Image: Arturo Toscanini batons from 1940s - Smithsonian Museum of Natural History - 2012-05-15

Description: Batons used by conductor Arturo Toscanini in the 1950s, on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Tocanini was an Italian who took up conducting at a very early age. He became famous for the intensity of his conducting, his perfectionism, and his photographic memory. An early supporter of Fascist Benito Mussolini in Italy, he became disillusioned with Fascism immediately and in 1937 fled to the United States after roundly denouncing Mussolini.

He led the NBC Symphony Orchestra, which was created for him, from 1937 to 1957, which was heard practically every day by millions of Americans via radio. He also made numerous television appearances, and led the NBC Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra in making hundreds of recordings of classical music.

He died at the age of 89 in 1957.
Author: Tim Evanson
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