Product Description
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Decca celebrates one of the world’s most prolific
conductor-orchestra partnerships with a deluxe 108-CD box set
marking both the 20th Anniversary of the passing of Sir Georg
Solti and the 125th Anniversary of the founding of the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. 108 CDs presenting Solti’s and the CSO’s
complete recorded legacy together: from their very first
at Medinah Temple in March 1970 of Mahler’s Fifth
Symphony to their last at Orchestra Hall, Chicago in March 1997
of Shostakovich’ Symphony No.15.
“[Chicago was] the happiest time of my professional life.” Sir
Georg Solti
• 108 CDs chronologically presenting Solti’s and the CSO’s
complete recorded legacy together
• Luxury 180-page hardback book in English and German, with
dipped edges
• An original-jacket collection, with silver-foiled design and
newly commissioned artwork on outer packaging reflected on the
book cover and inner trays
• Foreword by Lady Solti
• Retrospectives by Yvonne Minton (mezzo-soprano), Humphrey
Burton (broadcaster and author), Frank Villella (CSO Archivist)
and Martha Gilmer (VP of Artistic Planning for CSO during Solti’s
tenure)
• Excerpt from “Chicago” from Solti’s Memoirs “Solti on Solti”
• Many previously unpublished photographs from the
sessions, orchestra archives plus facsimiles of Solti’s original
scores
• Includes every one of their 24 Grammy Award-winning s
• Works indexed by composers for ease of reference
Solti covered a repertoire of a breadth that few rivals can
begin to match and none outshine, whether Handel's Messiah and
Haydn's Creation, Berlioz's Damnation of Faust and Liszt's Faust
Symphony, or masterpieces of the twentieth century like
Schoenberg's Moses und Aron.
Solti often tackled works new to him, and with the CSO
championed contemporary composers and premiered, among others,
Martinů’s Concerto for Violin No. 1, Del Tredici’s Final Alice,
Tippett’s Symphony No.4 and Byzantium, and Lutosławski’s Symphony
No. 3. When he re-recorded repertoire, he was conscious that each
interpretation represented his view at that particular period of
his life, and always chose to radically rethink his
interpretations.
Solti and the CSO built up a vast corpus of recorded repertory
which stands as an extraordinary testament to their perfect
musical marriage together. Solti's readings and the CSO’s
performances will be consulted by conductors and music-lovers for
generations to come.
About the Artist
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Sir Georg Solti was one of the twentieth century’s most
brilliant conductors and a leading figure of musical culture in
Europe and the US. He studied piano, composition and conducting
with Bartók, Dohnányi, Kodály and Weiner, made his concert debut
as a pianist, and in 1937, Toscanini selected him as his
assistant at the Salzburg Festival. He made his first s
for Decca in 1947 and continued as an exclusive Decca artist for
over half a century leaving a vast legacy of over 250 great
s – including 45 complete operas. Solti’s remarkable
partnership with the CSO began in 1954, when Solti first led the
Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival. He returned to Chicago for
guest engagements with the Lyric Opera in 1956, made his Chicago
Orchestra Hall debut on December 9, 1965, and his first concerts
as Music Director were in September 1969. Solti served as Music
Director for 22 years (1969-1991) and Music Director Laureate for
a further 7 years until his passing (1991-1997) and is credited
with greatly extending and building the Orchestra's reputation
worldwide – starting in 1971 with its first foreign tour. Solti’s
s garnered many international honors including 33
Grammy® awards (24 which were made with the CSO) – more than ANY
other artist to this day – including a Lifetime
Achievement Award and a Trustees Award. Highlights include:
Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, the complete Beethoven Symphony
Cycle, Mahler’s Symphonies 2, 7, 8 & 9, the Bach Mass in B minor,
and Berlioz’ La Damnation de Faust.