Arturo Toscanini had broken into his vacation to conduct the première himself. At rehearsal with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, he seemed to be having the time of his life. Don Gillis' new Symphony for Fun was the kind of thing the maestro could let himself go on. On the podium, he swayed, sang, all but strutted a cakewalk. Once the Toscanini temper flared upwhen the xylophonist floundered over a particularly tricky passage. In the studio control room, Composer Gillis watched the struggling xylophonist, whispered to a companion: "Poor guy. Doesn't he realize that...
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