Casa natale Arturo Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini was born on 25 March 1867 in a modest house in Parma's Oltretorrente quarter. The rooms now hold a museum with family objects, documents and multimedia displays tracing the conductor's life and career, from Parma to La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

Why it matters

The birthplace connects Toscanini's international career with the working-class neighbourhood where he grew up. The family’s gift to Parma made the house a public museum, inaugurated in 1967 for the centenary of Toscanini’s birth. A later renewal of the displays belongs to its subsequent history.

What to notice

The compact rooms retain the scale of the original home. The museum's sections address Toscanini's life in Parma, his public image, his travels, recordings and years at La Scala. Family keepsakes and historical documents sit alongside multimedia displays. A separate room presents items from the collection of tenor Aureliano Pertile, known for his close association with Toscanini.

Context and history

Toscanini trained as a cellist and made his conducting debut in Rio de Janeiro in 1886. He began conducting at La Scala in 1898 and worked there, with interruptions, until 1928. He conducted at the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1915 and became principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 1928. From 1937 to 1954, he led the NBC Symphony Orchestra, formed for him.

His opposition to fascism was public. In 1931 he was assaulted in Bologna after refusing to play official anthems before a concert; he subsequently emigrated to the United States. In 1946 he conducted the reopening of the La Scala theatre, rebuilt after wartime bombing. His premieres included Puccini's La bohème and Turandot. Toscanini died in New York in 1957.