Notes and Editorial Reviews
SIR GEORG SOLTI—THE MAESTRO
•
Georg Solti, cond; Kyung Wha Chung, vn;
1
Lucia Popp, sop;
2
Chicago SO; Vienna PO
3
•
DECCA 001010909 (4 DVDs: 545:00) Live: Chicago 1976–80; Vienna 1995
3
BARTÓK
Romanian Folk Dances.
3
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class="COMPOSER12">BEETHOVEN
Symphony No. 7.
3
BERLIOZ
La damnation de Faust:
Marche hongroise.
3
BRUCKNER
Symphonies: No. 6; No. 7.
KODÁLY
Háry János:
Suite.
3
MENDELSSOHN
Symphonies: No. 3,
“Scottish”;
No. 4,
“Italian.”
Violin Concerto.
ROSSINI
Overtures:
The Barber of Seville; The Italian Girl in Algiers; The Silken Ladder; Semiramide; The Thieving Magpie.
R. STRAUSS
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche. Tod und Verklärung. 4 Last Songs.
2
WAGNER
Der fliegende Holländer:
Overture.
Tannhäuser:
Overture.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg:
Overture.
Tristan und Isolde:
Prelude and Liebestod.
WEINER
Prinz Csongor und die Kobolde:
Introduction and Scherzo
3
Solti rehearses the Vienna Philharmonic
Every performance here was filmed live in concert. The Chicago items are from 1976–80, while the fourth disc is with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1995. The latter includes nearly half an hour’s worth of rehearsal excerpts. Recorded sound is generally excellent across the board, as is the competent and unobtrusive camerawork. Picture quality varies: the Chicago tapes are a bit dated, with some color saturation and a few “ghost” images (but there’s nothing objectionable), while the later Vienna tapes are close to state of the art.
I must confess up front that I’ve never been a great fan of Solti’s conducting. While I still own a number of his recordings (e.g., his first-ever stereo Wagner
Ring
on old London LPs, some live offerings on various Chicago Symphony CD sets), Solti has always struck me as rather unsubtle, too energetic, excessively straightforward, and thus uninteresting as an interpreter. However, despite my bias, I found a great deal to enjoy in this DVD set. His Chicago readings feature first-class execution, and the orchestra obviously enjoys playing under him. Very few (if any) of today’s conductors can match Solti’s razor-sharp attacks and undeniable enthusiasm for making music.
All the Rossini items are exceptionally well played. The performances may lack the wit of Beecham or the more earthy approach heard from various Italian conductors, but on their own terms these readings are brilliant. Mendelssohn’s “Scottish” and “Italian” Symphonies are less hectic than his 1950s studio accounts on a Decca CD (reviewed by me in
Fanfare
30:2). A brief taped interview with Solti about Bruckner proves to be more interesting than the actual performances: the Sixth is ultra-straight and the brass unbearably loud, while the Seventh didn’t register with me one way or the other (it’s from the Royal Albert Hall in London; all the other CSO concerts originate at Orchestra Hall in Chicago). The Wagner overtures and the pair of Strauss tone poems are stunningly played, if a bit too aggressive for my taste (they are greeted by roars of approval from the audiences). Kyung Wha Chung is proficient but not all that illuminating in the Violin Concerto. I was quite taken with Lucia’s Popp’s rendition of Strauss’s
Four Last Songs
, though Solti tends to overwhelm her somewhat small-scale voice in a few passages.
What really motivates me to give this set a strong recommendation are the late recordings at Vienna. Much as I admire Chicago’s strings, their Viennese counterparts are in another league altogether. Solti here is more relaxed and often downright amiable: his readings of Berlioz, Bartók, Kodály, and the under-rated Leó Weiner could hardly be more idiomatic. The Beethoven is full of life and gorgeously played. The final rehearsal excerpts are magical. These are among the finest and most revealing sessions I’ve encountered, and Solti turns out to be an engaging and delightfully funny raconteur. Firmly recommended.
FANFARE: Jeffrey J. Lipscomb
Disc Format: NTSC
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Region: All
Sound: LPCM Stereo, DTS Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack
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Works on This Recording
1.
Il barbiere di Siviglia: Overture by Gioachino Rossini
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1816; Italy
2.
L'italiana in Algeri: Overture by Gioachino Rossini
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1813; Italy
3.
La scala di seta: Overture by Gioachino Rossini
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1812; Italy
4.
Semiramide: Overture by Gioachino Rossini
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1823; Italy
5.
La gazza ladra: Overture by Gioachino Rossini
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1817; Italy
6.
Symphony no 3 in A minor, Op. 56 "Scottish" by Felix Mendelssohn
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Germany
7.
Concerto for Violin in E minor, Op. 64 by Felix Mendelssohn
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1844; Germany
8.
Symphony no 4 in A major, Op. 90 "Italian" by Felix Mendelssohn
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1833; Germany
9.
Symphony no 7 in E major, WAB 107 by Anton Bruckner
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1881-1883; Vienna, Austria
10.
Symphony no 6 in A major, WAB 106 by Anton Bruckner
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1879-1881; Vienna, Austria
11.
Der fliegende Holländer: Overture by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1841/1852; Germany
12.
Tannhäuser: Overture by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845/1861; Germany
13.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Act 1 Prelude by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1867; Germany
14.
Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod by Richard Wagner
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1859; Germany
15.
Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 by Richard Strauss
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1894-1895; Germany
16.
Tod und Verklärung, Op. 24 by Richard Strauss
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1888-1889; Germany
17.
Four Last Songs, AV 150 by Richard Strauss
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1948; Germany
18.
Háry János, Op. 15: Suite by Zoltán Kodály
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1927; Hungary
19.
Prinz Csongor und die Kobolde Suite, Op. 10b: Introduction by Leó Weiner
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: by 1927; Hungary
20.
La damnation de Faust, Op. 24: Rákóczy March by Hector Berlioz
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845-1846; France
21.
Symphony no 7 in A major, Op. 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Conductor:
Sir Georg Solti
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1811-1812; Vienna, Austria
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