If you’re like me, a fan of Toscanini, this ARSC Audio Journal article about Toscanini legacy and unique Selephone recording machine from 1930’s of the last century might be of interest…
“This article will focus on a very specific and unusual segment of this collection-the Selenophone, and the nitrate-based sound-on-film recordings of five 1937 Salzburg Festival opera broadcasts conducted by Toscanini and Bruno Walter. The Toscanini performances are the Maestro’s last fully staged complete opera performances anywhere in the world. The operas are Die Meistersinger, Falstaff, and Die Zauberflote with Toscanini, and Don Giovanni and Le Nozze di Figaro with Bruno Walter. There was a sixth opera broadcast that season-Fidelio, conducted by Toscanini-but we know ofno copy of this anywhere. The following history of the Selenophone and these Salzburg performance recordings is based on correspondence found in the letter files of “The Toscanini Legacy.”
Link: PDF