Arturo Toscanini, born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, on March 25, 1867, was an Italian classical conductor and cellist who lived until 1957. He studied cello at the Parma Conservatory before joining a touring opera orchestra as principal cellist. On June 25, 1886, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at age 19, he unexpectedly stepped in to conduct Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida from memory, launching his conducting career. He served as principal conductor at La Scala in Milan from 1898 to 1908 and music director from 1921 to 1929. He was principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1908 to 1915 and music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1928 to 1936. Opposing Italian fascism, he left Europe for the United States, becoming the first music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1937, leading radio and television broadcasts and recording extensively for RCA Victor until his retirement in 1954. His recordings include Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in 1952, Brahms's Symphony No. 2 in 1952, and Verdi's Falstaff in 1950. He was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. Toscanini died in New York City, United States, on January 16, 1957, at age 89.
