Sir Georg Solti

[Petrushka]

Rather surprised to see comments on this forum expressing some astonishment at the beauty of Solti's Mozart as well as comments that certain works were not known to be in Solti's repertoire (Brahms PC1 and Schumann 2 in this case).

If ever there was a conductor in real need of re-assessment it's Solti. His reputation for producing hard driven performances has tended to obscure his many other qualities as a musician and while he certainly did produce hard driven performances, often to thrilling effect, it's only half the story.

His recording of Handel's Messiah, for example, is a thing of wonder aided and abetted by glorious singing from the Chicago Symphony Chorus yet the mere glance at his name on the cover would have some dismissing it without hearing a note because of preconceptions surrounding Solti's reputation.

I was lucky enough to meet Solti on a number of occasions, post-concert, and was present at a rehearsal with the Chicago SO in the Royal Albert Hall where he did something I've never seen any other conductor do. He handed the baton over to his assistant and went racing around the Albert Hall stopping at various locations to listen to what it sounded like before returning to the stage.

The recording of the Brahms PC 1 with Schiff and the VPO mentioned above is one of the most thrilling accounts I've heard and a clear first choice for me but many will never know of its existence. There have been no big box(es) of recordings as there have with many others and that hasn't helped matters.

Time for a re-assessment, I think, of one of the great conductors of the 20th century.

[Rolmill]

There have been no big box(es) of recordings as there have with many others and that hasn't helped matters.

This is quite a big box....well worth the money too (depending on duplications of course). I realised a little while ago that Solti was surprisingly under-represented in my CD collection and found this set at jpc for €25, quite a bargain. I haven't listened to all of it yet, but have much enjoyed the Bartok, Beethoven, Holst, Haydn, Kodaly and Mahler so far. Was less impressed by the Mozart Requiem (mainly due to the rather warbly chorus), and have yet to sample the Mozart symphonies, but overall it is a recommendable set.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I'm in agreement with you Pet, I admire Solti greatly, a far more versatile and insightful conductor than he is often given credit for.

I rather enjoy this posted on youtube, sheer enjoyment from the performers throughout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tghPk4qndc

[richardfinegold]

As a Chicagoan, I probably attended at least 10 Solti led Concerts, perhaps more. My record collection featured him quite prominently. I also met him twice, albeit quite briefly both times. He had a magnetism and charisma that simply radiated from him and very much infused his music making.
I always thought the 'hard driven' label was unfair, much as it was for Toscanini in an earlier generation. In both cases the sheer excitement that they could be capable of generating obscured their other qualities. On of my favorite Solti Concerts was an all Debussy and Ravel coupling. The tone painting could be astonishing but the music didn't get lost in an Impressionistic fog; the music had a destination, which many Conductors of these Composers tend to forget

[Petrushka]

As a Chicagoan, I probably attended at least 10 Solti led Concerts, perhaps more. My record collection featured him quite prominently. I also met him twice, albeit quite briefly both times. He had a magnetism and charisma that simply radiated from him and very much infused his music making.
I always thought the 'hard driven' label was unfair, much as it was for Toscanini in an earlier generation. In both cases the sheer excitement that they could be capable of generating obscured their other qualities. On of my favorite Solti Concerts was an all Debussy and Ravel coupling. The tone painting could be astonishing but the music didn't get lost in an Impressionistic fog; the music had a destination, which many Conductors of these Composers tend to forget

Did you manage to sneak into any rehearsals? I'm not quite sure how I got in to the one in the Royal Albert Hall in 1989 (they were doing the Berlioz Damnation of Faust) but it was a real treat and fascinating to watch what he did. Between 1978 and 1996 I went to just about all of the concerts that the Chicago SO gave with Solti in London and they were wonderful concerts. Solti also conducted the LPO and LSO in London so I saw a good deal of him.

One of the giants of the 20th century classical music scene and still so under appreciated!

This is one of my favourite Solti concerts: http://pastdaily.com/2015/11/11/sir-...-week-concert/

[BBMmk2]

Well, Solti wasn't a very popular conductor amongst orchestral musicians. He was an absolute tyrant! I think it was one of the London orchestras he was conducting at the time of his death, the orchestra's manager came up to announced the conductor's death the previous night, and the orchestra cheered!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I think his Elgar is superb, the Symphonies (and the Second especially) my preferred recordings, and the Mahler 2nd (both recordings) and 8 are terrific, too. I've also always enjoyed his Mozart and Verdi; much more than his Wagner, which demonstrates that the "unremitting/hard-driven" descriptions are fully justified: all the subtlety of a Milwall supporter's boot in a Chelsea supporter's teeth. Much of the rest I can appreciate to varying degrees without greatly enjoying/loving the results - I feel I ought to respond much more positively to his Bartok, but (as so often in my response to Solti) there are other recordings I prefer so much more.

Bbm - I think that the "London Orchestra" response (if not apocryphal) reflects very much more badly on the orchestra than it does on the conductor. especially given that the self-governing orchestra had vied for his working with them. (I had understood that his years in Chicago - and his marriage to Valerie Pitts and experience of life as a father - had ironed out the "tyrannical" aspects of his younger reputation.) His promotion and programming of more "adventurous" New Music for his reputedly "conservative" audiences (Schoenberg's Moses & Aron, Tippett, Lutoslawski) warrants a nod of appreciation, too.

