Sir Georg Solti centenary thread

[bluestateprommer]

While it is 8 days early, admittedly, thought I'd get the "party" rolling via links to a few articles:

1. NYT, Harvey Sachs, who helped "ghost" Sir Georg's memoirs: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/ar...pagewanted=all

Amusing excerpt:

"He was completely impractical outside his field; he relied on his wife and various assistants to do virtually everything for him. And he was the worst driver I have ever had the uncomfortable, not to say frightening, experience of sitting next to. I was told by a reliable source that the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov once asked Solti for a ride from Heathrow Airport in London but, having gone a few hundred feet, got out of the car and hitchhiked into town. "

More serious excerpt:

"Solti knew well that a World Orchestra for Peace, no matter how noble its intentions, could do little to make world peace a reality. But he was a musician, not a diplomat; he could contribute only through his music-making, and he viewed this orchestra as a symbol of how the world could change if the mentality of enough people could be turned around."

The WOP is playing in Chicago on the centenary date of Sir Georg's birth, next Sunday, October 21:

http://cso.org/TicketsAndEvents/EventDetails.aspx?eid=4953

2. A few weeks back, an article by Ed Vuillamy in The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/sep/09/georg-solti-centenary-lady-valerie

Unfortunately, I never got to see Sir Georg live. A friend sang in the children's chorus for him some years back, though.

[DracoM]

Ring cycle deserves praise of course. Lucky to have landed Nilsson, even if Windgassen was a bit of an unmixed blessing at times
BUT
for me his Parsifal takes a lot of beating. Kollo + VPO is fantastic form.

[Petrushka]

While it is 8 days early, admittedly, thought I'd get the "party" rolling via links to a few articles:

1. NYT, Harvey Sachs, who helped "ghost" Sir Georg's memoirs: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/ar...pagewanted=all

Amusing excerpt:



More serious excerpt:



The WOP is playing in Chicago on the centenary date of Sir Georg's birth, next Sunday, October 21:

http://cso.org/TicketsAndEvents/EventDetails.aspx?eid=4953

2. A few weeks back, an article by Ed Vuillamy in The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/sep/09/georg-solti-centenary-lady-valerie

Unfortunately, I never got to see Sir Georg live. A friend sang in the children's chorus for him some years back, though.

Ah you've beat me to it, BSP! As you may see from the 'What are you Listening to Now?' thread I've been playing some of Solti's many recordings with more to come. His recorded legacy and his performing repertoire were huge and for his centenary I would have liked to seen:

a) one of those big boxed sets such as DG have done for Karajan. All of his Chicago recordings for example.

b) a boxed set of his live performances with the CSO from radio recordings.

Alas, Decca (now Universal) have treated Solti's output with scant respect the more so considering that he stayed loyal to them and must have helped make them a premier force in classical music, not to mention pots of money.

Are there any archive recordings on the CSO website to celebrate the anniversary?

As I've already mentioned, I saw Solti many times in London either with the CSO or LPO and I met him on several occasions post-concert. He was always generous with his time, always friendly and completely belied his image of 'the screaming skull'. 15 years after his death I still miss his presence on the London concert scene.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

His Tannhauser is rather special too, but I"m not so impressed with his Elgar.

[Mandryka]

I'm a big fan of his. I probably have more recordings by him than by any other conductor.

I might disagree with his approach to certain works, but he was always determined to achieve the best possible results: those Wagner recordings with the VPO still stand up, after all these years.

And, actually, I'd rate him as my favourite Elgar interpreter: a foreign perspective is sometimes useful in works like Enigma.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Re Solti's Elgar, I do like 2 recordings - his Cockaigne and his VPO Enigma.

