Sir Georg Solti centenary thread

[richardfinegold]

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.

You are right, I remember the Khan prelude being on the program. That Carmen is still my favorite recording.

[makropulos]

A
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.

Having been listening to the large and splendid boxes of Bartók, Mozart, Strauss, Verdi and Wagner (89 discs), the fascinating collection of rare material on "Solti: The Legacy" (2 discs), and the staggeringly handsome and sumptuous reissue (and remastering) of the Ring (17 discs), I'm truly surprised to see you accusing Decca showing "scant respect". They made the very sensible decision (in my view) to concentrate on Solti's opera recordings - lots of them - and on a Bartók set that has been constantly on my CD player this weekend. I think they've done him proud - and rightly so.

[rauschwerk]

It was Solti's Mahler and Bartok recordings with the LSO which first caught my attention: Mahler 1 (still the recording I prefer) and Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Dance Suite (one or two ragged moments in these but still very enjoyable), Music for Strs, P & C and Miraculous Mandarin Suite. A few years later, in 1966, I got to sing in the chorus for him in the Verdi Requiem. I slept very little the night before the performance, I was so much on edge! We did it twice, two days apart. Unfortunately we had given so much the first time that the second performance was a pale shadow of the first.

[amateur51]

It was Solti's Mahler and Bartok recordings with the LSO which first caught my attention: Mahler 1 (still the recording I prefer) and Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra, Dance Suite (one or two ragged moments in these but still very enjoyable), Music for Strs, P & C and Miraculous Mandarin Suite. A few years later, in 1966, I got to sing in the chorus for him in the Verdi Requiem. I slept very little the night before the performance, I was so much on edge! We did it twice, two days apart. Unfortunately we had given so much the first time that the second performance was a pale shadow of the first.

A wonderful memory, rauschwerk - many thanks for sharing it

[Northender]

While browsing in a local charity shop last week, I picked up, for £1.50, the CD from the current BBC Music Magazine: Solti and the World Orchestra for Peace's performances of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and Rossini's William Tell Overture. (I haven't got round to listening to it yet).

[Petrushka]

Having been listening to the large and splendid boxes of Bartók, Mozart, Strauss, Verdi and Wagner (89 discs), the fascinating collection of rare material on "Solti: The Legacy" (2 discs), and the staggeringly handsome and sumptuous reissue (and remastering) of the Ring (17 discs), I'm truly surprised to see you accusing Decca showing "scant respect". They made the very sensible decision (in my view) to concentrate on Solti's opera recordings - lots of them - and on a Bartók set that has been constantly on my CD player this weekend. I think they've done him proud - and rightly so.

Sorry, makropulos, we don't often find ourselves in disagreement and your point is a very valid one concerning the operatic recordings. As I don't have a great interest in opera (the Ring aside) the issues you mention had rather passed me by and I was thinking more in terms of his orchestral recordings which could do with being collected together in a box very much like the 1960s Karajan set on DG. As it is, they are scattered hither and thither and I've had to trawl through the second hand market for some I failed to pick up at the time.

[makropulos]

Sorry, makropulos, we don't often find ourselves in disagreement and your point is a very valid one concerning the operatic recordings. As I don't have a great interest in opera (the Ring aside) the issues you mention had rather passed me by and I was thinking more in terms of his orchestral recordings which could do with being collected together in a box very much like the 1960s Karajan set on DG. As it is, they are scattered hither and thither and I've had to trawl through the second hand market for some I failed to pick up at the time.

Completely understand what you say, Petrushka - but as an opera person I'm having a wonderful time, as you can imagine. You're quite right that a lot of Solti's CSO recordings have become extremely elusive, and I hope Australian Eloquence (with Decca's encouragement) will get round to some of those in due course (I was delighted when they brought back his VPO Bruckner 7 and 8).

By the way, have you seen the new "Ring"? It's a really breathtaking and enormous object, the size of the old LP monster box of the whole cycle (so I, for one, can actually read the librettos...), and quite amazingly handsome, with Culshaw's book and Deryck Cooke's introduction printed in full, Humphrey Burton's "making of" BBC film, and various other goodies included. It's the most gorgeous thing, and even though it's certainly not a bargain, it's never sounded better either. If I hadn't got it already, it would certainly be one for the Christmas list!

[Petrushka]

Completely understand what you say, Petrushka - but as an opera person I'm having a wonderful time, as you can imagine. You're quite right that a lot of Solti's CSO recordings have become extremely elusive, and I hope Australian Eloquence (with Decca's encouragement) will get round to some of those in due course (I was delighted when they brought back his VPO Bruckner 7 and 8).

By the way, have you seen the new "Ring"? It's a really breathtaking and enormous object, the size of the old LP monster box of the whole cycle (so I, for one, can actually read the librettos...), and quite amazingly handsome, with Culshaw's book and Deryck Cooke's introduction printed in full, Humphrey Burton's "making of" BBC film, and various other goodies included. It's the most gorgeous thing, and even though it's certainly not a bargain, it's never sounded better either. If I hadn't got it already, it would certainly be one for the Christmas list!

