Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and of the 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, his eidetic memory, he was at various times the music director of La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the New York Philharmonic. In his career he was appointed the first music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, this led to his becoming a household name through his radio and television broadcasts and many recordings of the operatic and symphonic repertoire. Toscanini was born in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, won a scholarship to the local music conservatory, where he studied the cello. Living conditions at the conservatory were strict. For example, the menu at the conservatory consisted entirely of fish, he joined the orchestra of an opera company, with which he toured South America in 1886. While presenting Aida in Rio de Janeiro on June 25, Leopoldo Miguez, the locally hired conductor, reached the summit of a two-month escalating conflict with the performers due to his rather poor command of the work, to the point that the singers went on strike and forced the company's general manager to seek a substitute conductor.

Carlo Superti and Aristide Venturi tried unsuccessfully to finish the work. In desperation, the singers suggested the name of their assistant Chorus Master, who knew the whole opera from memory. Although he had no conducting experience, Toscanini was persuaded by the musicians to take up the baton at 9:15 pm, led a performance of the two-and-a-half hour opera from memory; the public was taken by surprise, at first by the youth and sheer intensity of this unknown conductor by his solid musicianship. The result was astounding acclaim. For the rest of that season, Toscanini conducted each one an absolute success, thus began his career as a conductor, at age 19. Upon returning to Italy, Toscanini set out on a dual path, he continued to conduct, his first appearance in Italy being at the Teatro Carignano in Turin, on November 4, 1886, in the world premiere of the revised version of Alfredo Catalani's Edmea. This was championing of Catalani, he returned to his chair in the cello section, participated as cellist in the world premiere of Verdi's Otello under the composer's supervision.

Verdi, who habitually complained that conductors never seemed interested in directing his scores the way he had written them, was impressed by reports from Arrigo Boito about Toscanini's ability to interpret his scores. The composer was impressed when Toscanini consulted him about Verdi's Te Deum, suggesting an allargando where it was not set out in the score. Verdi said that he had left it out for fear that "certain interpreters would have exaggerated the marking". Toscanini's reputation as an operatic conductor of unusual authority and skill supplanted his cello career. In the following decade, he consolidated his career in Italy, entrusted with the world premieres of Puccini's La bohème and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci. In 1896, Toscanini conducted his first symphonic concert, he exhibited a considerable capacity for hard work, conducting 43 concerts in Turin in 1898. By 1898, Toscanini was Principal Conductor at La Scala, where he remained until 1908, returning as Music Director, from 1921–1929.

During this time he collaborated with Alfredo Antonini – a young pianist and organist in La Scala Orchestra. In 1920, He brought the La Scala Orchestra to the United States on a concert tour during which he made his first recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company. In 1908, Toscanini joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York as principal conductor and music director, along with Giulio Gatti-Casazza who left La Scala to assume the post as the Met's general manager. During Toscanini's seven seasons at the Met, he made several reforms and set many standards in opera production and performance which are still in practice today. At the end of his final season with the Metropolitan Opera in May 1915, Toscanini was set to return to Europe aboard the doomed RMS Lusitania, but instead cut his concert schedule short and left a week early, aboard the Italian liner Duca degli Abruzzi. Toscanini conducted the New York Philharmonic from 1926 until 1936. At each performance, he and the orchestra were acclaimed by both audiences.

Toscanini was the first non-German conductor to appear at Bayreuth, the New York Philharmonic was the first non-German orchestra to play there. In the 1930s, he conducted at the Salzburg Festival, as well as the 1936 inaugural concert of the Palestine Orchestra in Tel Aviv conducting them in Jerusalem, Haifa and Alexandria. During his engagement with the New York Philharmonic, Hans Lange, the son of the last Master of the Sultan's Music in Istanbul, who became conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the founder of the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra as a professional ensemble, was his concert master. During his career as an opera conductor, Toscanini collaborated with such artists as Enrico Caruso, Feodor Chaliapin, Ezio Pinza, Giovan

