NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was one of the world's fabled orchestras. David Sarnoff, chairman of RCA which owned both RCAVictor Records and NBC radio -- offered conductor Arturo Toscanini a specially-built orchestra of the highest standards.
Offering the highest salaries of any orchestra and a 52-week contract, NBC attracted top orchestral musicians: 21 of them were former section leaders of other orchestras. Artur Rodzinski molded them into a precision ensemble and Rodzinski led its first concerts. The orchestra took the air under Toscanini on Christmas day, 1937.
It was immediately ranked as one of the world's great orchestras, famous for its precise, lean sound, even though the players had to do routine radio work in addition to symphony concerts. For 17 years it was conducted by many leading world-class conductors; Leopold Stokowski was its co-conductor from 1941 to 1944. It made numerous classic recordings for RCA, sometimes recording as the "RCA Victor Symphony," including the famous recording of Richard Rodgers' Victory at Sea.
The orchestra had many distinguished alumni: violist William Primrose; violinist Josef Gingold; cellists Naoum Benditzky (of the Gordon Quartet) and Alan Shulman (Stuyvesant Quartet); and future conductors Milton Katims and Frank Brieff, to name just a few. Soloists who recorded with the orchestra included Marian Anderson, Vladimir Horowitz, Jascha Heifetz, and Artur Rubinstein. Some of these recordings, and a few complete opera recordings, were conducted by Fritz Reiner.
Toscanini retired after his April 4, 1954, concert. NBC laid the orchestra off, but it refused to die. Most of its members (with a few new players) reassembled as the Symphony of the Air, which went on to its own distinguished, if brief, renown.
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Mozart: Symphonie No. 41 "Jupiter" & Concerto pour basson, K. 191 (Mono Version)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, Leonard Sharrow
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Classical - Released by Archipel on 19 Nov 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 1, Alto Rhapsody & Tragic Overture
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Martha Lipton, Guido Cantelli, Westminster Choir, New York Philharmonic
Classical - Released by Stradivarius on 1 Nov 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 88 / MOZART
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Classical - Released by Naxos on 2 Jan 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Tannhäuser: Prelude to Act III, OP. Wwv 70 - Seigfried Idyll, Wwv 103 - Götterdammerüng: Dawn and Rhine Journey - Die Meistersinger: Prelude, Act 1 (Live)
Symphonic Music - Released by Altair on 17 Mar 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bramhs: Ein Deutsches Requiem
Vivian Della Chiesa, Herbert Janssen, Arturo Toscanini, John Finlay Williamson, NBC Symphony Orchestra, The Westminster Choir
Symphonic Music - Released by Infinity on 7 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Harris, Sinigaglia, Atterberg & Stravinsky: Symphony No. 3 - Overture to La Baruffe Chiozzote - Symphony No. 6 'Dollar Symphony' in C, Op. 31 - Petrushka, Parts I & IV
Arturo Toscanni, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Infinity on 13 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius, Enescu, Sir Elgar, Vaughan: Symphony No. 4 - Romanian Rhapsody Op. 11, No. 1 - Introduction and Allegro, Op. 47 - Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Infinity on 31 Jul 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Music of Dvořák, Vol. 2
Edmond Kurzes, Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by ArnebAudio on 1 Feb 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete April 13, 1940 All-Debussy Concert
Classical - Released by Olympic Records on 28 Jul 1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Ouverture du Barbier de Séville (Mono Version)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: Ouvertures d'opéras (Mono Version)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leopold Stokowski Conducts Holst, Debussy & Gould
Classical - Released by Signum-Cala on 26 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ernest Ansermet conducts Bártok, Stravinsky and Debussy live
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Ernest Ansermet
Classical - Released by Archipel on 7 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leopold Stokowski Conducts Holst, Debussy & Gould
Classical - Released by Cala Records on 26 Apr 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 2 / SCHUBERT: Waltzes and Dances (Kapell)(1946-1952)
William Kapell, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Edmund Kurtz, Vladimir Golschmann
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jul 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 - Schumann: Symphony No. 4
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Jun 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi maestri dell'interpretazione: Arturo Toscanini, Vol. 2 (Live)
Vladimir Horowitz, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Classical - Released by Stradivarius on 29 Jul 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 (Live)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Guido Cantelli, Pierre Monteux
Classical - Released by Stradivarius on 20 Sep 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat, Op. 55 ("Eroica")
Classical - Released by Olympic Records on 21 Jul 1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre, Op. 40 (Mono Version)
Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo