For the past seven years Conductor Arturo Toscanini, who dislikes mechanical music, has been steadfast in his refusal to make phonograph records. To him, his own performances always seemed short of perfection, hence unworthy of being perpetuated. During his last few months with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony (TIME, May 11 et ante), RCA Victor doubled its efforts to persuade him to change his mind, pleaded that he owed it to the public and posterity. The Maestro's "no" was unyielding until a friend suggested that he would be doing a real service to the...
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