Is Solti coming back into favor?

Posted by TGR (A) on July 30, 2014 at 16:40:59

During his lifetime Georg Solti was one of the most celebrated conductors ever - between the awards he won for numerous recordings, the posts he held, and his fame in both the symphonic world and the operatic world, he had a claim to be the greatest conductor of his generation. Of course, there are a number of contenders, possibly the major one having initials of HvK. And for those of you who will plump for Lenny, there is a case there, too, although he didn't hold the posts that Solti had, nor did he have anything of the stature in the operatic world. I think Lenny made about 4 studio operatic recordings - Falstaff, Rosenkavalier, Carmen and Tristan. I don't count the West Side Story , even though they tried to make it into an opera.

However, Solti seems to have fallen out of favor after his death, and even during his lifetime there were the naysayers who claimed he had no line, that he conducted Wagner like there was "an orgasm in every bar", and others that found him shallow. IMO, Solti made some terrific recordings - the Ring, the Mahler 8, the Elgar, his Schumann, his Mozart operas, his Strauss operas, etc. I saw him perform live once, with Chicago doing Mozart and Mahler, and it was one of the great concert experiences of my life.

Anyway, I was delighted to read a number of comments below about his Brahms and other recordings that people really seem to like. After all the hype and the inevitable backlash, perhaps we can enjoy his legacy for what it actually was.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Topic - Is Solti coming back into favor? - TGR 16:40:59 07/30/14 (19)

RE: Is Solti coming back into favor? - alc777 21:23:41 08/05/14 (0)

Another great Solti recording I just thought of - TGR 09:11:08 07/31/14 (2)

And another one . . . - Opus 33 1/3 05:37:36 08/01/14 (1)

That is a great one, title on London is different - vinyl phanatic 09:33:03 08/02/14 (0)

Was he ever out of favor? - Cuernavaca 08:39:16 07/31/14 (0)

My Solti Recordings - StephenJK 04:22:11 07/31/14 (2)

Solti's Carmen - TGR 07:26:14 07/31/14 (1)

RE: Solti's Carmen - StephenJK 10:54:13 07/31/14 (0)

RE: Is Solti coming back into favor? - markinuk 01:46:12 07/31/14 (0)

Solti Has Never Been 'Out of Favor' - Inmate51 21:36:21 07/30/14 (0)

RE: Is Solti coming back into favor? - Suteetat 20:40:20 07/30/14 (0)

I was unaware he was out of favour... - StephenJK 17:54:46 07/30/14 (4)

I've got his Tannhauser, but other than that.... - jdaniel@jps.net 18:35:31 07/30/14 (3)

"....the complaint that he drives music too hard seems to be true." Not to my ears. nt - Rick W 10:12:57 07/31/14 (0)

Solti's Tannhauser - TGR 07:32:00 07/31/14 (1)

And if IIRC, the Sinopoli ends with the Pilgrim's Chorus reprised? (Don't tell anyone, but I prefer it that - jdaniel@jps.net 18:05:52 07/31/14 (0)

RE: Is Solti coming back into favor? - learsfool 17:45:25 07/30/14 (2)

Very interesting post - TGR 07:35:36 07/31/14 (1)

RE: Very interesting post - learsfool 22:41:31 07/31/14 (0)

Is Solti coming back into favor?

Post a Message!