Like many, I suspect, I already have the Solti Ring on CD as well as the Culshaw book and the Cooke introduction. Had I known they would have been available in such a splendid edition in 2012 I might have waited! As it is I will regrettably leave this issue alone. I bought the VPO Bruckner 7 & 8 in Japanese issues when I was in HMV in Paris a few years ago. Gramex in London as well as Harold Moores have been a good source of second hand CD's.

I really want the VPO Heldenleben and BRSO Alpensinfonie. They are available on a Double Decca issue but I already have the Chicago accounts that make up the rest of the set and this is why I am disappointed with the way that Decca have treated Solti's orchestral legacy. As you say siome are hard to come by.

[jayne lee wilson]

Having been listening to the large and splendid boxes of Bartók, Mozart, Strauss, Verdi and Wagner (89 discs), the fascinating collection of rare material on "Solti: The Legacy" (2 discs), and the staggeringly handsome and sumptuous reissue (and remastering) of the Ring (17 discs), I'm truly surprised to see you accusing Decca showing "scant respect". They made the very sensible decision (in my view) to concentrate on Solti's opera recordings - lots of them - and on a Bartók set that has been constantly on my CD player this weekend. I think they've done him proud - and rightly so.

Makropoulos - is there any sign that the Bartok has been remastered? I've had the Solti/LPO/CSO DoubleDecca of the Piano Concertos (Ashkenazy) and Violin Ctos (Chung) for some time and always enjoy returning to them...

[makropulos]

Makropoulos - is there any sign that the Bartok has been remastered? I've had the Solti/LPO/CSO DoubleDecca of the Piano Concertos (Ashkenazy) and Violin Ctos (Chung) for some time and always enjoy returning to them...

Jayne - there's no sign (in the booklet, or to my ears) of any new mastering in the Bartók set. But if you don't have everything in it, I'd still be (very) inclined to give it a try. The only slight disappointment is the Bluebeard's Castle, I think - good but not great. Incidentally, the "bonus" discs include his early 50s Bartók (SPC and Dance Suite) and Kodály (Peacock, Háry Janos, Galánta Dances and - best of all - Psalmus Hungaricus with William McAlpine).

[rauschwerk]

I wonder whether Schönberg's Moses and Aaron would have been done in London in the 1960s if Solti had not been at the ROH. I saw it there and also attended the Proms performance. It will never be one of my favourite operas but it was certainly right to do it.

Victor Gollancz attacked this production for, amongst other things, the decision to sing in English. He then went on to sneer that it had only half-filled the RAH. Maybe, but that meant probably 3,000 in the audience!

[John Shelton]

The Decca recording of Moses und Aron I've admired since its mid 80s lp issue.

I haven't a deep knowledge of the opera's discography, but Solti's recording of Der Rosenkavalier has always been the one I've found most congenial; I like the way everything holds together and find it dramatically convincing.

[bluestateprommer]

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.

For RF, from what I've read, this concert that you mention was indeed Sir Georg's last Chicago concert. It's available on record, as others have noted. Wish I could have been there. Interesting that you note how frail he looked that day, with 20:20 hindsight and the idea that so many had of his being like the Energizer bunny, completely unstoppable.

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.

By "critics", I take it that you mean John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune . Of course, given his rah-rah use of the phrase "our orchestra" in so many of his reviews over the years, he's hardly a fount of objectivity. But I digress, as usual.

Back to Sir Georg, this article from the Telegraph by Rupert Christiansen has an interesting meta quote about conducting and one's personal likes and dislikes, about "a conductor should not like some music more than others":

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalmusic/9594604/The-day-Sir-Georg-Solti-conducted-his-interview.html

"'His taste at home should remain his own private business. The job is to conduct any music that is put in front of you to the best of your ability, whether you like it or not.'"

[Petrushka]

For RF, from what I've read, this concert that you mention was indeed Sir Georg's last Chicago concert. It's available on record, as others have noted. Wish I could have been there. Interesting that you note how frail he looked that day, with 20:20 hindsight and the idea that so many had of his being like the Energizer bunny, completely unstoppable.



By "critics", I take it that you mean John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune . Of course, given his rah-rah use of the phrase "our orchestra" in so many of his reviews over the years, he's hardly a fount of objectivity. But I digress, as usual.

Back to Sir Georg, this article from the Telegraph by Rupert Christiansen has an interesting meta quote about conducting and one's personal likes and dislikes, about "a conductor should not like some music more than others":

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/m...interview.html

Yes, Solti did indeed seem unstoppable. I was present at his final Prom, a marvellous account of Beethoven 9 with the Chicago SO, and I was among those who waited for his appearance outside the stage door. He duly appeared, invited us in to the Albert Hall office, sat down, signed programmes and chatted to us all, much to the alarm of Charles Kay who reminded us that Sir Georg was 84 you know. I don't think that frail is something he ever was. I saw him again in April 1997 but, alas, was unable to meet him afterwards on that occasion.

[BBMmk2]

I liked Elgar's 1 he did, actually.

I remember the Prom programmers that year were rather perplexede, because there was Solti saying that we be doing LvB's Missa Solemnis or nothing else(perhaps that was another time?)