Solti, Sir Georg (real name, György Stern)

Solti, Sir Georg (real name, György Stern), eminent Hungarian-born English conductor; b. Budapest, Oct. 21, 1912; d. Antibes, Sept. 5, 1997. He began to study the piano when he was 6, making his first public appearance in Budapest when he was 12; at 13, he enrolled there at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, studying piano with Dohná;nyi and, briefly, with Bartók. He took composition courses with Kodály. He graduated at the age of 18, and was engaged by the Budapest Opera as a répétiteur. He also served as an assist, to Bruno Walter (1935) and Toscanini (1936, 1937) at the Salzburg Festivals. On March 11, 1938, he made a brilliant conducting debut at the Budapest Opera with Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro; however, the wave of anti-Semitism in Hungary under the reactionary military rule forced him to leave Budapest (he was Jewish). In 1939 he went to Switzerland, where he was active mainly as a concert pianist; in 1942 he won the Concours International de Piano in Geneva; finally, in 1944, he was engaged to conduct concerts with the orch. of the Swiss Radio. In 1946 the American occupation authorities in Munich invited him to conduct Fidelio at the Bavarian State Opera; his success led to his appointment as its Generalmusikdirektor, a position he held from 1946 to 1952. In 1952 he became Generalmusikdirektor in Frankfurt am Main, serving as director of the Opera and conductor of the Museumgesellschaft Concerts. He made his U.S. debut with the San Francisco Opera on Sept. 25, 1953, conducting Elektra. He later conducted the Chicago Sym. Orch., the N.Y. Phil., and at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y., where he made his first appearance on Dec. 17, 1960, with Tannhäuser. He was then engaged as music director of the Los Angeles Phil., but he withdrew when the board of trustees refused to grant him full powers in musical and administrative policy. In 1960–61 he was music director of the Dallas Sym. Orch. In the meantime, he made his Covent Garden debut in London in 1959; in 1961 he assumed the post of music director of the Royal Opera House there, retaining it with great distinction until 1971. In 1969 he became music director of the Chicago Sym. Orch., and it was in that capacity that he achieved a triumph as an interpreter and orch. builder, so that the “Chicago sound” became a synonym for excellence. He showed himself an enlightened disciplinarian and a master of orch. psychology, so that he could gain and hold the confidence of the players while demanding from them the utmost in professional performance. Under his direction the Chicago Sym. Orch. became one of the most celebrated orchs. in the world. He took it to Europe for the first time in 1971, eliciting glowing praise from critics and audiences. He subsequently led it on a number of acclaimed tours there, and also took it to N.Y. for regular appearances at Carnegie Hall. He held the additional posts of music adviser of the Paris Opéra (1971–73) and music director of the Orch. de Paris (1972–75), which he took on a tour of China in 1974. He served as principal conductor and artistic director of the London Phil, from 1979 to 1983, and was then accorded the title of conductor emeritus. During all these years, he retained his post with the Chicago Sym. Orch., while continuing his appearances as a guest conductor with European orchs. In 1983 he conducted the Ring cycle at the Bayreuth Festival, in commemoration of the 100^thanniversary of the death of Richard Wagner. Solti retained his prestigious position with the Chicago Sym. Orch. until the close of the 100^th anniversary season in 1990–91, and subsequently held the title of Laureate Conductor. In 1992–93 he served as artistic director of the Salzburg Festival. In 1968 he was made an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire; in 1971 he was named an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1972 he became a British subject and was knighted, assuming the title of Sir Georg. In 1992 he was awarded Germany’s Grosses Verdienstskreuz mit Stern und Schulterband. In honor of his 80^th birthday in 1992 the Vienna Phil, awarded him the first Hans Richter Medal. In 1993 President Clinton awarded him the National Medal of Arts and he was accorded honors at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. With H. Sachs, he wrote a vol. of memoirs (N.Y., 1997). Solti was generally acknowledged as a superlative interpreter of the symphonic and operatic repertoire. He was renowned for his performances of Wagner, Verdi, Mahler, Richard Strauss, and other Romantic masters; he also conducted notable performances of Bartók, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, and other composers of the 20^th century. His recordings received innumerable awards.

Bibliography

W. Furlong, Season with S.: A Year in the Life of the Chicago Symphony (N.Y. and London, 1974); P. Robinson, S. (London, 1979).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire