The Conductors: Toscanini

In 1981, the conductor Carlos Kleiber wrote La Scala's orchestra a letter. "Verdi's heart beats in the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala," it began "But it remains a magical thing to be able to hear it so close up.”

Arturo Toscanini, Victor De Sabata, Carlo Maria Giulini, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Chailly: some of the finest conductors in the business have refashioned the ensemble according to their vision. Yet the orchestra’s distinctive sound -- perfect for Puccini, irresistible in Verdi -- has been nurtured and passed down from generation to generation like a precious heirloom.

Arturo Toscanini (1898–1903; 1906–7; 1921–1929)
With Toscanini, the modern maestro was born. He was the ultimate music celebrity, stratospherically famous both in Italy and abroad, and enough of a household name to appear on the front covers of magazines like Time.

Fine musical results were achieved through gruelling rehearsals, the conductor settling for nothing but unyielding commitment from his players. Infamous for his fiery temperament, he would break batons during rehearsals, hurl scores and insult players in an unrelenting quest for musical perfection.

From poverty to maestro
Brought up in poverty in Parma, Toscanini received a strict education at the local conservatory before joining La Scala’s orchestra as a cellist, playing in the 1887 premiere of Verdi's Otello. Toscanini became principal conductor from 1898, returning, after a pause, as music director from 1921 to 1929.

Taming La Scala
With typical determination, Toscanini imposed order on unruly La Scala. Tradition dictated that the lights should remain switched on during performances (socialising was regarded as important as the performance itself). Toscanini had them turned off, and banned women from wearing hats so that views of the stage would not be obstructed. From 1921, latecomers were forbidden from entering the auditorium, to the outrage of many.

Causing further indignation, Toscanini dismissed calls for an encore in a performance of Un ballo in maschera in 1903. A total ban on encores came into effect three years later. The young upstart imposing reforms on hallowed La Scala quickly made enemies. Chief among them was the powerful editor Giulio Ricordi.

Taking on fascism
In 1919, Toscanini stood alongside Mussolini as a Fascist parliamentary candidate in Milan. According to the future dictator, he was “the greatest conductor in the world”.

But Toscanini had become disillusioned with fascism by the time of the March on Rome in 1922. Mussolini refused to attend the 1926 premiere of Puccini’s Turandot, after Toscanini indicated he would not play the “Giovinezza”, the Italian Fascists’ hymn. The conductor once again declined to play the piece at Bologna’s Teatro Comunale in 1931. Pursued by blackshirts after the concert, he was brutally attacked.

Thereafter, Mussolini placed Toscanini under surveillance, tapped his phone and confiscated his passport, which was returned only following international outcry. Instead of accepting Hitler's invitation to conduct at the Bayreuth Festival, Toscanini launched the Palestine Symphony Orchestra in 1936 (later renamed the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra). The Führer responded by banning his recordings and broadcasts in Germany. In 1938, Toscanini united the finest orchestral players of the time to form an elite ensemble for a gala concert in Lucerne. 65 years later, Claudio Abbado, his successor at La Scala, revived Toscananini’s legacy by forming the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. La Scala luminary Riccardo Chailly became music director of the LFO in 2016.

Toscanini reopens La Scala
Toscanini left Italy for America at the outbreak of World War II. Returning in 1946, he reopened La Scala after the theatre had been hit by an allied bomb. 5,000 expectant audience members filled the auditorium, while crowds of 40,000 gathered in Piazza della Scala and the surrounding streets. Millions listened on the radio.

On the podium, the 78-year-old Toscanini appeared messianic. Isaiah Berlin described him as "the most morally dignified and inspiring hero of our time".