Opera Chic

Toscanini's Cranky Bones: "Puccini, Callas Suck; Catalani Awesome"

We all know that sometimes it's O.K. to agree to disagree with people whose opinions we usually respect; in Arturo Toscanini's case Opera Chic has long ago learned to take the late maestro's opinions with the proverbial pound of salt (wait).

A new docu-drama, Toscanini: In His Own Words, where a director has worked together with the Toscanini family to create a film intercut with historical footage that finds the source of its dialogue in 150 hours of recordings that the Maestro’s son Walter secretly made, Nixon-like, of home conversations. The director has used the tapes as the basis for the script; even if the actor who plays Toscanini does so with a pretty hammy accent the sort of which we're accustomed to hear from TV chefs from Italian restaurants in Buffalo, NY, the content sounds pretty cool:

Reminiscences of Puccini prove not so flattering: “The man never had an original idea in his head. Never a direct inspiration. Everything he borrowed from elsewhere.” Toscanini disparages Maria Callas, whom we glimpse in I Puritani: “I can’t understand a single word she sings. Every singer with a high note becomes a huge star. I recognize only those stars in heaven.”

More fondly, Toscanini speaks of composer Alfredo Catalani, whose La Wally also inspired the names of Toscanini’s second child. “He was a most simpatico spirit, and he had the most beautiful eyes, which women could not resist. I recall that Puccini became jealous towards Catalani, often wondering how a man could write so many beautiful melodies. I still play his lovely song ‘The Dream.’”

How someone as deeply musical as Toscanini could mistake Catalani's lowbrow banality for talent, and could not appreciate Puccini's astonishing genius for orchestration, is indeed a tragic mystery of the maestro's life we'll never be able to solve.

And by the way, Opera Chic would still be very curious to know how he actually played the cello. Because you know, maybe -- just maybe -- Toscanini kinda sucked at it.

Strike @ La Scala Kills Barenboim's Requiem For Toscanini; La Prima Of Dec. 7 Much More At Risk Now

As previously reported by Opera Chic, tomorrow's strike at la Scala will cancel the performance of Verdi's Requiem conducted by Daniel Barenboim in memory of Arturo Toscanini (the great maestro and humanitarian who, besides his awesome musical achievements, gave in secret a monster donation -- several million euros in 2007 money -- to the theatre in 1945 in order to rebuild the bombed-out opera house).

The Scala workers are on strike because their unions are working out a new contract with Scala management and a deal seems to be very far at the time being.

The Dec. 7 season premiere, Tristan Und Isolde conducted by Barenboim and directed by Patric Chéreau, is much more at risk.

Personally we think that such a slap in Toscanini's face is much worse than a slap in Wagner's -- we'd have happily traded the Dec. 7 performance with tomorrow night's, because Toscanini, when you consider all he has done for la Scala, artistically and financially and in terms of PR, should be worshiped by anybody connected to the Milanese opera house the way Catholics worship their saints.

Instead.

***update***

Have you been so naive as to buy those very expensive tickets for the performance assuming that the concert would actually happen? If you bought your ticket online you need to mail them back to La Scala's Box Office, Galleria Del Sagrato, Piazza Del Duomo, Milan "by November 17", according to la Scala's instructions (good luck with that unreliable Italian post office by the way!). Your credit card will then -- hopefully! -- be refunded. If you've bought them in person at the box office, you have to go back there, give back your ticket(s), and you'll be refunded on the spot. If you cannot show up in person, mail them back and you'll receive in the mail (hopefully!) a check.

If you're a ticket holder and you need more info -- or just feel like expressing your opinion re: this cancellation -- la Scala's switchboard is (+39) 0288791

Gonna Write Me A Little Toscanini

Cruising down Corso Magenta, one of our favorite streets in downtown Milan, we always make a point to linger infront of the very elegant E. E. Ercolessi windows, a pen collector's wet dream [ed: not the window in the picture posted above, btw]. Even better are the free, well-designed merchandise catalogs they leave out front...in a city where almost nothing is offered gratis.

In addition to the windows of E. E. Ercolessi, many of the high-end pen-slingers are advertising the newest addition to Mont Blanc's Donation pens series: Following with the 1996 Leonard Bernstein, the 2000 Yehudi Menuhin, the 2001 Johann Bach, 2003's von Karajan and Solti, comes the 2007 Arturo Toscanini pen.

