1918–1929 In 1918 de Sabata was appointed conductor of the
Monte Carlo Opera, performing a wide variety of late-19th-century and contemporary works. In 1925, he conducted the world premiere of ''
L'enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel. Ravel said that de Sabata was a conductor "the like of which I have never before encountered" and wrote him a note the next day saying that "You have given me one of the most complete joys of my career". Ravel also claimed that, within twelve hours of receiving the score to L'enfant'', the conductor had memorized it. In 1921, while still conducting opera at Monte Carlo, de Sabata began his career as a
symphonic conductor with the
Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. In 1927 he made his U.S. debut with the
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, substituting for
Fritz Reiner in the first eight concerts of the year. He did the same in 1928.
1929–1945 De Sabata conducted the orchestra of
La Scala in concert starting in the 1921–22 season, and conducted opera there from 1929. He became the principal conductor in 1930 in succession to Toscanini. Soon after taking up the post, he resigned because of a disagreement with the orchestra over the poor reception of his composition
A Thousand and One Nights. During the 1930s, de Sabata conducted widely in Italy and Central Europe. In 1933 he made his first commercial recordings with the Orchestra of the Italian Broadcasting Authority in
Turin, including his own composition
Juventus. According to
Benito Mussolini's son
Romano, de Sabata was "a personal friend" of the Italian dictator, and gave "several concerts" at the leader's
Villa Torlonia home. According to
George Richard Marek's biography of Toscanini, de Sabata's friendship with Mussolini became another factor distancing him from his former mentor Toscanini. In 1936, he appeared with the
Vienna State Opera. Among the audience at Bayreuth was the young
Sergiu Celibidache, who hid in the lavatory overnight in order to surreptitiously attend rehearsals. In the closing stages of the war, de Sabata helped Karajan relocate his family to Italy. In 1940 he met the seventeen-year old
Valentina Cortese in
Stresa, with whom he began a romantic relationship; They separated in 1948.
1945–1953 After World War II, de Sabata's career expanded internationally. He was a frequent guest conductor in London, New York and other American cities. In 1946 he recorded with the
London Philharmonic Orchestra for the
Decca recording company. In 1947 he switched labels to
His Master's Voice, recording with the
Santa Cecilia Orchestra in Rome. These sessions included the premiere recording of
Debussy's
Jeux. He would go on to make more recordings with the same orchestra in 1948. In 1950 he was temporarily detained at
Ellis Island along with several other Europeans under the newly passed
McCarran Act (the reason was his work in Italy during
Benito Mussolini's
Fascist regime). In March 1950 and March 1951 de Sabata conducted the
New York Philharmonic in a series of concerts in
Carnegie Hall, many of which were preserved from radio transcriptions to form some of the most valuable items in his recorded legacy. De Sabata's base remained La Scala, Milan, and he had the opportunity to work with two upwardly-mobile sopranos:
Renata Tebaldi and
Maria Callas. In August 1953 he collaborated with Callas in his only commercial opera recording:
Puccini's
Tosca for
His Master's Voice (also featuring
Giuseppe Di Stefano and
Tito Gobbi along with the La Scala orchestra and chorus).
This production is widely regarded as one of the greatest opera recordings of all time. One critic has written that de Sabata's success in this
Tosca "remains so decisive that had he never recorded another note, his fame would still be assured".
Heart attack and retirement The
Tosca recording was planned to be only the first of a series of recordings in which
His Master's Voice would set down much of de Sabata's operatic repertoire. However, soon after the sessions, he suffered a heart attack so severe that it prompted him to stop performing regularly in public. His decision to stop conducting has also been attributed to "disillusionment". He resigned his conducting post at La Scala and was succeeded by his assistant
Carlo Maria Giulini. Between 1953 and 1957 he held the administrative position of "Artistic Director" at La Scala. This period was notable for a reconciliation with Toscanini (with whom he had had a cool relationship for twenty years) during a La Scala production of
Spontini's
La vestale in 1954. De Sabata conducted only twice more, once in a studio recording of Verdi's
Requiem from June 1954 for
His Master's Voice, and for the last time at
Arturo Toscanini's memorial service (conducting the funeral march from
Beethoven's
Eroica Symphony at La Scala opera house followed by Verdi's
Requiem in
Milan Cathedral) in 1957. The last decade of his life was devoted to composition but with few results. Although
Walter Legge (husband of Dame
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf) offered de Sabata an opportunity to conduct the
Philharmonia Orchestra in 1964 and later suggested de Sabata write a completion to
Puccini's opera
Turandot, neither opportunity was realised. He enjoyed solving
mathematical problems in his retirement. ==Death==