This article is about hunting platforms. For a stand of trees, see Grove. Tree stands or deer stands are enclosed platforms used by hunters; the platforms are secured to trees in order to elevate the hunter and give him or her a better vantage point. A tripod stand is a similar device, but because it is freestanding rather than attached to a tree, it is not technically a tree stand. Hunters use many different types of tree stands. Two parts make up climbing stands; the bottom part is the standing platform. Not all the top parts have backs for the seats. There is a strap that connects the two parts, so if the bottom falls while in the tree or climbing, the platform doesn’t fall all the way to the ground, stranding the hunter. Only trees that have no limbs up to the height desired for hunting will work. Climbing tree stands have a couple of different styles to connect to the tree; the part that wraps around the tree can be made from a thick cable or boomerang shaped piece of metal. The part that wraps around the tree is fastened to the stand with a bolt or pin for easy adjustment for different tree sizes.

Before climbing the tree both parts need to be adjusted to the tree so that both upper and lower parts are angled up to account for the narrowing of the tree. To climb the tree the back of each part is angled to the tree one at a time and pulled up; the part that the hunter is moving is set back level and the next part is moved up. This is done. In addition to the tree stand, some hunters use a safety harness to prevent injury in the event that any component of the tree stand fails. You should always be connected to the tree for safety. To descend the tree, the hunter reverses the order of operations to climb the tree - lowering the standing platform, standing on the standing platform lowering the sitting platform. Ladder stands are a stand with a platform along with the ladder to climb up into the stand. A ladder stand has a seat and platform that connect to the tree with the ladder coming off the front of the platform to give the hunter access to the stand. Ladder stands are stationary because of the size and lack of ability to move through the woods quietly.

Stability is good because of the connection to the support from the ground. Hunters can use two person ladder stands. Hanging stands can resemble ladder stands without the ladder, the hanging stand is stationary. Hanging stands connect to the tree with cables at the desired height. To get up to a hanging stand hunters use ladders or sections of ladders secured to the tree, or they use screw in steps that screw in the tree and allow the hunter to climb up to the stand. Box stands are large enclosed stands that look like a shed, they can be built to various heights with ladders or steps to enter when elevated; these are designed to keep you hidden from view of game. Most are made from lumber with flooring with a wood or metal roof, they are designed for use along the edge of fields, where you can see long distances. The inherent functional flexibility of tree stands allows hunters to use them in different ways. Whitetail deer are the most popular animal to hunt out of a tree stand, but other animals can be hunted from tree stands.

Tree stands can give the hunter an advantage. This allows the hunter to see over intervening brush and vegetation that might otherwise block the hunter's view of approaching game; the advantage is not always clear, however, as early fall hunting in hardwoods bottoms can result in shortened line of sight because of heavy foliage still on the trees. This can be remedied by cutting shooting lanes for bows and firearms to see better from the tree stand. Hunters use climbing stands to take the stand to different locations easily. Although not permanent like ladder stands and hanging stands, they can relocate a hunter to a different tree easily; some hunters do leave them in the woods at the base of the tree. Climbing stands allow hunters that want to hunt from them to use a climbing stand at a location that will not allow them to keep a stand up during the whole season. Ladder stands and hanging stands do not move so they tend to stay on one tree; because branches limit climbing stand use, ladder stands and hanging stands allow hunters more options on the trees with many branches at a lower height.

A few accessories are available for tree stands. Rope from the stand to the ground allows the hunter to pull up accessories or their weapon once in the stand. Besides the safety, hanging and rope equipment, hunters can get: Bow holders Shooting rests Blinds for around the stand Covers over the stand Umbrellas to protect the hunter from rain Seat pads Camouflage tape to disguise the stand Safety is the biggest consideration for tree stands. A body harness is the most important part of tree stand safety. Many different styles of harness can keep hunters safe. One harness compiled of a belt around the waist of the person and one around tree with a strap between the two can keep the hunter safe. Another harness is a full body harness, which has shoulder straps around the legs; the full body harness attaches to the tree the same way. Attaching the harness as soon as the hunter is in the tree keeps the hunter safe while setting up for the hunt; the strap between the harness and strap around the tree should be long enough to allow the hunter to move a little and short enough so if the hunter falls they do not fall too far.

Tree stand users should always check over their stands to ensure good working condition. A tree stand in poor condition can be unsafe for the hunter to