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Celebration of an association with the orchestra dating back to 1887
HIstoric recordings can be so-called for at least two reasons - the one more commonly used is simply a reference to the age (and often the perceived sonic inferiority) of an older recording. But the second use of the term implies something particularly special, be it the nature of the performance or, perhaps more correctly, the nature of the event. It would be impossible not to consider Toscanini's final concert with the Orchestra of La Scala as historic. He had joined the orchestra as a cellist in 1887, participating that year in the première of Verdi's Otello under the composer's baton and immediately making an impression. He soon graduated from the ranks of the orchestra to the podium, and was to serve two lengthy engagements at principal conductor between 1898 and the end of the 1920s. He would return to conduct the orchestra on a number of occasions following the end of the Second World War, though as time wore on these became increasingly rare occasions, and this final concert of 1952 was the only one he conducted with the orchestra that year. As with his final NBC concert, it was an all-Wagner affair. The concert was broadcast in full by Radio Italy, and almost all of that broadcast was recorded onto disc from the AM radio transmission. Whilst the radio reception is excellent, with no audible interference or cross-talk, the frequency response from such a transmission is poor, and greatly compromises the sound quality available here. To our knowledge there have been two previous issues of this concert on CD. These ranged in sound quality from poor (the one we've heard) to dreadful (according to reports). We are lucky to have in our tape collection a transfer of the original discs onto high quality open-reel tape which surpasses in quality that of the better of the two previous CD issues, albeit by a rather narrow margin. Thus we have an excellent base from which to start. We have also been able to apply XR remastering to the recording, something which has allowed us to transform the murky sound quality into something far more enjoyable. Our analysis showed a steep roll-off in the frequency response of the entire treble range between 2kHz and 5.5kHz (the point at which the narrow range of the broadcast cuts off the top end completely). By restoring this range to its original and correct level, as well as tackling other anomalies lower in the tonal spectrum, an instant and dramatic improvement is achieved. We have also been able to look at a number of other factors. At the start of the concert one perceives something of a panic from either the radio engineer or the recording engineer, as the volume levels are wrenched violently down following the first chords, then rather coarsely manipulated until a satisfactory level is found partway through the first piece. This has been evened out. Elsewhere hundreds of the kind of flaws which creep inevitably onto a delicate acetate recording after even one or two plays have been either entirely corrected or greatly reduced. The pitch of the recording has also been corrected, and we've paid attention to disc side changes in order to create as continuous a flow as possible. After much agonising it was decided that, as a consequence of the historic nature of this broadcast, the entire programme would be preserved here. This does include a lengthy introduction in Italian - which I personally do not speak or understand - which seems to go on and on until the announcer finally runs out of steam. A minute or so's silence from him is filled with the sound of the audience coughing and the orchestra endlessly tuning up, which we've omitted. Thus those who either understand Italian, or simply enjoy the sound of the language, can sit back and hear the full transmission as broadcast on 19th September 1952; those who would rather get straight down to the music are recommended to skip straight to track 2. Either way it's a splendid occasion, with a wildly ecstatic audience, and some marvellous moments. We've chosen a lengthy sample so you can fully gauge both the quality of the sound and the performance - the full 18 minutes of the reflective Siegfried Idyll - which we hope you will enjoy as much as we do.
Teatro alla Scala notes from Wikipedia
The Teatro alla Scala (or La Scala, as it is also known), in Milan, Italy, is one of the world's most famous opera houses. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778, under the name Nuovo Regio Ducal Teatro alla Scala with Salieri's Europa riconosciuta. La Scala's season traditionally opens on 7 December, Saint Ambrose's Day, the feast day of Milan's patron saint. All performances must end before midnight; long operas start earlier in the evening if need be. Ticketholders are not allowed to enter after the performance has begun. The La Scala Museum (Museo Teatrale alla Scala), accessible from the theatre's foyer and a part of the house, contains an extraordinary collection of paintings, drafts, statues, costumes, and other documents regarding opera and La Scala's history. La Scala also hosts the Accademia d’Arti e Mestieri dello Spettacolo (Academy for the Performing Arts). Its goal is to train a new generation of young musicians, technical staff, and dancers (at the Scuola di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala, one of the Academy's divisions).
