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Toscanini – III – NBC SO – Dvořák: Symphonie n°9 Op.95

Arturo Toscanini – NBC SO

Enregistré à Carnegie Hall le 2 février 1953

Bande BC-7 (19cm/s 2 pistes) publiée en 1954

Presque 60 ans après la création de cette œuvre les 15 & 16 décembre 1893 sous la direction d’Anton Seidl (1850-1898) dans cette même salle alors dénommée « Music Hall 7th Avenue and 57th Street » avant de devenir le célèbre « Carnegie Hall », Toscanini, qui a dirigé l’oeuvre dès 1898, nous en laisse un témoignage qui reste un fleuron de ses dernières saisons à la tête du NBC Symphony Orchestra.

A partir de 1952, RCA a modifié sa technique d’enregistrement, du moins en ce qui concerne Toscanini. La captation a été réalisée avec un seul microphone positionné environ 5 mètres au dessus du chef, la même technique que celle déployée à l’époque par d’autres firmes telles que Mercury ou Westminster. Il en résulte une perspective sonore et une dynamique naturelles que l’on n’avait pas l’habitude d’entendre dans ses disques et qui sont magnifiées par l’édition sur bande (19 cm/s, 2 pistes), laquelle surclasse les publications en microsillon et en CD, en restituant des subtilités de phrasé et de rythme que l’on pensait n’exister que dans l’enregistrement du concert du 31 janvier précédant cet enregistrement.

Extrait du texte de présentation du 33t. LM-1778

Nearly 60 years after the work was premiered on December 15 & 16 1893 under the direction of Anton Seidl (1850-1898) in the same Hall then called « Music Hall 7th Avenue and 57th Street » before it came universally known as the « Carnegie Hall », Toscanini, who performed the work as early as 1898, gives us a testimony which remains one of the main highlights of his last seasons with the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

As of 1952, RCA changed its recording technique, at least as far as Toscanini was concerned. This recording was made with a single microphone placed approximately 16 feet above the conductor’s head, namely the same technique as implemented then by companies like Mercury or Westminster. This accounts for a natural sound perspective and natural dynamics seldom heard before in his recordings and that are enhanced by the tape issue (7.5 ips; 2 tracks), which outdoes the LPs and CDs, unveiling subtilities of phrasing and of rhythm that were believed to exist only in the recording of the concert given shortly before on January 31.

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Les liens de téléchargement sont dans le premier commentaire. The download links are in the first comment.

8 réponses sur « Toscanini – III – NBC SO – Dvořák: Symphonie n°9 Op.95 »

I am a great admirer of Toscanini’s performances, especially with the incredible NBC Symphony Orchestra, but dare I say it I found the performance here a little severe?! This uncompromising interpretation however is in itself a wonder because of the conviction it carries & the electricity of the playing.
Most importantly for this thread I must say what an absolutely stunning sound you have presented for us with that tape…rarely have I heard such an exciting, clear sound from recordings of this orchestra…if I shut my eyes & listen I’m sitting in Carnegie Hall on the 3rd of February 1953!
Thanks so much for posting this recording!!

in fact, the January 31th public performance is somehow more flexible. Conversely, the sound is no so warm, because the acoustics of the Hall is a bit dry in comparison with that of the empty Hall. i’ll have to think about posting that performance, too.

Funnily enough I DO have that live 31/01 performance on a cheap CD but the sound is not so good (maybe the source or the transfer?). I just had a quick listen to that, yes maybe it is a little more flexible, dryer because of the audience padding the hall & maybe the engineers miking closer to avoid audience noise (although there are some spectacular coughs at the start!)?.
Your tape does really sound super, great balances (almost a stereo spread too), really punchy sound (those timpani are incredible). Thanks again.

This is the magic of mono sound with one well placed single microphone!
The files are one-track, pure mono, the acoustics of the hall and the sense of space are there, no need to add anything such as « Ambient Stereo » or the like that severely damp the sound.
The Kubelik-Chicago SO recording of this work (1951) was done by Mercury with one microphone and exactly the same placement.
I have other Toscanini tapes commercially issued by RCA, but this is the only one (issued in 1954!) that sounds almost pristine throughout.

I discovered this symphony decades ago thanks to this electrifying version and was surprised that , despite recorded in mono, we could hear so many details. Thank you so much for your beautiful transfer, even better to my old RCA Lp.

Like Nikos, I have the live performance on a Virtuoso CD, with >I>Pictures at an Exhibition from the previous week’s concert. Thank you for a chance to hear your transfer, which should be closer to the original tape. It certainly sounds marvelous.

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