Chotzinoff, Samuel

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Chotzinoff, Samuel (b Vitebsk, 1889; d NY, 1964). Russ.-Amer. pianist and critic. Settled in USA at 17, becoming accompanist to Zimbalist and Heifetz. Critic for NY World, then for NY Post. Taught at Curtis Inst. Persuaded Toscanini to become cond. of NBC Sym. Orch. in 1936 and became NBC dir. of mus. and, in 1951, producer of NBC TV operas, commissioning Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors. Wrote several books incl. Toscanini: An Intimate Portrait, and autobiography A Lost Paradise.