Toscanini was clearly very much in tune with Mendelssohn's music, but as in the case of other composers he tended to concentrate on a few scores, and not always those which were best. So we find that he conducted the Reformation Symphony from time to time in his last years, but the superior Scottish on only one occasion.
His account of the Italian is sheer joy from beginning to end, and it's hard to believe that he was just weeks away from retirement and aged almost 87. The first movement repeat is not played, but it tended not to be in those days. That's a pity, since we lose a linking passage which contains delectable music. Nothing else is lacking, however, for there is a delightfully fresh, sunny, even youthful quality in Toscanini's conducting. A springy, open-hearted feeling attends the Pilgrims' progress through the second movement, while the third is caressed in a very tender fashion. The Saltarello finale is not taken too quickly, so there is room for clear articulation, a buoyant basic pulse and a fine sense of balance.
The Reformation Symphony can easily sound stuffy and sanctimonious, but Toscanini's clear, objective way with the music banishes all its less attractive religious overtones, and produces a strong, fervent and single-mindedly positive atmosphere. If the first movement is played in quite a tough fashion there is room also for moments of expressive thoughtfulness. The second is given a light, lively touch, so that banality is skilfully kept at arm's length, and an elegantly phrased Andante precedes a finale which has a confident, dignified, uplifting quality.
Toscanini recorded the Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream on no less than six occasions. The version here is his next to last, and although inimitable in a way, it is not quite so feather-light and magical as some of the other accounts. The Octet Scherzo is played beautifully in the revised scoring for full orchestra. Transfers throughout are first-rate.'