[Toscanini, Arturo. (1867–1957)] [Furtwängler, Wilhelm. (1886–1954)] [Wagner, Richard. (1813–1883)] Pair of Bayreuth Programs

[Toscanini, Arturo. (1867–1957)] [Furtwängler, Wilhelm. (1886–1954)] [Wagner, Richard. (1813–1883)]

Pair of Bayreuth Programs

Pair of 1931 Bayreuth Festival programs for performances of Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde, the former on Sunday, August 2, under the baton of Toscanini, and the latter conducted by Furtwängler on Monday, August 3. Horizontal and vertical creases, else fine. 9 x 13.75 inches (22.9 x 34.9 cm.).

For Toscanini, Wagner always held a special status: he inaugurated his first appointment at La Scala in 1898 with Die Meistersinger and made his final public appearance in 1954 with an all-Wagner program. The Italian maestro's affinity for this music was so well known that Adolph Hitler asked him to lead the Bayreuth Festival. Toscanini, openly anti-fascist, promptly refused and never returned to the Festival. (19582)

Opera Program, unsigned