[Stanley Stewart]

Coincidentally, I've spent a lot of time this week transferring my off-air video recordings of the 2005/07, ROH, Keith Warner productions of the Ring Cycle to hard disk and DVD - the boon of good quality sound, picture and subtitles to keep me involved in an endless swathe of plot nuances - but there was also provision for fill-up material at the end of each opera. The Decca recording of The Golden Ring - The Making of Solti's 'Ring', directed by Humphrey Burton in 1965 (remastered for video in 1992) made an ideal and still quite enthralling 'filler' at 88 mins. Shot on location in Vienna, it remains a fitting tribute to Maestro Solti who was clearly using all his intense energy and formidable presence in close liaison with a fully committed team on this project. A strong listener, there was always a twinkle in any disagreement with John Culshaw; certainly not laid-on for the cameras either. Punctual in attendance, he arrived for piano rehearsals with his artists in the morning, followed by recording sessions pm and promptly back to his hotel for preparations for the following day. And there was even provision for a hilarious sequence bringing Brunnhilde's horse, Grane, into the studio for the last recording session on "Gotterdammerung" to an astonished Birgit Nilsson. A classic documentary and a worthy tribute to a magnificent project. I'm sure all Wagner devotees already have a copy on their shelves. Get it down and give Solti a worthwhile shufti again for a refreshing experience!

[cloughie]

Re Solti's Elgar, I do like 2 recordings - his Cockaigne and his VPO Enigma.

I'm also great fan of his but I am also a great fan of Barbirolli. When it comes to Elgar the two offer a great contrast!

[cloughie]

Coincidentally, I've spent a lot of time this week transferring my off-air video recordings of the 2005/07, ROH, Keith Warner productions of the Ring Cycle to hard disk and DVD - the boon of good quality sound, picture and subtitles to keep me involved in an endless swathe of plot nuances - but there was also provision for fill-up material at the end of each opera. The Decca recording of The Golden Ring - The Making of Solti's 'Ring', directed by Humphrey Burton in 1965 (remastered for video in 1992) made an ideal and still quite enthralling 'filler' at 88 mins. Shot on location in Vienna, it remains a fitting tribute to Maestro Solti who was clearly using all his intense energy and formidable presence in close liaison with a fully committed team on this project. A strong listener, there was always a twinkle in any disagreement with John Culshaw; certainly not laid-on for the cameras either. Punctual in attendance, he arrived for piano rehearsals with his artists in the morning, followed by recording sessions pm and promptly back to his hotel for preparations for the following day. And there was even provision for a hilarious sequence bringing Brunnhilde's horse, Grane, into the studio for the last recording session on "Gotterdammerung" to an astonished Birgit Nilsson. A classic documentary and a worthy tribute to a magnificent project. I'm sure all Wagner devotees already have a copy on their shelves. Get it down and give Solti a worthwhile shufti again for a refreshing experience!

My intros to Solti's Wagner were SXL 6220 and SXL 6421. Hoi Ho, Dawn & Rhine Journey with vocals, the anvil in the Entry of the Gods - Nilsson and Windgassen, and of course the Funeral March - that's the one I want to go to - not yet though!

[gurnemanz]

I got to know the Ring as a student. Having no money, I borrowed the Solti LPs from the library and recorded it onto reel-to-reel tape. I remember noting the tape counter numbers to be able to find where a scene started (Hoiho, Hagen! Müder Mann! comes to mind). I did the same with his Elektra and Salome. (Hofmannsthal came up in my German degree course.)

The first Solti LP I bought was Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra - mono and still got it. My wife gave me Arabella as a present a few years ago, having carefully been through my collection to see what I didn't have. So I got to know that opera quite late in life in that marvellous pre-Ring Culshaw recording with Lisa della Casa and Hilde Güden as the sisters.

Strangely, Solti is quite under-represented on my shelves - Eugene Onegin, + Elgar and Bartok violin concertos with Kyung Wha Chung - all great recordings - but unfortunately I never saw him live.

[bluestateprommer]

"Are there any archive recordings on the CSO website to celebrate the anniversary?"

For Petrushka, from checking the CSO website, nothing that I see. The CSO has a tribute site, but no recordings anywhere that I can find:

http://cso.org/res/www_solti100/default.aspx

That would be an idea for the CSO, maybe remaster some selected live performances and make them available for commercial download. If not a cash cow, maybe a cash calf (and a very young calf at that).

One little heartbreaker of a stat: Sir Georg conducted 999 performances with the CSO. His 1000th concert was supposed to be on his 85th birthday, October 21, 1997, a program of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with pianist Daniel Barenboim (music director of the CSO after Solti, of course) and the Seventh Symphony. Sadly, it didn't turn out that way, of course.

