(Artur Rodzinski - much in demand in 1937)
Since not many people are actually paying much attention to these posts, I thought I would toss in something along the lines of a curve ball. This was one of the inaugural concerts broadcast by NBC in 1937 when their very own Symphony Orchestra was getting started. We all know it as the one with Arturo Toscanini, and that has been well documented over the years. But there were numerous guest conductors along the way as well. One of those was the very popular Artur Rodzinski, who also helped build the orchestra at the request of David Sarnoff, the head of the network. Rodzinski recorded with a number of American symphony orchestras in the 1930's and 1940's and his work has been reissued quite a bit on CD over the years. Ironically, his biggest fame came during the lp era when he made many landmark recordings for the Westminster label in the 1950's.
Rodzinski was one of the first guest conductors of the NBC Symphony and this concert, an excerpt from the broadcast of December 11, 1937 features Rodzinski conducting one of the war horses of Romantic period Classical music - the Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Overture. The announcer is another well known voice on radio, Milton Cross, who also was the announcer for many years of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.
A historic concert which has never been reissued, which comes from the original NBC Radio master discs. And you get to hear it because you're coming to this page.
