SHORT TAKES : Toscanini’s Legacy Goes on CDs
The first re-recordings of all of the late conductor Arturo Toscanini’s performances for the RCA record label will go on sale April 3 on digitally remastered compact discs, cassettes, laser discs and VHS videocassettes.
Guenter Hensler, president of BMG Classics, which owns RCA, said the collection would offer “the most faithful sound reproduction possible” and had been authorized by Toscanini’s family. The original masters from the recording sessions were used, he said.
“This is one of the most important releases in the history of recording,” Hensler said. “It is the definitive release of Toscanini’s legacy on CD, the one he wanted to leave to posterity. The collection of 71 titles on 82 compact discs and 81 cassettes, including seven boxed sets, will be released over a four-year period on the medium-priced RCA Victor Gold Seal label.
It will include concert performances of Verdi’s “Aida,” “Falstaff” and “Requiem” and the Beethoven and Brahms symphonic cycles.
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