Known simply as ‘The Maestro’, Toscanini attracted adoring fans wherever and whenever he performed and his visit to London in 1935 was nothing short of a sensation, quickly becoming the hottest ticket in town. Toscanini had already dazzled London audiences in 1930 with the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra and when he returned to the capital five years later he performed with a British ensemble for the first time: the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Formed in 1930, the BBCSO quickly established a reputation for virtuosity and was an ideal vehicle for Toscanini’s fiery musicianship. His visit was without question the highlight of the orchestra’s short history to that date. The HMV recordings that result from this collaboration has simply not been overpassed For instance, his outstanding performance of La Mer benefits from a both a vital energy and a variety of colour (that the recording, despite of his age, is surprisingly fully able to bring to our ears) and explains by itself the higher respect from the composer to the maestro.