History A fire destroyed the previous theatre, the Teatro Regio Ducal, on 25 February 1776, after a carnival gala. A group of ninety wealthy Milanese, who owned palchi (private boxes) in the theatre, wrote to Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este asking for a new theatre and a provisional one to be used while completing the new one. The neoclassical architect Giuseppe Piermarini produced an initial design but it was rejected by Count Firmian (the governor of the then Austrian Lombardy). A second plan was accepted in 1776 by Empress Maria Theresa. The new theatre was built on the former location of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, from which the theatre gets its name. The church was deconsecrated and demolished, and over a period of two years the theatre was completed by Pietro Marliani, Pietro Nosetti and Antonio and Giuseppe Fe. This theatre had a total over 3,000 seats organized into 678 pit-stalls, arranged in six tiers of boxes above which is the 'loggione' or two galleries. Now the stage is one of the largest in Italy (16.15m d x 20.4m w x 26m h). Building expenses were covered by the sale of palchi, which were lavishly decorated by their owners, impressing observers such as Stendhal. La Scala (as it soon became to be known) soon became the preeminent meeting place for noble and wealthy Milanese people. In the tradition of the times, the platea (the main floor) had no chairs and spectators watched the shows standing up. The orchestra was in full sight, as the golfo mistico (orchestra pit) had not yet been built. Above the boxes, La Scala has always had a gallery where the less wealthy can watch the performances. It is called the loggione. The loggione is typically crowded with the most critical opera aficionados, who can be ecstatic or merciless towards singers' perceived successes or failures. La Scala's loggione is considered a baptism of fire in the opera world, and fiascos are long remembered. (One recent incident occurred in 2006 when tenor Roberto Alagna was booed off the stage during a performance of Aïda, forcing an understudy to replace him mid-scene wearing street clothes.) As with most of the theaters at that time, La Scala was also a casino, with gamblers sitting in the foyer. La Scala was originally illuminated with eighty-four oil lamps mounted on the palcoscenico and another thousand in the rest of theater. To prevent the risks of fire, several rooms were filled with hundreds of water buckets. In time, oil lamps were replaced by gas lamps, these in turn were replaced by electric lights in 1883. The original structure was renovated in 1907, when it was given its current layout with 2,800 seats. In 1943, during WWII, La Scala was severely damaged by bombing. It was rebuilt and reopened on 11 May 1946, with a memorable concert conducted by Arturo Toscanini, with a soprano solo by Renata Tebaldi, which created a sensation. La Scala hosted the prima (first production) of many famous operas, and had a special relationship with Giuseppe Verdi. For several years, however, Verdi did not allow his work to be played here, as some of his music had been modified (he said "corrupted") by the orchestra. This dispute originated in a disagreement over the production of his Giovanna d'Arco in 1845; however the composer later conducted his Requiem there on 25 May 1874, and in 1886 announced that La Scala would host the premiere of his opera Otello. The premiere of his last opera, Falstaff was also given in the theatre. In 1982, the Filarmonica della Scala was established, drawing its members from the larger pool of musicians that comprise the Orchestra della Scala.
Toscanini and La Scala Orchestra Toscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, and won a scholarship to the local music conservatory, where he studied the cello. He joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. While presenting Aida in Rio de Janeiro, the orchestra's conductor was booed by the audience and forced to leave the podium. Although he had no conducting experience, Toscanini was persuaded to take up the baton, and led a magnificent performance completely from memory. Thus began his career as a conductor at age 19. Upon returning to Italy, Toscanini returned to his chair in the cello section, and participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdi's Otello (La Scala, 1887) under the composer's supervision. (Verdi, who habitually complained that conductors never seemed interested in directing his scores the way he had written them, was impressed by reports from Arrigo Boito about Toscanini's ability to interpret his scores. The composer was also impressed when Toscanini consulted him personally, indicating a ritardando where it was not set out in the score; Verdi said that only a true musician would have felt the need to make that ritardando.) Gradually the young musician's reputation as an operatic conductor of unusual authority and skill supplanted his cello career. In the following decade he consolidated his career in Italy, entrusted with the world premieres of Puccini's La Bohème and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert (works by Schubert, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner), in Turin. By 1898 he was resident conductor at La Scala, Milan and remained there until 1908, returning during the 1920s. He took the Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour in 1920-21; it was during that tour that Toscanini made his first recordings (for the Victor Talking Machine Company). Toscanini returned to Europe from the United States after World War Two on a number of occasions, and conducted the Orchestra of La Scala at a further sixteen concerts between 1946 and 1952, chiefly in Milan, but also twice in Lucerne and once, as presented on PASC115, in Venice.
Notes on the 24-bit download: Please see this page for test files and further information regarding this format. Although restoration work is done at a sample rate of 44.1kHz, we have upsampled the final 24-bit master to 48kHz for additional replay compatibility of our FLAC download. Our twenty-four bit FLAC downloads can be replayed in full quality using a standard DVD video player, a DVD writer and an inexpensive piece of PC software - see here for more information about replay from Video DVD discs.
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