[richardfinegold]

For Petrushka, from checking the CSO website, nothing that I see. The CSO has a tribute site, but no recordings anywhere that I can find:

http://cso.org/res/www_solti100/default.aspx

That would be an idea for the CSO, maybe remaster some selected live performances and make them available for commercial download. If not a cash cow, maybe a cash calf (and a very young calf at that).

One little heartbreaker of a stat: Sir Georg conducted 999 performances with the CSO. His 1000th concert was supposed to be on his 85th birthday, October 21, 1997, a program of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with pianist Daniel Barenboim (music director of the CSO after Solti, of course) and the Seventh Symphony. Sadly, it didn't turn out that way, of course.

I saw Solti conduct the CSO many times here in Chicago, including what must have been one of his last concerts, which featured the Shostakovich 15th symphony and Shostakovich's Orchestration of Mussourgsky Song and Dances of Death.
I was struck by how frail Solti was going to and fom the podium and was not surprised when he died shortly thereafter.
Any sense of frailty was not felt in the music making, however.
The main criticism of his tenure was his handling of the brass section, which frequently overpowered the rest of the Orchestra. Barenboim had to spend the first few years here trying to tame it and to restablish what was probably a more natural balance. He in turn had his critics who thought that he was emasculating the Orchestra.
Solti was the most exciting conductor to whom I have had prolonged exposure. There was electricity in the Hall when he conducted. Sometimes things would go wrong, like a car running off the road, but he was never boring.

[Petrushka]

My intros to Solti's Wagner were SXL 6220 and SXL 6421. Hoi Ho, Dawn & Rhine Journey with vocals, the anvil in the Entry of the Gods - Nilsson and Windgassen, and of course the Funeral March - that's the one I want to go to - not yet though!

Coincidentally, Cloughie, SXL6421 was also my very first Solti LP. I had heard Gotterdammerung conducted by Solti live from Covent Garden via R3 on September 26 1970 and ordered that LP which I had on October 26. I still have it and the price sticker is still on it: 45/11! I also bought SXL6220 later on. All this was my introduction to both Solti and Wagner. Who would have believed that just 8 years later I would meet the maestro?

Incidentally, that 1970 Gotterdammerung is available from Opera Depot though they wrongly date it as Sept 6 1970. They also have an incandescent Tristan recorded at Solti's Covent Garden farewell on July 3 1971. Unforgettable days!

[Petrushka]

For Petrushka, from checking the CSO website, nothing that I see. The CSO has a tribute site, but no recordings anywhere that I can find:

http://cso.org/res/www_solti100/default.aspx

That would be an idea for the CSO, maybe remaster some selected live performances and make them available for commercial download. If not a cash cow, maybe a cash calf (and a very young calf at that).

One little heartbreaker of a stat: Sir Georg conducted 999 performances with the CSO. His 1000th concert was supposed to be on his 85th birthday, October 21, 1997, a program of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto with pianist Daniel Barenboim (music director of the CSO after Solti, of course) and the Seventh Symphony. Sadly, it didn't turn out that way, of course.

Thanks BSP.

Richard Finegold: The last time I saw Solti was in April 1997 when he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in the Shostakovich 15 but I had a ticket for the Verdi Requiem that he was to have conducted at the Proms on Sept 12 1997. Alas, he died a week earlier. I was also at his last Prom when he conducted the Chicago SO in an unforgettable Beerhoven 9.

[Roslynmuse]

I saw Solti conduct the CSO many times here in Chicago, including what must have been one of his last concerts, which featured the Shostakovich 15th symphony and Shostakovich's Orchestration of Mussourgsky Song and Dances of Death.
I was struck by how frail Solti was going to and fom the podium and was not surprised when he died shortly thereafter.
Any sense of frailty was not felt in the music making, however.

He conducted the same two works (together with the Khovantschina Prelude) at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester with the BBC PO in early 1997. It was the only time I saw him live, from a rather good seat in the stalls, IIRC. I think I still have a cassette somewhere of the broadcast. There was certainly a buzz in the hall that night.

Recordings - yes, Wagner, of course, Strauss operas, especially Elektra and Salome; and also that rather hard-driven but very exciting Carmen with Tatiana Troyanos.