From Russia to the West : the musical memoirs and reminiscences of Nathan Milstein

urn:iso:std:iso:639:ed-3:eng

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text excerpt

I remember well how in 1930 Toscanini brought the New York Philharmonic to Berlin. It was their European tour, which was incredibly successful. I was an observer of the audience’s electric expectations. There sat Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer, and Erich Kleiber. Piatigorsky, Horowitz, and I were together in a loge box. Toscanini was conducting a Beethoven symphony when Furtwängler, who was in the next box, suddenly jumped up and ran over to see us, exclaiming, ‘”horrible acoustics, don’t you think so? Monstrous!” It was all too obvious what he meant by “acoustics”. Here’s another typical story, on the other side of the rivalry. Furtwängler often appeared in Paris with his orchestra, or to conduct at the Grand Opéra. Horowitz and I went to hear him do Wagner’s Die Meistersinger. The overture sounded, and I saw Maestro Toscanini enter the hall with his wife, Carla, daughter Wally, other relatives, and Mme. De Vecchi, a large woman who always accompanied the Toscanini family. As soon as the overture was over, Toscanini jumped up from his seat. ‘Dilettante, canaille!” That’s how upset he was by Furtwängler’s conducting! And then the maestro walked out!

excerpt from 'From Russia to the West : the musical memoirs and reminiscences of Nathan Milstein' pp. 155 (212 words)

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1406194960288