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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Beethoven: Symphonie No. 7 (Mono Version)
Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Berlioz: Harold en Italie (Remastered, Mono Version)
Carlton Cooley, Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Luigi Cherubini: Requiem Mass in C Minor
NBC Symphony Orchestra, The Robert Shaw Chorale
Classical - Released by Past Classics on 12 Nov 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Die Walküre, WWV 86B (Excerpts in Rehearsal)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini, Rose Bampton, Set Svanholm
Classical - Released by Archipel on 21 May 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Art of Fritz Reiner, Vol. 1 (1942-1952)
Classical - Released by West Hill Radio Archives on 1 May 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: The Tempest Fantasy Overture, Op. 18
Classical - Released by Past Classics on 15 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Manfred / Romeo and Juliet (Toscanini) (1953)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Symphony No. 3 (Toscanini) (1946, 1948)
Vladimir Horowitz, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 23 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Guido Cantelli, Vol. 1 (1949-1955)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Studio chorus, New York Philharmonic, Guido Cantelli
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 1 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Toscanini conducts Mendelssohn
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Edna Phillips, Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Chorus
Classical - Released by Music and Arts Programs of America on 29 Jun 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphon y No. 6 'Pastoral'
Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Symphonic Music - Released by Infinity on 6 Nov 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann & Brahms: Orchestral Works (Live)
Bruno Walter, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker
Classical - Released by Urania Records on 1 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Guido Cantelli: Legendary Conductor
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Guido Cantelli
Classical - Released by Mangora Classic on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Arthur Rubinstein, piano
Arthur Rubinstein, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Vladimir Golschmann, Walter Susskind
Classical - Released by Naxos on 24 Jun 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ravel & Grieg (Live)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Kirsten Flagstad
Classical - Released by Altair on 29 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Concerto pour piano No. 1, Op. 23 (Mono Version)
Vladimir Horowitz, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Parsifal, extraits orchestraux (Mono Version)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonie No. 8 & Premier mouvement de la Symphonie No. 9 (Mono Version)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1953
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphonie No. 4 (Mono Version)
Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Symphonies "Italienne" & "Réformation" (Mono Version)
Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1955
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo