Description A rare opportunity to own a unique recording of arguably the Twentieth Century's most famous conductor Arturo Toscanini as he conducts/rehearses the NBC Radio Orchestra on December 4, 1943 Very few of these are in private hands. Most examples are in the New York Public Library, Lincoln Center archives, Carnegie Hall archives, or Syracuse University Library. My research hasn't turned up any examples of this particular day of rehearsal in any of those collections. The following day (12/5/43) there was a broadcast of Mozart (Figaro Overture, piano concerto No. 27, Symphony 35) -- it is reasonable to assume this is rehearsal for that broadcast. This will probably provoke the question, which I'll anticipate and answer: no, I haven't played the record. I consider this a valuable piece of history, and I don't want to compromise it in any way. As such, one requires the proper stylus in order to play this old acetates because modern, thinner ones can bounce around inside the grooves and damage the fragile material. The record was found amongst a rather sizable collection of mono classical recordings from the 40's and 50's, as well as a few other acetates, that once belonged to an orchestra leader here in Los Angeles. He had used the records to pay his debt to his father's probate attorney, who then boxed them and put them in the closet in his dining room where they remained for the next 45 years or so until I had the good fortune to acquire them. In my research about this item, I contacted first the archivist at Carnegie Hall, Mr. Gino Francesconi. His description of the likely origins of this record seems helpful, so the following is an excerpt of his very nice e-mail to me dated 9/19/13: "The Carnegie Hall Recording Company has been something I have been trying to get to the bottom of since I started the archives in 1986. From what I have been able to piece together so far, it was a recording company that a man started in one of our rental studios that were built around and on top of the Main Hall to supplement income. It was private and had nothing to do with Carnegie Hall itself. "He would approach an artist asking to record their concert (or after years of doing this and people knew, they would approach him). He would make a copy for them and one for himself.* I had been trying to track many of these down for years and have purchased dozens on ebay. Finally I found a family member and most of the tapes were thrown away! The man who used to own Carnegie Hall at that time is still living at the age of 100 and I have a feeling this recording company was a deal made between the former house manager and the rest looked the other way! "The recently released 'discovered' Horowitz recitals at Carnegie Hall from the 1940s were done by this Carnegie Hall Recording Company. We also learned that he recorded elsewhere and I think that could be what your recording is. According to our database, Toscanini wasn’t at the Hall until the following February. So most likely this rehearsal is at NBC and it’s possible Len Frank, the founder of the CHRC, was hired to do this. " *You'll note that this record is stamped copy on the label -- and though it is a copy, it is likely the only one which survives if what Mr. Francesconi's explanation of how things usually worked holds true here. In several other recording of Toscanini at rehearsal, he is notorious for signing along with the music and stopping abruptly to chasten his orchestra, so it's likely to kind of material one will find on this record. It is my sincere hope that someone better equipped than I is able to gather this precious recording properly and will at least make the recording available to a public archive, but I leave that to its new caretaker. The fine print: The record will be sent well packaged and fully insured to the full-purchase price in case there is any damage in transit. As such, and since I don't know how high the bidding will go, shipping may seem very high as I have to anticipate the amount insurance will cost. Only actual shipping charges will be invoiced! I don't intend to make any money on the shipping, so please wait for an invoice prior to payment -- otherwise, I'll simply refund you an overage. Also, due to the fragile nature of these recordings, I won't be able to refund any money for a returned, damaged record unless it was damaged in shipping. If that's the case, please notify me IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT if it is damaged, and for insurance purposes you'll be required to send me photographs of and retain the original packaging while the insurance claim is processed. They may require the item returned to them for their inspection, also. Once the initial application for such an eventuality is satisfied, I'll refund your money while I await the money for the claim. I just wanted to be clear about the very important qualifications for a return on this item. Otherwise, refunds will only be available if the item is not as described or in some way deemed inauthentic. In such a case, I will require the undamaged item returned to me for a refund. Please let me know if you have any questions about these terms before you bid! Thanks!