Available as a fountain pen (stilografica), which will set you back €490 ($710 USD) and ballpoint pen (penna a sfera) for a bargain €290 ($420 USD) -- both being priced reasonably within Mont Blanc's standards. The Toscanini pen boasts an 18k gold nib, a cap engraved with the Maestro's signature, and, "sculpted clip shaped like strings and string holder of a violoncello".

If the Toscanini pen doesn't get your nib wet, another musically-inspired pen on the market for Winter 2007 is the Montegrappa limited edition tribute to Antonio Stradivari. The body of pen has been crafted in Stradivari-inspired wood, and comes in a really nifty box [see below]. The series also boasts a 18k white gold nib, engraved with a violin and the Stradivari seal. Released will be 2,000 fountain pens @ €700 ($1,000 USD); 3,000 rollerball pens @ €530 ($770 USD); and 5,000 ballpoint pens @ €370 ($540 USD).

The last pentender for the 2007 Holiday season is Delta's limited editions of both Enrico Caruso and Giacomo Puccini tribute pens. Both pens rely on a (frankly annoying) numerology scene to lay out the series. Since Caruso was born in 1873, 873 fountain pens (with a lever) will be released, along with 1873 cartridge pens. In addition, a precious 48 fountain pens will be available with white gold or rose gold accents. Caruso will fetch €720 ($1,000 USD).

The Puccini pens will be distributed in the same fashion, with 1858 the reliant number, offering lever and cartridge pens in multiples of 858 and 1858. Puccini will fetch a top price of €590 ($850 USD). Ugh. This is beginning to sound like a freaking Eco novel.

yaes, i sign my checks with a $1,000 18k gold Caruso pen while i'm over here with my 5-figure salary, buying not 1 but THREE xbox games a week. im one of those 'upper crusts' that you've read about in teh newspaper and seen on the tv, what of it???

Pictures at a Toscanini Exhibition

(From Arturo Toscanin's collection: Giovanni Boldini's "Child’s Face", 1860. With certain, um, Boldini embellishments.)

Before Opera Chic departed this weekend for Massachusetts to spend time with more of her lovely family, the Muti concerto at Lincoln Center allowed a nice opportunity to scope the Toscanini exhibition currently showing at Avery Fisher Hall.

It has been named “Maestro's Secret Music: The Artwork Collected by Arturo Toscanini” (La Musica Segreta Del Maestro: La Collezione d'Arte di Arturo Toscanini). Ewww. The exhibition sounds like it was cribbed from a Hallmark movie about a high school conductor who teaches a deaf student how to play the violin or something.

It is curated by Renato Miracco, who chose the works to represent Toscanini’s "versatility and vibrant receptivity to modernity,” as a majority of the oil work are representative of 19th century avant-garde.

The second goal of Miracco was to highlight the conductor's multifaceted embrace of culture, which was reflected in his collected artwork, and hidden from the public for a long time.

Of course, the real occasion of the exhibition is remembrance of the fiftieth anniversary of Toscanini's death (January 16, 2007). All artwork anecdotes are provided from the Maestro's late son, Walter Toscanini. However, the works are currently owned by Walfredo Toscanini, the Maestro's grandson. The artwork was last seen in New York by the public in 1972 in an exhibit called, “Nineteenth-century Italian Painting".

(Grand Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall, where the Toscanini exhibt currently resides.)

All of the artwork (oil, watercolor, pencil, bronze, and ceramic) was stationed throughout Toscanini's house in Milan on via Durini, and then brought to Villa Pauline in Riverdale, New York. Though the exhibit has roughly sixty works, Toscanini’s collection fluctuated between one hundred and two hundred pieces.

Italian artist and father of Italian Divisionism, Vittore Grubicy de Dragon (RAWR RAWR!), became Toscanini’s critical advisor and purchaser for procuring new art, and the maestro additionally collected quite a few of de Dragon's (rawr) works.

The collection boasted tons of bucolic landscapes, most of them small oil paintings. There was a reliance on Italian 19th century masters such as Umberto Boccioni, Giovanni Fattori, Silvestro Lega, and Gaetano Previati. Landscapes of Lake Maggiore was a recurrent subject in many of the paintings. Toscanini favored the Pointillist style, and early romantic artists that paved the way for impressionism (I’m looking at you Joseph Turner). There were a few works from Ashcan skoolers George Inness and Alfred East in the collection as well.

