Pietro Salini Introduction
The magic of Toscanini, a gift for humanity - Pietro Salini
«There have, of course, been other great conductors... but the Maestro was the only one who knew how to get you to play better than you thought you could. This gift is allowed only to the gods, and in this sense he was a god».
(Edwin Bachmann, violinista della NBC Orchestra)
Genius, deep-seated non-negotiable values, work, excellence in every single activity. These words sum up the nature and greatness of Arturo Toscanini, whose one hundred and fiftieth anniversary since his birth and sixtieth anniversary since his death will be celebrated in 2017.
An absolute as well as precocious Italian talent, a man of modest background who became the most famous orchestra conductor in the world thanks to his charisma and authority, but also to the profound humility with which he approached his art.
A tireless worker, an inexhaustible innovator, Toscanini was driven by a passion that was capable of always giving him new energy, both in his study of the musical score and in the concert halls and opera theaters, along the many stops on his tours.
Proud of his deeply Italian and Mediterranean roots, he was a Citizen of the world who consacrated his existence to his principles, which are still meaningful today, first among which that of an artist’s moral and civic responsibility. Music - studying it and conducting it, executing it and conveying it to the public - was a style of life and an inspiration for him, it was an instrument with which to understand the world and to create a better one, filled with beauty and poetry.
In 1943, in one of the darkest moments of history, while mass tragedies were wreaking havoc on the planet and for millions of people hope had been reduced to nothing more than a word, Arturo Toscanini, in New York, made The Hymn of the Nations, a film whose purpose was to communicate to future generations a message of peace, passion, and the ability to perform.
These are the values that have helped us to see Toscanini as a champion of Italian excellence and an example of democracy, a man capable of generating well-being for those who admire his “works”.
These same values have inspired our work to build complex and major infrastructures around the world over the past century, projects capable of fostering the advancement of countries as well as economic and social growth.
Pietro Salini
Chief Executive Officer of Webuild (Previously Salini Impregilo)