The conductor Sir Georg Solti recorded throughout his career for the British Decca Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, Decca had an alliance with RCA Victor in the United States; some of Solti's Decca recordings were first issued on the RCA Victor label.
Overview
editSolti's first recordings were as a piano accompanist, playing at sessions in Zürich for the violinist Georg Kulenkampff in 1947.[1] Decca's senior producer, Victor Olof, did not much admire Solti as a conductor[2] (nor did Walter Legge, Olof's opposite number at EMI's Columbia Records),[3] but Olof's younger colleague at Decca John Culshaw held Solti in high regard. With Culshaw, and later James Walker, producing his recordings, Solti's career as a recording artist flourished.[1]
Solti's most celebrated recording was Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen made in Vienna, with Culshaw producing, between 1958 and 1965. It has twice been voted the greatest recording ever made, the first poll being of readers of Gramophone magazine in 1999,[4] and the second of professional music critics in 2011, carried out for the BBC.[5]
For Decca, Solti made more than 250 recordings, including 45 complete opera sets. Among the international honours given for his recordings were 31 Grammy awards – more than any other recording artist, whether classical or popular.[6]
Discography
editIn entries below for operas, only the singers of the leading roles are listed. Where Solti appears as pianist rather than a conductor his name is given in the soloists column. Recording dates are shown by year followed by month, to enable sorting, using the arrows in the column headings.
Abbreviations:
- BPO – Berlin Philharmonic
- CSC – Chicago Symphony Chorus
- CSO – Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- LPC – London Philharmonic Choir
- LPO – London Philharmonic Orchestra
- LSC – London Symphony Chorus
- LSO – London Symphony Orchestra
- ROHC – Royal Opera House Chorus
- ROHO – Royal Opera House Orchestra
- VPO – Vienna Philharmonic
Awards:
Notes
edit- ^ a b Stuart, Philip. Decca Classical, 1929–2009, accessed 22 February 2012
- ^ Culshaw (1982), p. 88.
- ^ Schwarzkopf (1982), p. 79.
- ^ "Gramophone Classics", Gramophone, December 1999, p. 40
- ^ "Solti's The Ring Takes Top Spot As Greatest Recording Ever", Classical Source, accessed 22 February 2012
- ^ "Solti, Georg" Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Decca Classics, accessed 22 February 2012
- ^ a b "Georg Solti". The Recording Academy. 2017-05-14. Retrieved 2017-06-10.
- ^ The recording was to have been issued with the original narrative spoken by Solti in English, French, German and Italian. He eventually cancelled the release, saying, "No one can understand me in any language!" See Peck (2007), p. 8
References
edit- Culshaw, John (1982). Putting the Record Straight. London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-11802-5.
- Peck, Donald (2007). The Right Place, the Right Time: Tales of Chicago Symphony Days. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-11688-0.
- Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (1982). On and Off the Record: A Memoir of Walter Legge. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0-571-11928-X.
Further reading
edit- Culshaw, John (1968). Ring Resounding. London: Secker & Warburg. ISBN 0-436-11800-9.
External links
editSir Georg Solti discography at MusicBrainz
