In the spring of 1956 Guido Cantelli conducted a short series of concerts in Carnegie Hall as guest conductor of the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York, which resulted in four weekly broadcasts on CBS Radio. Volume Two of this series brought you the first two of these concerts. This third volume brings the last two concerts - and the last two broadcasts of Cantelli's tragically short career.
When he stepped off the podium on the evening of 8 April 1956 to rapturous applause it was inconceivable to anyone present that they'd just witnessed the new wunderkind's final US concert. A fine performance of an unusual arrangement of Handel's Largo from Xerxes was followed by a storming Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, with Cantelli once more paired with the Czech-American pianist Rudolf Firkušný.
The concert ends with Paul Hindemith's Concert Music for Strings and Brass. Just seven and a half months later Cantelli was killed in a plane crash in Paris. The Hindemith was the last broadcast performance of the man tipped as Toscanini's successor.