The legendary Italian conductor Victor de Sabata, who conducted at Toscanini’s funeral in 1957, is remembered today as a dynamic conductor primarily of the Italian operatic repertory. Yet the young Victor de Sabata was quick to astonish with the range of accomplishment of his musical talents, including composition. The youthful orchestral symphonic poem Juventus, which draws notably close to the language of his contemporary, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, came to be regarded almost as his signature piece and was conducted by both Toscanini and Richard Strauss. Inspired by the example and friendship of Toscanini, De Sabata took up conducting, eventually forming important associations with La Scala, the Monte Carlo Opera (where he famously conducted the first performance of Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges), Berlin, Munich and Bayreuth. De Sabata’s commercial recorded legacy is not particularly extensive. The collection of shorter pieces presented here features some of his first studio ventures and represents daring repertoire for the time. Like Toscanini, De Sabata was renowned for attention to detail and a tyranny on the podium but, unlike his compatriot, his volatility was perhaps more at the service of spontaneity rather than trying to achieve the perfect performance.