4 April 1954 – Arturo Toscanini conducted his last live performance, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, in a concert of Wagner’s music at Carnegie Hall, in New York. He was 87 years old. Recordings with the NBC are still available, as are performances conducting the New York Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony Orchestras. He was considered within his lifetime to be the greatest conductor of the 20th century.
© Bain News Service (Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress))