March 25 is the birthday of Italian-American cellist and conductor ARTURO TOSCANINI (1867-1957).

“God tells me how the music should sound, but you stand in the way.”

"Can't you read? The score demands 'con amore,' and what are you doing? You are playing it like married men!"

Toscanini "was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his eidetic memory. He was at various times the music director of La Scala in Milan and the New York Philharmonic. Later in his career, he was appointed the first music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra (1937–1954), and this led to his becoming a household name, especially in the United States, through his radio and television broadcasts and many recordings of the operatic and symphonic repertoire." (Wikipedia)

March 25 is the birthday of Hungarian composer BÉLA BARTÓK (1891-1945).

"Competitions are for horses, not artists."

"It may well be that some composers do not believe in God. All of them, however, believe in Bach."

Bartók "was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers. Through his collection and analytical study of folk music, he was one of the founders of comparative musicology, which later became known as ethnomusicology." (Wikipedia)

March 25 is the birthday of boogie-woogie and jazz pianist and Kansas City native PETE JOHNSON (1904-1967).

"Roll it, boy, let 'em jump for joy,

Yeah, man happy as a baby boy."

Johnson "began his musical career in 1922 as a drummer in Kansas City. He began piano about the same time he was learning the drums. His early piano practices took place in a church, where he was working as a water boy for a construction company. From 1926 to 1938, he worked as a pianist, often working with Big Joe Turner. An encounter with record producer John Hammond in 1936 led to an engagement at the Famous Door in New York City. In 1938, Johnson and Turner appeared in the From Spirituals to Swing concert at Carnegie Hall. After this show the popularity of the boogie-woogie style was on the upswing. Johnson worked locally and toured and recorded with Turner, Meade Lux Lewis, and Albert Ammons during this period. Ammons and Johnson appeared in the film short Boogie-Woogie Dream in 1941." (Wikipedia)

March 25 is the birthday of English film director and producer DAVID LEAN (1908-1991).

"Actors can be a terrible bore on the set, though I enjoy having dinner with them."

Lean "was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of British cinema. He directed the large-scale epics The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), Ryan's Daughter (1970), and A Passage to India (1984).[1] He also directed the film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), as well as the romantic drama Brief Encounter (1945)." (Wikipedia)

March 25 is the birthday of Indian painter S.M. PANDIT (1916-1993).

Pandit "was an Indian painter from Karnataka, popular in the school of Realism in contrast to the contemporaneous net-traditionalist Bengal Renaissance and other Indian modern art movements of his time. Most of his subjects oscillated between events from classical Indian literature including the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, and the contemporary cinema of his times. He infused a rare blend of artistic virtuosity and filmi glamour." (Wikipedia)

To see examples of Pandit’s art, CLICK HERE.

March 25 is the birthday of the Queen of Soul, ARETHA FRANKLIN (1942-2018).

"You have singers that are trained, and then you have natural singers: people that, in my opinion, were just born to sing. And hopefully, I am one of them."

Franklin "was twice named by Rolling Stone magazine as the greatest singer of all time. As a child, Franklin was noticed for her gospel singing at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister. At the age of 18, she was signed as a recording artist for Columbia Records. While her career did not immediately flourish, Franklin found acclaim and commercial success once she signed with Atlantic Records in 1966. She recorded albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You (1967), Lady Soul (1968), Spirit in the Dark (1970), Young, Gifted and Black (1972), Amazing Grace (1972), and Sparkle (1976), before experiencing problems with the record company. Franklin left Atlantic in 1979 and signed with Arista Records. Her success continued with the albums Jump to It (1982), Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985), Aretha (1986) and A Rose Is Still a Rose (1998)." (Wikipedia)