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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Wagner: Tannhäuser: Prelude to Act III, OP. Wwv 70 - Seigfried Idyll, Wwv 103 - Götterdammerüng: Dawn and Rhine Journey - Die Meistersinger: Prelude, Act 1 (Live)
Música sinfónica - Editado por Altair el 17/03/2022
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
Música sinfónica - Editado por Infinity el 7/07/2020
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
Clásica - Editado por Infinity el 13/08/2021
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
Clásica - Editado por Infinity el 31/07/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Music of Dvořák, Vol. 2
Edmond Kurzes, Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Clásica - Editado por ArnebAudio el 1/02/2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete April 13, 1940 All-Debussy Concert
Clásica - Editado por Olympic Records el 28/07/1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leopold Stokowski Conducts Holst, Debussy & Gould
Clásica - Editado por Signum-Cala el 26/04/2019
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
Clásica - Editado por Archipel el 7/04/2023
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
Clásica - Editado por Naxos el 1/07/2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 - Schumann: Symphony No. 4
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Bruno Walter
Clásica - Editado por Music and Arts Programs of America el 1/06/2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi maestri dell'interpretazione: Arturo Toscanini, Vol. 2 (Live)
Vladimir Horowitz, NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Clásica - Editado por Stradivarius el 29/07/1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 (Live)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Guido Cantelli, Pierre Monteux
Clásica - Editado por Stradivarius el 20/09/1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphony No. 3 In E-Flat, Op. 55 ("Eroica")
Clásica - Editado por Olympic Records el 21/07/1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Luigi Cherubini: Requiem Mass in C Minor
NBC Symphony Orchestra, The Robert Shaw Chorale
Clásica - Editado por Past Classics el 12/11/2008
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
Clásica - Editado por Archipel el 21/05/2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Art of Fritz Reiner, Vol. 1 (1942-1952)
Clásica - Editado por West Hill Radio Archives el 1/05/2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Manfred / Romeo and Juliet (Toscanini) (1953)
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini
Clásica - Editado por Music and Arts Programs of America el 1/04/2011
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
Clásica - Editado por Music and Arts Programs of America el 23/01/2001
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
Clásica - Editado por Music and Arts Programs of America el 1/11/2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Toscanini conducts Mendelssohn
NBC Symphony Orchestra, Edna Phillips, Arturo Toscanini, NBC Symphony Chorus
Clásica - Editado por Music and Arts Programs of America el 29/06/2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo