United Kingdom
Euroarts: 3077928
Toscanini: In His Own Words
Our Price: £22.95
Format: DVD - NTSC
Number of Discs: 1
Release Date: 29th June 2009
This film is a 'docufiction' on the great Toscanini, directed by well-known film-maker Larry Weinstein, who pushes the boundaries of conventional documentary storytelling by borrowing tools from fiction.
Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), arguably the greatest and most famous conductor in history, was paradoxically one of the most private. He never granted interviews, left diaries or journals of any kind. But during the last years of his life, his son Walter secretly recorded 150 hours of intimate conversations that Toscanini shared with friends and family.
'Toscanini: In His Own Words' is based on these tapes, which remained hidden for more than 50 years. Recreated conversations reveal aspects of the Maestro never seen before. Subjects such as his loves, opinions about colleagues, his clashes with Mussolini and Hitler, his personal memories of Verdi, Puccini, Furtwangler, Stokowski, as well as his greatest joys and causes of his endemic sadness are all part of his frank conversation.
Interwoven throughout the film are many of Toscanini's greatest musical performances, with excerpts from:
- Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (1952), Missa Solemnis (1953), Piano Concerto No.3 (1944)
- Berlioz: Damnation of Faust, Rakoczy March (1945)
- Bizet: L'Arlésienne Suite (1943)
- Martucci: Symphony No.1 (1938)
- Puccini: La Bohème - Addio, Senza Rancor (1946)
- Verdi: La Traviata (1946), Otello (1947), Te Deum (1954), Un ballo in maschera (1954), Nabucco: Va Pensiero (1943)
NBC Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini
- Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6 ‘Pathetique’
The Philadelphia Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini (1942)
- Puccini: Manon Lescaut - Intermezzo and Act III
La Scala Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini (1946)
- Bellini: I Puritani
Maria Callas (soprano), La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (1953)
- Catalani: In Sogno, Extract from Impressioni (Pietro Spada)
- Franck: Symphony in D minor: lento allegro non troppo
Hilversum RSO / Leopold Stokowski (1970)
- Puccini: Madame Butterfly - Overture
Paris Orchestra / James Conlon (1993)
Turandot Chorus of the Opéra du Rhin, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra / Alain Lombard (1977)
Cast:
- Arturo Toscanini (Barry Jackson)
- Walter Toscanini (Joseph Long): The firstborn of Arturo and Carla Toscanini's four children: scholar, bookseller, husband of the celebrated ballerina Cia Fornaroli and his father's right-hand man during the Maestro's last years. He later dedicated himself to preserving and protecting his father's recorded legacy.
- Wally Toscanini (Carolina Giammetta): Arturo and Carla's second child: a great beauty who led an adventurous early life, married Count Emanuele Castelbarco and fled to Switzerland during the German occupation of Milan. After the war, she played an unofficial but important role in La Scala's artistic and social life.
- Anita Columbo (Jennie Goosens): artistic executive assistant to Toscanini at La Scala during the 1920s and was later its general manager for two seasons. She remained a close friend of the Toscanini family.
- Wilfrid Pelletier (Michael Brandon): French-Canadian conductor for many years on the staff of the Metropolitan Opera. He and his wife, the American soprano Rose Bampton, were among the Toscanini family's closest friends.
- Iris Cantelli (Valentina Chico): She was married to the brilliant young conductor Guido Cantelli, who was much admired by Toscanini. The Cantellis were frequent guests of the Toscaninis.
NTSC 16:9, PCM stereo, Region code: All (0)
Original language: English
Subtitles: French, German
Booklet notes: French, English, German
Running time: 70 minutes
Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957), arguably the greatest and most famous conductor in history, was paradoxically one of the most private. He never granted interviews, left diaries or journals of any kind. But during the last years of his life, his son Walter secretly recorded 150 hours of intimate conversations that Toscanini shared with friends and family.
'Toscanini: In His Own Words' is based on these tapes, which remained hidden for more than 50 years. Recreated conversations reveal aspects of the Maestro never seen before. Subjects such as his loves, opinions about colleagues, his clashes with Mussolini and Hitler, his personal memories of Verdi, Puccini, Furtwangler, Stokowski, as well as his greatest joys and causes of his endemic sadness are all part of his frank conversation.
Interwoven throughout the film are many of Toscanini's greatest musical performances, with excerpts from:
- Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (1952), Missa Solemnis (1953), Piano Concerto No.3 (1944)
- Berlioz: Damnation of Faust, Rakoczy March (1945)
- Bizet: L'Arlésienne Suite (1943)
- Martucci: Symphony No.1 (1938)
- Puccini: La Bohème - Addio, Senza Rancor (1946)
- Verdi: La Traviata (1946), Otello (1947), Te Deum (1954), Un ballo in maschera (1954), Nabucco: Va Pensiero (1943)
NBC Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini
- Tchaikovsky: Symphony No.6 ‘Pathetique’
The Philadelphia Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini (1942)
- Puccini: Manon Lescaut - Intermezzo and Act III
La Scala Orchestra / Arturo Toscanini (1946)
- Bellini: I Puritani
Maria Callas (soprano), La Scala Orchestra / Tullio Serafin (1953)
- Catalani: In Sogno, Extract from Impressioni (Pietro Spada)
- Franck: Symphony in D minor: lento allegro non troppo
Hilversum RSO / Leopold Stokowski (1970)
- Puccini: Madame Butterfly - Overture
Paris Orchestra / James Conlon (1993)
Turandot Chorus of the Opéra du Rhin, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra / Alain Lombard (1977)
Cast:
- Arturo Toscanini (Barry Jackson)
- Walter Toscanini (Joseph Long): The firstborn of Arturo and Carla Toscanini's four children: scholar, bookseller, husband of the celebrated ballerina Cia Fornaroli and his father's right-hand man during the Maestro's last years. He later dedicated himself to preserving and protecting his father's recorded legacy.
- Wally Toscanini (Carolina Giammetta): Arturo and Carla's second child: a great beauty who led an adventurous early life, married Count Emanuele Castelbarco and fled to Switzerland during the German occupation of Milan. After the war, she played an unofficial but important role in La Scala's artistic and social life.
- Anita Columbo (Jennie Goosens): artistic executive assistant to Toscanini at La Scala during the 1920s and was later its general manager for two seasons. She remained a close friend of the Toscanini family.
- Wilfrid Pelletier (Michael Brandon): French-Canadian conductor for many years on the staff of the Metropolitan Opera. He and his wife, the American soprano Rose Bampton, were among the Toscanini family's closest friends.
- Iris Cantelli (Valentina Chico): She was married to the brilliant young conductor Guido Cantelli, who was much admired by Toscanini. The Cantellis were frequent guests of the Toscaninis.
NTSC 16:9, PCM stereo, Region code: All (0)
Original language: English
Subtitles: French, German
Booklet notes: French, English, German
Running time: 70 minutes
