Sir Georg Solti

His Mahler Cycle in Chicago (1967-1971) is the creme de la creme.

I copy shit and curtsy, waiting for approval.

Bernstein didn’t immigrate from Europe. WTF?

He molested me.

His Boheme with Domingo and Caballe is magical.

He WAS Sir Georg Solti!

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing Mahler's Fifth Symphony, conducted by sir Georg Solti (1971)

His Ring Cycle is regarded as the greatest recording ever made.

Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, with a voice cast that includes Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Hans Hotter, George London, Joan Sutherland, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Christa Ludwig, Gwyneth Jones, Hermann Uhde, and Kirsten Flagstad

Brahms' Academic Festival Overture

[quote] Actor Eric Porter named Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Georg Solti, as one of his desert island discs.

Good taste!

A fun documentary of him working on Strauss' Four Last Songs w/ Dame Kiri.

He chased Dame Kiri around a piano once. Never again.

Wasn’t a fan, but I’m in the minority

R14 Why were you not a fan?

R13 source/Link? Was Solti handsy?

[quote] Bernstein didn’t immigrate from Europe. WTF?

Solti also didn’t take over from Reiner. Solti took the positon six years after Reiner’s death, which occurred in 1963.

[quote] His Boheme with Domingo and Caballe is magical.

[italic]Guuurrrlll...

He’s not wrong, R17.

You’re a cunt.

He died September 5, 1997, the same day that Mother Theresa died and five days after Princess Diana died. His passing was WAY overshadowed by the other two deaths and he really never received the great “send off” he deserved.

And, YES! His is the greatest Ring recording of all time. Everything the man touched became sublime.

I usually opt for Solti when I feel like listening to Wagner. He's brilliant in the exciting parts - bold and brassy. But I don't find him quite so compelling in the less energetic moments.

[quote] His Ring Cycle is regarded as the greatest recording ever made.

This is what Decca’s marketing department wants you to believe R8. So that they can continue flogging it at inflated prices for decades to come, even though everyone involved is long dead.

Truth is, it is a very strong Ring, no doubt about that. The best, however? Not by a mile, especially since the Bayreuth festival opened its archives in the 90’s, and smaller record companies jumped on the occasion to release superior Rings (Keilberth, Krauss, Knappertsbush, to name a few), in very clean mono, or even early stereo, sound.

Solti’s Ring is the perfect “beginner’s Ring”, thanks to its impeccable sound, excellent (for the most part) cast, and brisk conducting. But anyone who loves the Ring will quickly move on to more satisfying versions.

As for the greatest opera recording? Try Furtwangler’s Tristan und Isolde rather.

R15, it was a direct quote from Dame Kiri but I forget where I read it. She framed it as a “naughty boy!” kind of event, telling him she would tell his wife if he didn’t stop.

Fun fact about Sir Georg: I knew the young girl who was his personal masseuse in the late 1980s and she always said she was pleasantly surprised about how professional he was and that "he never tried any funny business" with her.

Boring, right? But it has stuck with me and I always think of it when I see or hear his name all these years later.

R13/R22, that seems like a Warner Brothers cartoon with Granny being chased around a piano.

R21 I prefer Bohm's Tristun und Isolde with Nilsson and Windgassen

or Beecham's with Kirsten Flagstad and Lauritz Melchior

Did he have a serious falling out with Jessye Norman?

R26 I don't think so, they recorded together a few times

R26, perhaps Georg thought Jessye WAS the piano, and he started running around her!

As far as I can tell, Jessye Norman worked with Georg Solti on a few projects -- LOHENGRIN recording, Beethoven 9 live and recorded, a Covent Garden gala -- during 1985 and 1986, but never before or after that. If that's accurate, then it's a fair question why they didn't collaborate more frequently, given the many possible overlaps in their shared rep.

She was due to sing the premiere of a work written for her by Michael Tippett with Solti and the Chicago Symphony in the early 90s, but backed out a few weeks before the performance despite having the score for some time. Solti criticised her publicly for it

He was slightly less of a cunt than von Karajan

"His Ring Cycle is regarded as the greatest recording ever made."

His Cockring Cycle is regarded as the greatest recording ever made.😆

R32 hysterical...

R8 "His Ring Cycle is regarded as the greatest recording ever made."

This is so cute, like in a Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Georg, had I known your children were so musical I'd have brought my harmonica!