921, he made his first recording. He was the first non-German conductor to appear at Bayreuth (1930-1931), where the New York Philharmonic Orchestra was also the first non-German orchestra to play. In the 1930’s he performed at the Salzburg Festival (1934-1937). In 1936 he conducted the inaugural concert of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (which later became the esteemed Israel Philharmonic Orchestra) in Tel Aviv, performing with them in Jerusalem, Haifa, Cairo and Alexandria. He was an open critic of both Italian Fascism and Nazism.

 

Zweig and Toscanini met at the Salzburg Festival in 1934 and, as Zweig wrote to his mentor Romain Rolland, “within a few hours we became great friends”. Later they took the same steamer to cross the Atlantic from Nice to New York. They met in London, again in Salzburg and in the USA. Zweig loved watching him in rehearsal, fascinated by his prodigious energy. He devoted an essay to him and never tired of mentioning him in letters to Rolland.

 

Address listed: Independence Ave. – 254th Street, Riverdale, N.Y. Tel. Kingsbridge 9-7918