Outstanding works?

 

Enrico Caruso (yes *that* Enrico Caruso) made himself (and then gave to Toscanini) a "Self-Caricature as Laughing Buddha", 1909 statuette in bronze (seen above). It's really quite spectacular.

Also significant: Riccardo Pick Mangiagalli's "Painting of Cia Fornaroli Toscanini" from 1918. Toscanini's daughter-in-law was a successful ballerina, and the maestro was proud of her. Toscanini had half-a-dozen mixed media representations of Miss Cia in his collection (painting, sculpture, and sketches), with this oil painting (to the left) as the most stunning.

It is stated in all exhibition media that to view the works, the “gallery” is only open to the public on Thursday afternoons, with two viewing sessions (2:00pm and 4:00pm). But here's what I don’t understand: if you go to a nighttime event at Avery Fisher Hall, the works are hanging right there on the walls, because the exhibition is located specifically in the viewing spaces that encircle the Grand Promenade and the First Tier of the concert hall (in plain view)!

The only incentive to follow the tour is that the $20 exhibition catalog (I was told) can only be purchased via the tour guide. The catalog is in English and Italian, has pictures of all the artwork in the exhibition, and half a dozen introductions/essays by family and friends closest to the maestro.

You can call (212) 875-5930 for an appointment or email [email protected]. After the NYC tour, the next stop is in September, at the Teatro Goldoni in Livorno, Italia.

Faster Muti Kill! Kill! With the New York Philharmonic

Opera Chic had quite a day today buzzing around Lincoln Center, while sampling all the delish treats of the Gelb Revolution. Btw, the Gelb Revolution will not be televised (and y'all know you're gonna watch it!) I'll get to the auxiliaries tomorrow, including the "Maestro's Secret Music" (Arturo Toscanini artworks collection in Avery Fisher Hall), and the dazzling "Maria Callas & Swarovski: Jewels on Stage" exhibition from the subterranean dungeon of the MET Opera house.

But first: Guess what?? I've got a fever! And the only prescription is...MORE MUTI!

Although it is cold as balls in New York City, that didn't stop Opera Chic from braving the razor-sharp winds to support Maestro Muti, who appeared earlier this evening with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall.

Since I hate traveling with my vintage pieces, and I prefer to pack my luggage lightly, I had to fall back partially on my cache of clothes and accessories that I had left behind with family when I moved to Italy. Therefore, I set out for my adventures today in a curious mélange, wearing nothing terribly exciting save a high collar, black cashmere lady coat from Armani, and a Loro Piana gray cashmere winter cape.

 

Tonight’s program at Avery Fisher Hall at first seemed disjointed, curated from composers Giuseppe Martucci, Giuseppe Verdi, and Ottorino Respighi. Aside from the fact that they are all Italians, they actually are all linked tenuously through Martucci, which was explained in the program notes from the evening.

The concert opened with Martucci's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat", with the brilliant Gerhard Oppitz flawlessly playing the cadenzas. The grand piano was situated stage center, flanked by the orchestra, which stood between Muti and the audience. A Muti sandwich, if you will. But the positioning was teh suck for me (as I was in orchestra front) because Muti was blocked behind the giant hull of the piano lid. But the awesomeness of that proximity paid-off, and I was able to hear Muti sigh and wheeze, and fret about the music, stomping his feet across the podium during the crescendi. Pretty f**king sweet!

The first movement of the Martucci piano concerto, Allegro giusto, was lol giusto lol. No. It was actually a very symphonic, big sound. The second, Larghetto, was astonishingly lyrical. The finale was adequately bright. Gerhard Oppitz played blithely, and had no problem keeping up with Muti's tempi. Fun fact: The New York Philharmonic's previous performance of this work was only twice: February 21 & 24 in 1911. Go Muti Go…with your obscure and esoteric snobbery!

 

Muti was suited in delicate eyeglasses, frac, and that lovely shade of dark grey that he is currently rawking on top. Muti unfortunately seemed distant and a bit aloof. This was a different Muti that I had seen in Ravenna just last month conducting Don Pasquale. He was detached and somber, a little lethargic. And the overall sound was a bit on the muddied spectrum. Of course, he still conducted flawlessly (as always).

