From Amazon.com
According to Toscanini's biographer Harvey Sachs, the Maestro viewed
Falstaff as the most successful marriage of words and music in the history of the lyric theater. The same can be said about his 1950 NBC broadcast performance of Verdi's final opera. Karajan's EMI traversal from the '50s has the advantage of stereo and stronger solo singers, yet Toscanini achieves a remarkable synergy among pit, stage, and text that honors the composer's ensemble values with heartfelt brilliance at every turn. The orchestra not only sings: it talks, weaving incisive yet never obtrusive commentary around the vocalists, while sailing effortlessly through a maze of mood and tempo changes. By all accounts, Toscanini coached his cast to the extreme, and it shows. The excellent mono recording is well-balanced and still vivid after all these years. If I had to choose but one recording to demonstrate Toscanini's unique artistry, it would be this. Full texts and translations are included.
--Jed Distler