In 1937 Barbirolli was invited to take over from Arturo Toscanini as conductor of the New York Philharmonic. To follow such a great conductor was a very great honour. He conducted there for five years with great success, although there were some critics who supported Toscanini and were always criticizing Barbirolli. It was a difficult time for him as a new orchestra had just been formed in New York, the NBC Symphony Orchestra which was conducted by Toscanini and they paid their musicians more money. When he was invited, in 1942, to stay on with the New York Philharmonic he decided not to, partly because he would have to become a US citizen.