Then intervallo: *reads program* *checks mobile phone* *txts Italian friends: OMG MUTI IS ALL UP IN THIS PIECE*

During the intermission, the piano was wheeled away. Yay! Muti's podium was pulled shallow, leaving il maestro in plain view. The first work after intervallo was Verdi's "Ballet Music" from Macbeth. As the story goes, Verdi had written the opera in 1864 without any sort of ballet. However, the French publisher Léon Escudier, in anticipation of the April 21, 1865 la prima at the Théâtre-Lyrique in Paris, asked the Italian composer to add a ballet. The playbill goes on to say, "In 1865 the composer revised the opera to include a ballet — de rigueur for anyone who had aspirations of producing an opera in Paris. The members of the infamous Jockey Club who attended the ballet called the shots: they wanted to see their favorite dancers on stage—and backstage after the performance as well." Well, Verdi obliged, and we now find the ballet early in Act III. Fun fact: The New York Philharmonic only played this once before—on April 3, 1957 with Mitropoulos conducting.

 

Now onto the final work: Respighi's Feste romane, a quirky highlight of the evening. A colorful story evolves through the music, which is easily followed via the personification of the instruments. There’s the drunk guy, the witch, the lions, etc. This work is just so much fun, and a complete orgy of brass. It's a dirty, ugly, brash sound, which begins in the visceral first movement, Circus Maximus. Brass-heavy composition, this work is more like a trumpet concerto (three trumpet players were stationed up in the second tier balcony, which were supposed to be an ancient Roman brass/horn instrument called buccine.) Through the next three movements (The Jubilee, Oktoberfest, and Epiphany), there was a dizzying array of instruments, including sleigh bells, a glockenspiel, two pianos, and a mandolin. It was insane. Muti was very deft at weaving it all into a coherent pallet. He took away the sappiness and sentimentality of the composition, and gave it dignity and grace. He suffused it with depth. Muti rawks my socks. Fun fact: The world premiere was with the New York Philharmonic on February 21, 1929 in NYC, conducted by Toscanini.

 

The reception after the finale was lukewarm. Is it the Carlo Fontana fall-out? The Muti backlash? A standing ovation…but really what doesn’t get a standing ovation these days? The New York audience can suck it. WTF NYC? This is pandemic! First Darfur, now Muti. I fear what is next!

Well, whatevs. I dosed on Muti cowbell, suckas!

Barenboim at La Scala

An image of Barenboim conducting Tuesday night's Beethoven Eroica for Toscanini's 50th passing, at Teatro alla Scala.

Below, the great Maestro Toscanini at La Scala.

Btw,I'm sure you have all read by now that Lorin Maazel, before the January 16 Toscanini concerto at Avery Fisher Hall, was given one of Toscanini's old batons?

A Toscanini Follow-Up: To Follow-Up

One of Opera Chic's dear reader, fignaz, highlighted a thorough clip (titled "Viva Toscanini") from Rai's Porta a Porta in the comments of this post, that merits repeating in case anyone missed it.

Host Bruno Vespa, in the show that aired on January 16, collects the anecdotes of Luciano Pavarotti, Riccardo Muti, Carla Fracci, Barbara Frittoli, Giulietta Simionato, and a few other critics, historians, and singers, as they share their recollections of Toscanini.

It clocks-in at 1.5 hours, and aside from glimpsing rare clips of the Maestro conducting, it is worth the commitment if only to witness the monstrosity of a beaver hat that Giulietta Simionato donned. The clip can be found here, and then you click on the link that says, "VIVA TOSCANINI - 16/01".

Digesting Toscanini

Please excuse Opera Chic if she has been a bit aloof and distracted lately...but she had been preparing for a stateside visit, in order to split time between precious friends and family in New York and the verdant suburbs. So as of earlier today, I am nestled back into the brash land of SUVs, 7-11s, indoor plumbing, and Jello. (j/k about indoor plumbing)...In the sage words of Jay-Z: Guess who's bizack, y'all?

But don't worry, gentle readers...

Opera Chic keeps close to her trusted Milanese contacts, who are always ready to relay juicy stories and the latest tidbits fresh from the ensconces of the opera stage. I also promise a few Manhattan outings, as the calendar is already brimming full...

