He started as a New Orleans street kid

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He finished as one of the greatest musicians in the world and a hero to most of us.

Comments

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The amount of excellent recordings is enormous and it also depends on the artistic goals of your director - and, I suppose, yourself. An absolute, gorgeous classic is Giulini with a magnificent quartet of singers; he pretty nearly set the standard. Fricsay's second of two recordings, conducted when he knew he was dying himself, is regarded as epoch-making, but it has a tendency to Germanize and symphonize Verdi that I don't approve of - though I'll excuse him, God rest his shade! With Toscanini you can't go wrong; any Verdi he directed is in contention. You might also consider Karajan and Muti.