NEW AUDIO VERSION with MUSIC 

AVAILABLE NOW! 


by Brown Books

 Full narration by Lucy Antek Johnson and David Garrison, including excerpts from original NBC SYMPHONY performances.

LISTEN NOW to a 5 minute PREVIEW

This Was Toscanini got the Silver Medal for the IPPY AWARD in the Performing Arts category

About the IPPY Award:

Conducted annually, the Independent Publisher Book Awards honor the year's best independently published titles from around the world. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published books released each year. 


The "IPPY" Awards were conceived as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry, and are open to authors and publishers worldwide who produce books written in English and appropriate for the North American market.


We define "independent" as:

  1. Independently owned and operated (no title per year limit)
  2. Operated by a foundation or university (no title per year limit)
  3. Long-time independents that became incorporated but operate autonomously and publish fewer than 100 titles a year.
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Praise

“Toscanini was not only a genius as a conductor but also a revolutionary of musical interpretation. In fact, he placed the performer totally at the service of the composer, in sacred respect for and fidelity to the written text.”

— Maestro Riccardo Muti


“When This Was Toscanini was first published in 1963, Samuel Antek’s classic account of playing in Toscanini’s orchestra brought the Maestro back to life. In this new edition, Lucy Antek Johnson revivifies not only her father’s text and its subject—along with many of Robert Hupka’s original photos—but also her father’s own remarkable story. This book will fascinate everyone interested not only in Toscanini but in symphonic music and music making in general.”


— Harvey Sachs, Author and Music Historian 


“Few authors can have the combination of gifts and experience, of love and intellect, which Samuel Antek brought to the writing of this posthumous memoir. . . . We can almost hear the hoarse Toscanini voice in his fierce admonitions to the players, his wildly picturesque mixture of Italian and English in an idiom all his own. After the recordings, this book will probably remain the most enduring and endearing monument to the art of Arturo Toscanini.” 


— Edward Downes, The New York Times

Comments from Audience/Attendees of Lucy's Presentations

WOW - Lucy was the most articulate speaker I have heard in the OLLI classes.  

I really could "feel" like I was in the experience of being in the orchestra, and in the family of a musician.


—


Our presenter was knowledgeable about her subject-her father, who had been a violinist in Toscanini's NBC Orchestra and, therefore, had many experiences there with him and was even respected enough to be allowed to conduct the orchestra at least once by Toscanini.  I know her stories about Toscanini and his passion, and emotional feelings conducting since I was on the staff of Carnegie Hall in the 70s (press and public relations) and our House Manager had a display case on the wall full of Toscanini's flung batons! And, I watched the NBC Symphony all the time with my parents. She told us many things I didn't know such as his refusal to conduct in Germany and during Mussolini's reign in Italy, and I say Bravo! to that. 


The use of the classic, memorable photos in black and white of Toscanini were wonderful, and the last minutes with him conducting national anthems and Jan Peerce as the guest opera singer were momentous! My mike wasn't working yesterday, so I regret not being able to contribute to the class. And, I thank her hugely for giving us this gift of remembrances of her wonderful and gifted father and his experiences with Toscanini.  


Wishing her good luck with her book—she also is a very accomplished woman.

 

—


The presenter was effective, knowledgeable and personable. A1


—


I appreciated the instructors personal connection to the topic.


About the Book

Great artistry makes brilliant performance seem effortless, but what really goes into the making of timeless music? Fortunately, Samuel Antek, who was a first violinist with the acclaimed NBC Symphony Orchestra for 17 years, captured for posterity what it was like to perform under the baton of the legendary Maestro Arturo Toscanini, widely considered the greatest conductor of the mid-20th century.

READ MORE

Comments from Audience/Attendees of Lucy's Presentations

WOW - Lucy was the most articulate speaker I have heard in the OLLI classes.  

I really could "feel" like I was in the experience of being in the orchestra, and in the family of a musician.

Our presenter was knowledgeable about her subject-her father, who had been a violinist in Toscanini's NBC Orchestra and, therefore, had many experiences there with him and was even respected enough to be allowed to conduct the orchestra at least once by Toscanini.  I know her stories about Toscanini and his passion, and emotional feelings conducting since I was on the staff of Carnegie Hall in the 70s (press and public relations) and our House Manager had a display case on the wall full of Toscanini's flung batons! And, I watched the NBC Symphony all the time with my parents. She told us many things I didn't know such as his refusal to conduct in Germany and during Mussolini's reign in Italy, and I say Bravo! to that. 


The use of the classic, memorable photos in black and white of Toscanini were wonderful, and the last minutes with him conducting national anthems and Jan Peerce as the guest opera singer were momentous! My mike wasn't working yesterday, so I regret not being able to contribute to the class. And, I thank her hugely for giving us this gift of remembrances of her wonderful and gifted father and his experiences with Toscanini.  


Wishing her good luck with her book—she also is a very accomplished woman.

The presenter was effective, knowledgeable, and personable. A1

I appreciated the instructor's personal connection to the topic.

About the Book

Great artistry makes brilliant performance seem effortless, but what really goes into the making of timeless music? Fortunately, Samuel Antek, who was a first violinist with the acclaimed NBC Symphony Orchestra for 17 years, captured for posterity what it was like to perform under the baton of the legendary Maestro Arturo Toscanini, widely considered the greatest conductor of the mid-20th century.

READ MORE
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