Anyway, last night, while I was preparing my vintage English luggage for my trip back to New York, I made myself a little packing party... opened a bottle of Nebbiolo Langhe, and listened to the live broadcast on Rai Radio Tre of Tuesday night's concert at La Scala to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Arturo Toscanini. Maestro Barenboim conducted the La Scala orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, the Eroica Symphony.

The Eroica is the piece of music that La Scala always employs to commemorate the greats: the second movement, the Marcia Funebre, had been played there the day of Toscanini’s funeral, the day of Gianandrea Gavazzeni’s funeral, and the day of Carlo Maria Giulini’s funeral. The great maestri who have been associated with the theatre are honored by the Marcia Funebre. (In a little known anecdote, the great and always humble Maestro de Sabata, who had been asked to conduct the orchestra the day of Toscanini’s funeral, refused on the grounds [at least that day] that nobody was deserving enough of the honor of conducting on the same podium that had been Toscanini’s. Therefore, the first violin led the orchestra instead, and the podium remained empty).

I was expecting to hear a dark, moody, very Wilhelm Furtwänglerian Eroica from Barenboim, who is one of Furtwängler’s most ardent fans and is seen as one of the great maestro heirs (Furtwängler in the early 1950s held the same title, Maestro Scaligero, that now Barenboim holds at La Scala...it’s a sort of Conductor Emeritus thing).

Instead, Barenboim chose a fascinating, burnished, solemn sound: a mournful prayer instead of the apocalyptic, disquieting Requiem-like sound that many conductors choose, especially for the Second Movement. Tempi were indeed deliberate but not extremely slow (enough, anyway, to contradict the entire Toscanini ethos of sustained, speedy tempi). The audience’s reaction (the Italian President Giorgio Napoletano was also at the event) was ecstatic: the occasion did not allow for the wild cheering that Barenboim got on December 23, 2005 with Beethoven’s Ninth at the Concerto di Natale, with soccer-stadium-like ovations at the end, but applause was sustained and enthusiastic.

There is a bit of insight to Barenboim's delivery, because in yesterday's Corriere, Barenboim was asked to give a few thoughts about Toscanini and the significance of conducting the Eroica (see column above). Aside from his Toscanini anecdotes, musings on the next season at La Scala, and thoughts on fascism, Barenboim advised everyone to look for a hidden message within his conducting during the Eroica. He highlighted that Beethoven had wanted to emphasise in the Eroica that death is much the same part of life, and everything is bundled into the same cycle, and how everything is rejoined in the flux of beauty and joy...and this was to be the maestro's inspiration.

At the end of the concerto last night, Radio Tre gave us a treat: They broadcasted a speech by Barenboim, delivered for the press at that morning's general rehearsal. It was almost a lecture on Toscanini, on the Italian spirit of his conducting as opposed to the philosophical, German style of Furtwängler. The Maestro eloquently stated,

"For Toscanini, music is; For Furtwaengler, music becomes. Being vs. becoming...it all goes back to the Greek thought".

March 25, 1867 – January 16, 1957

What the frick, Miss Fleming?!

Fleming flees!

Renée Fleming is out of tomorrow night's performance of "A Tribute to Toscanini" at NYC’s Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic and the Symphonica Toscanini, which was organized to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Arturo Toscanini's passing. The h0tness that is bass René Pape will sing instead.

Almost exactly a year ago, she had pulled out of the Mozart 250th concert in Salzburg.

Maestro Muti was quoted last year in The New York Times about her cancellation. He could not understand "why Ms. Fleming had traveled all the way from New York to Salzburg only to discover at a late hour that the piece was not right for her voice. The program was printed a year ago."

Whatever the reason, let's all be thankful that Pape was available /not Bartoli.

New recordings from old times: Toscanini strikes back.

Arturo Toscanini's brief tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the early 1940s is one that customarily slips from the memory, which is why a brand new Toscanini box set release is so exciting. From November 1941 to February 1942, a 75-year-old Toscanini worked closely with the "Fabulous Philadelphians", and left behind a rare cache of recordings. RCA Red Seal has recently released the "digitally remastered" sets, which include recordings of Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major, Debussy's "La Mer", Berlioz's "Roméo et Juliette", and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, "Pathétique." Quotes Tne New York Sun, "...Every Toscanini fan will want this set. It is recommendable to Toscanini skeptics as well — because the Philadelphia recordings show the maestro at his very best."

