Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite" was one of the first pieces of classical music that I ever sampled back in the early 1980s when I was still a teenager. At the time, I found it to be a somewhat entertaining piece of material; sort of a lesser alternative to Copland's "Appalachian Spring" or "Rodeo" suites. That opinion didn't change over the years. Even so, under the baton of Arturo Toscanini, at the helm of his NBC Symphony Orchestra (and despite antiquated sound technology), "Grand Canyon Suite" takes on a heart-felt atmosphere of great care, balance, respect and sincerity.
The other tracks by Gershwin, Barber and John Philip Sousa are also fine, but the gem on this "American" volume from the "Toscanini Collection" is Toscanini's outstanding recording of Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite".