Music: Radio Maestro

Why do symphony conductors cost so much? If it comes to that, why is a conductor? These questions may well have been pondered by R. C. A. stockholders last January when their pudgy President David Sarnoff sent envoys to Milan to induce Maestro Arturo Toscanini to conduct ten broadcasts with the projected NBC Symphony Orchestra (TIME, Feb. 15). Conductor Toscanini asked and got a contract for $4,000 per broadcast, probably the highest price ever paid a conductor. At the behest of plump, practical Signora Toscanini, it was also stipulated that NBC should buy...

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