Many have not been so keen on Toscanini's relentless conducting style throughout the years. And we all have heard the horror stories about Toscanini's treatment of his orchestras (famous anecdotes: the time he got so angry at the La Scala orchestra that he ripped off his own shirt in a fit of uncontrollable anger; the time he pointed at a soprano's ginormous decolletage screaming, "Ah, if only those were brains!") And even if Toscanini was capable of adding to the mixture an insane amount of praise ("I yell at you because you are the best orchestra in the world", he used to explain to his terrorised professori d'orchestra) nobody today would dare act like he did. Toscanini's behavior would nowadays send him to jail or to Anger Management classes (not to mention the sexual harrasment lawsuits) and the newer generations of conductors have learned the lesson: you can push the orchestra only up to a point.

Let's hear it from Maestro Riccardo Muti, who recently offered his opinion of Toscanini's patented, forceful technique. From a recent article, Muti said that the Toscanini lesson, when it comes to dealing with the orchestra is that:

"Quando dirigete, cercate di non rompere le scatole all'orchestra", che non significa lascia fare all'orchestra ma una volta che tu hai messo in moto il motore in un certo modo non devi disturbare gli esecutori su un cammino che tu stesso hai indicato".

Literally, the lesson is you should not break the orchestra's boxes, i.e., you should not break their balls. You must trace the path, start the engine, and then try not to disturb.

You can find clips of the interview, along with image galleries at Muti's content-rich website, one of Opera Chic's favorites. (Below Muti shows there is nothing he won't put his signature on!)

The secret of the anonymous La Scala benefactor

In these few days before the 50th anniversary of the 1957 death of Maestro Arturo Toscanini, a new secret has been revealed; a secret that had been kept for ages, a secret that can shed light on the very special relationship that Toscanini shared with Teatro alla Scala.

In the weekly magazine Chi (Who) that hit the newstands on Wednesday, January 10, something quite spectacular was divulged to the public by the Maestro's granddaughter, Emanuela di Castelbarco (image on left). Signora Castelbarco was last mentioned here as one of the founders of the new "Viva Toscanini" initiative that has been established in remembrance of the Maestro.

Corriere recapped it all in an article called, "Scala, il misterioso benefattore era Toscanini," with the translation being, "La Scala: The mysterious benefactor was Toscanini."

Throughout the past 100 years in the history of Teatro alla Scala donors and benefactors, the acronymn "NN" had appeared numerous times, alluding to an anonymous backer that financed many productions, events, and reconstructions. The "NN" is short for "Non Nominato", or "Unnamed". Emanuela di Castelbarco explains that the previous unnamed supporter was actually her grandfather, Maestro Arturo Toscanini. She goes on to explain:

"Ci sono delle targhe alla Scala che ricordano cifre molto rilevanti offerte da 'NN'. Quel 'NN' era lui, mio nonno Arturo Toscanini."

Translation: "There are plaques at La Scala that commemorate the biggest donors of the theater, and among the names, there is one entry displayed as 'NN'. That 'NN' was him, my grandfather Arturo Toscanini."

She goes on to recall that after WWI, there was not enough money for Teatro alla Scala to go back to normal operations. Therefore, her grandfather and a few other friends absorbed the costs for programming, albeit anonymously. Toscanini also donated a hefty amount after the destruction the theater endured during WWII.

A few more articles conduct interviews with musicologists and others close to Toscanini about their lasting impressions of the maestro, and the legacy that he left in the wake of his death.

Granddaughter Emanuela di Castelbarco ends one article with a mention of both his affection and his wit. She explains: "I lived for a time in the United States after the war, and although music was his great love, Toscanini was a grandfather that was always close, and very affectionate. Even if he yelled at me always to please not sing, because apparently, I am completely out of tune ."

Toscanini World Tour: Part II

Loads of announcements were made yesterday in Italy concerning the 50th anniversary remembrances of the passing of Arturo Toscanini. The late Maestro will be celebrated for the next twelve months throughout Italy - from Venice to Rome to Milan - via a series of cultural initiatives named, "Viva Toscanini" (Long Live Toscanini!). They will recognize Toscanini not only for his extraordinary musical career, but for his fearless, outspoken position against fascism. Take that, Mussolini!

