I had missed this wonderful post the first time round! Did not know anything about Knappertsbusch's personal stance, but am now going to ransack the Europarchive for his stuff. Giulini has of course always been a favourite; his Don Giovanni and his Verdi Requiem are the definitive versions. You say nothing of his LA career? Toscanini I already knew a lot of good about (and didn't Horowitz marry his daughter? Wanda?) But I fear I don't take to his conducting style; the fault must be mine but I would tend to be with Furtwaengler (a flawed man) on the "bloody metronome" front. And talking about flawed musicians, I shuddered, finding the 1930's Berlin Musikhochschule picture of Agi Jambor with Edwin Fischer and Alfred Cortot: in less than a decade Cortot would be in charge of Occupied France's music policy, excluding Jewish musicians with no qualms...