TOSCANINI

All-American Concerts
Concert of 1 November 1942

Loeffler: Memories of My Childhood
Creston: Dance
Gould: Lincoln Legend
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
with Benny Goodman and Earl Wild

Concert of 2 April 1944
Mignone: Symphonic Impressions of Four Brazilian Churches
Gershwin: Concerto in F with Oscar Lavant

When a few New York music critics commented that the NBC Symphony concerts conducted by Toscanini failed to give sufficient representation to American composers, Toscanini answered with a concert devoted to music by Creston, Gould and George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The Maestro surprised everyone by bringing in Benny Goodman and Earl Wild for the solo instruments. The New York Times critics heard the performance of this work “as an advance in clarity and perfection of its form as compared to the world premiere recording conducted by Paul Whiteman.”

Toscanini brought Earl Wild back to the NBC Symphony broadcast in 1944 for a performance of Gershwin’s Concert in F, another foray into American music that had war-time audiences cheering. Guild presents both of these concerts together with interesting notes on the performances and photos of the participating artists.