Books: Porco & Poses UNDERSTANDING TOSCANINI

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The book, however, is only incidentally biographical. In digesting countless reviews, Horowitz has provided a valuable look at the state of American music criticism during the first half of the century. And in a separate chapter, he also provides a musical assessment by examining Toscanini's recordings in formidable detail. But the author's most important contribution is his analysis of Toscanini's pervasive influence on what music was programmed and the way it was performed: the conductor's determination to play certified great works defined, and confined, the repertoire for the next generation of musicians. Igor Stravinsky, whose music Toscanini largely ignored, lamented, "What a pity it is that his inexhaustible energy and his marvellous talents should almost always be wasted on such eternally repeated works."

Today those words still apply to too many conductors and their orchestras. Beethoven symphonies are wolfed down like bran flakes, high in moral fiber and good for the soul; meanwhile, less celebrated works are regarded as the aural version of empty calories. Here, apparently, is the enduring Toscanini legacy, and, according to Horowitz's plausible indictment, one that shows few signs of fading away.