Of course Arturo Toscanini changes tempos. Listen to the last pages of his Brahms Fourth from November 1948 with the NBC Symphony: is that not a monumental rallentando in the finale? Listen to his Dvoràk Symphonic Variations from December 1948 with the NBC: are those not massive tempo rubatos from variation to variation? Listen to his Beethoven "Pastoral" from 1937 with the BBC Symphony: is that not a gradual accelerando from the development through the recapitulation and on into the coda in the opening movement? Listen to ...
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Of course Arturo Toscanini changes tempos. Listen to the last pages of his Brahms Fourth from November 1948 with the NBC Symphony: is that not a monumental rallentando in the finale? Listen to his Dvoràk Symphonic Variations from December 1948 with the NBC: are those not massive tempo rubatos from variation to variation? Listen to his Beethoven "Pastoral" from 1937 with the BBC Symphony: is that not a gradual accelerando from the development through the recapitulation and on into the coda in the opening movement? Listen to his and Helen Traubel's "Immolation Scene" from Die Götterdämmerung with the NBC from 1941: are there not tempo changes nearly every two bars?Of course, Toscanini claimed he didn't change tempos unless the composer required it and, of course, Toscanini was, shall it be said, exaggerating. But whether he did or didn't isn't the point. The point is whether or not it works. If you love Toscanini's tough guy with a bad attitude and a hair trigger temper, it works just fine. Toscanini's...
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Add this copy of Great Conductors of the 20th Century: Arturo Toscanini to cart. $15.98, new condition, Sold by bostoncomputer rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Framingham, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2004 by EMI.