[BBMmk2]

I think his Elgar is superb, the Symphonies (and the Second especially) my preferred recordings, and the Mahler 2nd (both recordings) and 8 are terrific, too. I've also always enjoyed his Mozart and Verdi; much more than his Wagner, which demonstrates that the "unremitting/hard-driven" descriptions are fully justified: all the subtlety of a Milwall supporter's boot in a Chelsea supporter's teeth. Much of the rest I can appreciate to varying degrees without greatly enjoying/loving the results - I feel I ought to respond much more positively to his Bartok, but (as so often in my response to Solti) there are other recordings I prefer so much more.

Bbm - I think that the "London Orchestra" response (if not apocryphal) reflects very much more badly on the orchestra than it does on the conductor. especially given that the self-governing orchestra had vied for his working with them. (I had understood that his years in Chicago - and his marriage to Valerie Pitts and experience of life as a father - had ironed out the "tyrannical" aspects of his younger reputation.) His promotion and programming of more "adventurous" New Music for his reputedly "conservative" audiences (Schoenberg's Moses & Aron, Tippett, Lutoslawski) warrants a nod of appreciation, too.

Well, that was told to me by a musician who was there. But does reflect rather badly on the London orchestra.

[richardfinegold]

The only rehearsal experience I had with him was when we gave a Master Class at Ravinia, the CSO summer home, and the class was open to the Public. His comments were directed to the students but perhaps with an eye towards the audience. I remember the audience tittering when he admonished 1 student conductor in his Germanic accent for being diffident: "You must have ze balls of und elephant to stand before ze Chi-ca-go Zym-pho-nee Ork es TRA!" or something along those lines

[richardfinegold]

I was at his last CSO concert, DSCH Symphony 15, Shos orchestration of Mussorgsky Songs and Dances of Death, and the Dawn on the Moskva River. He looked frail, had obviously lost weight and had to be helped on and off the podium. There was a gasp from the audience when he first appeared as it was obvious that he was failing. Solti was oblivious to our reaction, had the smile of a caged tiger and once on the podium seemed invigorated. It was a great concert and the Orchestra seemed to be doting on him, BBM

[Richard Tarleton]

Solti (with the LPO) was one of the twin pillars of my concert-going in the early 70s (the other being Haitink) - Mahler, Bruckner, Strauss, Brahms, Elgar....and his Decca Ring was my intro to that. Sadly I never heard him in the opera house.

A horrible story about the "London orchestra".

His memoir "Solti on Solti" is worth a read - it begins with his childhood, early studies and life as a Jew in Hungary, saying good bye for what turned out to be for ever to his father on Budapest station in August 1939, the war years trapped in Switzerland, his career going nowhere while the clock ticked....it helps to understand why he was a man in a hurry afterwards. I love his account of getting to know Strauss in his final years, and playing at the funeral.

[makropulos]

Thanks so much for starting this thread. Solti is certainly an under-appreciated figure these days and his reputation for being a kind of hard-driving slash-and-burn conductor is not reflected by many of his recordings. I have to admit to being disappointed with some of the Chicago SO recordings (especially Beethoven and Brahms), but there are so many good things. The big Solti opera boxes that Decca produced a few years ago (especially Verdi, Wagner and Strauss) are generally magnificent, as is the Bartók (with quite a bit of Kodály) set. Hearing him conduct opera live was almost always a tremendous experience (including a delightful concert performance of Entführung at the RFH). I didn't have such consistently thrilling experiences in concerts, but some of them were fabulous - and he was always a condutor with something interesting to say about the music. Incidentally, during his time at the ROH, he also did a lot to foster and encourage the careers of younger conductors, particularly Edward Downes and Charles Mackerras.

In terms of orchestral records, things like his LSO Mahler and Bartók, and Vienna PO Schubert 9 are things I greatly cherish, and I'm particularly fond of his Vienna PO Bruckner 7th as well.

There were some very large Solti boxes put out by Decca/UMG in South Korea: four volumes called "Soltissimo", arranged by decade, but I suspect they are now out of print, and the copies I've seen as imports are certainly very expensive.

[HighlandDougie]

There were some very large Solti boxes put out by Decca/UMG in South Korea: four volumes called "Soltissimo", arranged by decade, but I suspect they are now out of print, and the copies I've seen as imports are certainly very expensive.

I came across these boxes while attempting to buy Abbado's first Mahler cycle in its Korean incarnation. They are available - at fairly eye-watering cost (just under £200 per box) from Tower in Japan - should anyone be seriously keen on Solti.

[Pianoman]

Funnily enough I'm just listening to his Otello with Cossutta, Price and Bacquier - a real revelation, much better then I seem to remember from LP days. His pacing and sensitivity to the singers is exemplary - and I can think of a few examples when he isn't ! But this set really sounds well and though Cossutta is a tad strained at times, he has some thrilling passages without the histrionics. Bacquier maybe isn't evil enough - but then he's not a panto villain ...Price is absolutely sublime, the best imo on disc, and to round it off Solti gets stunning results from the VPO

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I was at his last CSO concert, DSCH Symphony 15, Shos orchestration of Mussorgsky Songs and Dances of Death, and the Dawn on the Moskva River. He looked frail, had obviously lost weight and had to be helped on and off the podium. There was a gasp from the audience when he first appeared as it was obvious that he was failing. Solti was oblivious to our reaction, had the smile of a caged tiger and once on the podium seemed invigorated. It was a great concert and the Orchestra seemed to be doting on him, BBM

He conducted the same programme with the BBCPhilharmonic, too - a concert that was broadcast and which I thought showed Solti's strengths at their finest.