"Viva Toscanini" is comprised of an international committee, led by Giancarlo Leone of RAI national television (and son of the ex Italian President). Others members of the board are relatives of the Maestro (granddaughter Emanuela di Castelbarco), prominent musical historians, conductors, and superintendents of Italian opera houses.

The campaign embraces elements of film (eight famous italian directors will be asked to curate a selection of representative cinema), international concerts (given in both Israel and the United States), and other various promotions. Schools in Italy will introduce a new Toscanini curriculum to celebrate the legacy of the maestro. Rome will host an exhibition, "Toscanini and his time," as well as another highlighting the women of the Toscanini family.

RAI announced that they will dedicate the entire day of January 16, 2007 (the actual fiftieth anniversary of the passing of Toscanini who died aged 90 in Riverdale, NY) to the Maestro, filling the entire RAI network with programming devoted to the late conductor. For instance, that same day, Rai Tre and Rai Radio Tre will carry the January 9, 2007 inaugural Symphonica Toscanini/Gelmetti concerto from Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

The Barenboim/Filarmonica lol "free" lol concert at Teatro alla Scala on January 16 will be broadcast live on the radio (Rai Radio Tre) and on television (Rai Uno on January 20, at midnight.)

Rai is also manufacturing a box-set with two cds, that will boast recordings taken from their huge Toscanini archives, which will comprise of sixty-one taped performances, and two-hundred, sixty-seven musical programs.

In Parma, the house where Toscanini was born (in 1877, and then turned into a museum in 1967) will command a special inauguration, and visitors will be able to approach additional rooms where the Maestro lived, which will display rare personal effects that were collected throughout his extensive travels.

Among these treasures is the very rare volume of Verdi's Copialettere dating from 1913 with Verdi's own autograph; Puccini's Turandot score published for the opera's first staging; and various personal objects belonging to Wagner such as eyeglasses, a silver mug, and a briefcase. But among the real rarities, there is an autographed portrait of -- ah the irony for a dedicated antifascista and antiNazi like Toscanini -- Frau Cosima Wagner. If you visit the museum on January 16, you can purchase a special postcard and stamp dedicated to Arturo Toscanini.

FIELD TRIP TIME! I'll need 20 bucks from your parents and EVERYONE PICK A BUDDY!

All about that "free" La Scala Concert.

Remember the news that Opera Chic reported here, which mentioned the January 16, 2007 free Teatro alla Scala concert (with Maestro Barenboim) in recognition of Toscanini's fiftieth year of passing? And how most of those tickets were supposed to be distributed to the senior citizen associations of Milan? Well, the laudable humanitarian aim has unfortunately turned this gratis ticket advent into a nightmare.

Since the tickets, as per La Scala instructions, have been already donated to the city of Milan’s associations for the elderly, as well as to Milan’s “consigli di Zona” (the nine city districts that administer Milan), everyone was under the impression that once the elderly were taken care of, the other residents of Milan had the secondary priority.

But apparently not. The chairman of Consiglio di Zona 1 tries to control the ensuing chaos with the following statement:

Milano, 8 Gennaio 2007: COMUNICATO STAMPA

Biglietti Concerto Scala del 16 Gennaio

[...]Ho avuto comunicazione dagli Uffici della Scala che solo 600 biglietti verranno suddivisi fra le 9 Zone di Milano (77 circa a zona) e altri 400 saranno consegnati all’Assessorato Politiche Sociali e destinati alla terza età. Il Consiglio di Zona 1, da me presieduto, che si riunirà mercoledì sera, proporrà agli uffici una mozione per i criteri di assegnazione dei biglietti. I cittadini residenti in Zona 1 potranno di conseguenza lasciare il loro nome e telefono agli uffici solo Giovedì 11 Gennaio.

Il Presidente Dott. Micaela Goren Monti

The statement describes that it is now apparent that only 1000 tickets have been given by Teatro alla Scala to the nine city districts and the associations for the elderly, divided thus:

• 600 total for the 9 districts (ie about 77 tickets for each district) and 400 for the elderly. This is a problem.

