Sir Georg Solti – In the midst of battle

“The last of the great international orchestral and operatic maestri” (The Times), Sir Georg Solti was a testament to the elegance and impeccable tastefulness of central European music-making. Born in Budapest in 1912, he studied with Béla Bartók, Ernö von Dohnányi, Zoltán Kodály and Leo Weiner. In 1937, Toscanini chose him to be his assistant at the Salzburg Festival. After the war, Solti was asked by the American military government to conduct a performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio in Munich. This led to his appointment as Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera. In 1952 he became Artistic and Music Director at the Frankfurt Opera, where he remained for ten years. The next station in his career was the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he was Music Director from 1961 to 1971 and was named Music Director Laureate in 1992. He served as Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1979 to 1984. Solti’s remarkable partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra began in 1954, when he first led the orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. After returning to conduct the ensemble several times during the following years, he was named Music Director in 1969 and held this post for a phenomenal 22 years. He is credited with greatly extending and enhancing the orchestra’s worldwide reputation. Solti died in September 1997 shortly before his 85th birthday. Unitel is proud to offer a number of Strauss masterpieces recorded under the maestro’s baton. Topping the list is an Otto Schenk production of “Arabella” with the Vienna Philharmonic, starring Gundula Janowitz, Edita Gruberova, Bernd Weikl and René Kollo. Lucia Popp gives an absorbing account of the “Four Last Songs” in a concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra which also features “Tod und Verklärung” and “Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks”. Solti has recorded many works for Unitel, including music by his compatriots Bartók (“Duke Bluebeard’s Castle”), Kodály, Liszt, and Weiner; by Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, Bruckner (Symphonies Nos. 6 and 7), Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Schubert (Symphonies Nos. 6 and 8), Shostakovich (Symphony No. 1), Verdi (“Falstaff”) and Wagner. Also available is a fascinating portrait of the artist, “Sir Georg Solti, Conductor – A Portrait”, with the participation of Isaac Stern, Hildegard Behrens, Wolfgang Wagner, the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Interview with Leonard Slatkin

Leonard Slatkin was born in Los Angeles, the son of two musicians. He now takes his place among the leading conductors of the United States both in the domain of symphonic music as well as in the opera. His repertoire comprises the great standard works as well as the music of the 20th century and is documented in over a hundred recordings. Slatkin was music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for many years and became the principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington in 1996/97. He has guested at the head of just about every major orchestra in the U.S. and Europe.

Behind the Scene – The Opera Gala

Four of the greatest singers of our time combine their talents and their artistry in an evening of beloved operatic numbers – rarely has a concert deserved the title “Opera Summit” as much as this one, recorded live at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden on 3 August 2007. Heading the quartet is soprano Anna Netrebko with her inimitable blend of glamour and simplicity, her enticing appearance and seductive singing, a musical powerhouse who tops the pop charts and sells out operas houses within hours. Hardly less dazzling than her Russian colleague is Latvian mezzo Elina Garanca, whose crystal-clear voice and charismatic stage presence never fail to enthrall her audiences. She is a frequent guest of the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival, where she made her sensational debut as Annio in Mozart’s “La clemenza di Tito” in 2003. Her international career has taken her to Covent Garden, the Met and other prestigious stages. She was awarded the European Cultural Prize in Dresden in 2006. Replacing the indisposed Rolando Villazón is his fellow Mexican tenor Ramón Vargas, who began his career in Europe after winning the first prize in the Enrico Caruso Competition in Milan. His international breakthrough came in 1993 when he replaced Luciano Pavarotti as Edgardo in “Lucia di Lammermoor.” Today he sings at all the world’s major theaters. French baritone Ludovic Tézier is a frequent guest at La Scala, the Opéra Bastille and the Met. His interpretations of Don Giovanni and Count Almaviva, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin have brought him ovations at the Glyndebourne Festival and the Bregenz Festival. Under experienced opera conductor Marco Armiliato, the orchestra of the SWR Baden-Baden lends its sensitive musical support to the singers. The first part of the program consists of Italian arias in which the stars dazzle above all in bel canto fireworks. The second half is devoted to the more lyrical outpourings of the romantic masters such as “O soave fanciulla” from “La Bohème” and the quartet “Bella figlia dell’amore” from “Rigoletto.” Five encores round off the concert, which concludes with a rousing rendition of the “Brindisi” from “La Traviata.” A toast indeed to an exquisitely entertaining evening captured in all of its immediacy and vibrancy by Unitel!

Wiener Philharmoniker: Ivan Fischer conducts Mahler & Haydn

Leading the Wiener Philharmoniker in a traditional subscription concert for the very first time, conductor Ivan Fischer presents Haydn’s rarely heard Sturm und Drang symphony “with great sensitivity, encouraging the Philharmonic to play with transparency and delicacy” (Die Presse), before delving into Mahler’s Lied von der Erde with renowned soloists Tanja Ariane Baumgartner and Daniel Behle. PROGRAM Haydn: Symphony No. 52: Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde