Wally Toscanini; Persuaded Father to Restore La Scala Opera House

Wally Toscanini, 91, who persuaded her father, conductor Arturo Toscanini, to restore La Scala opera house to its prewar glory. Wally Toscanini was born and lived in Milan until 1989 when, because of age and declining health, she moved to her daughter’s house in Rome. “With Wally Toscanini, the last, most beautiful lady of La Scala has passed away,” said Carlo Maria Badini, a former superintendent of the opera house, according to the Italian news agency ANSA. In 1945, Wally Toscanini visited her father in New York, where he was living because of his opposition to Italy’s fascist regime. She persuaded him to contribute 1 million lire--then a fortune--to help reconstruct La Scala, which was bombed during World War II. The opera house reopened in 1946 and Toscanini conducted the first concert. At one time he was its chief conductor and artistic director. In Rome on May 8.