The city offices are pissed at Teatro alla Scala because:

1. They don’t have a structure similar to a box office, so they actually cannot (at the moment) distribute the tickets.
2. They must be wondering what the hell happened to the rest of the tickets, since La Scala gave away only 1000, but the theater's capacity is almost 3000.

So here's the deal: The City of Milan will have to wait until January 11th, and those who want the free tickets will have to leave their names and phone numbers with their city district offices, and pray that the lottery hits-them-up with a freebie.

But most of us who are in-the-know realize that two-thirds of the tickets have been already awarded to various freeloading VIPs (who never pay for anything anyway), corporate sponsors, friend of friends, soccer players, TV skanks, mistresses of the rich, assorted escorts, and their ilk. This will not end well.

Symphonica Toscanini readies their passports...

The Symphonica Toscanini, under the Musical Direction of Lorin Maazel, is an orchestra that is quite keen to begin the New Year. And just not for the thrill of New Year resolutions and craploads of champagne and caviar. The symphony is about to embarked on a year-long tour called, "In the Footsteps of Toscanini -- Symphony of the Air," in remembrance of the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of Arturo Toscanini.

In recognition of fifty years departure of the Italian conductor's death, the Rome-based orchestra (comprised of a revolving organization of about two hundred musicians) will spend almost three weeks at the beginning of their tour by playing fourteen dates across the United States: beginning on Thursday, January 11 with a concert at the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and ending Sunday, January 28 in San Francisco at U of C's Zellerbach Hall.

Conductor Lorin Maazel will lead the orchestra on the same routes that Toscanini himself took (in 1920 with the Orchestra Arturo Toscanini and again in 1950 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra), bearing witness to similar trials that marked his long career. The repertoire has been chosen to reflect some of the more favorite works that Arturo Toscanini preferred.

Music Director Maazel describes his honor in leading the symphony, and his excitement of the upcoming tour:

“When I was asked to lead an ensemble whose ranks are drawn from some of the most awesomely gifted young soloists of our day, first as guest conductor and eventually as Music Director, I felt it incumbent upon me to accept the challenge. I'm glad I did.”

“In recent tours in Europe and Asia these young people have realized their musical potential in an orchestral frame so stunningly as to bring audiences to their feet at the end of each concert cheering and lauding these sterling virtuosi and roaring for more. In presenting the Symphonica Toscanini in their first major U.S. tour, I revel in anticipation of the acclaim they will surely be accorded.”

The most prominent of these US concerts, "A Tribute to Toscanini," scheduled on Tuesday, January 16 in NYC’s Avery Fisher Hall, is significant for two reasons. First, it is the actual date that Toscanini passed away fifty years ago. Second, the concert will feature Renée Fleming singing with both the New York Philharmonic and the Symphonica Toscanini (whereas every other US concert comprises of only symphony performances). La Renée will sing a small selection of songs from Cilea to Respighi. There will also be a gala dinner, catered by prominent Italian chefs, and Avery Fisher Hall will also be displaying about sixty pieces from Arturo Toscanini's art collection (from January 16 - March 31), which includes works by Boccioni and Innes, along with media such as home movies.

Before hitting the United States, the tour of Symphonica Toscanini will begin officially on January 9, 2007 at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, with the orchestra playing a selection of Bizet, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini, under the direction of Gianluigi Gelmetti (btw, the best/freshest pescheria in all of Milan is at Pescheria Gelmetti on via Vitruvio). They will then continue through Israel, Japan, and South America to perform more than forty concerts.

The orchestra dedicates themselves to the musical ideals that were embodied by Toscanini. Maestro Toscanini was able to penetrate mainstream conceptions of classical music with high-profile achievements, including directorship roles at Teatro alla Scala, NYC Met Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

So what will we be doing in Milan for the fiftieth anniversary of la scomparsa on January 16? Some will head over to Cimitero Monumentale di Milano with flowers and/or yartzeit, where Toscanini is buried with Horowitz.

Others will head over to Teatro alla Scala for a free concert. Starting at 7:00 pm, Filarmonica della Scala led by Daniel Barenboim, will play Beethoven’s “Eroica”, Symphony no 3 in E flat Major.

The catch? The tickets have already been given out to "i nove Consigli di Zona e i Centri Comunali per la terza Età". Translation: SENIOR CITIZENS NEED ONLY APPLY. Oh Furies! How this nubile skin betrays me!