Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini was the most celebrated conductor of his time, considered by many to be the greatest conductor of the twentieth century. He revolutionized musical interpretation by frequently insisting that his orchestras play the music exactly as written, a highly unusual practice in the nineteenth century, when Toscanini began his career. He conducted the world premieres of such operas as Puccini's "La Boheme" and "Turandot", and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci". During his lifetime and for a short while afterwards,he was revered by critics (and still is by the older ones.) Today's younger critics, however, tend to look down on him, and call his fidelity to the printed score "lack of imagination" - a term which shows a total misunderstanding of Toscanini's achievements.