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Georg Solti(1912-1997)

  • Music Department
  • Soundtrack
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Sir Georg Solti was a renowned orchestra and opera conductor, best known as the music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who set a since-surpassed record by winning 31 Grammy Awards. He was born György Stern in Budapest, Hungary (his Germanic last named was changed under the country's post-World War One "Hungarianization" policy) into a Jewish family. His mother had a musical background and the young Georg would accompany his sister, who was encouraged to sing by their mother, on piano.

When he was 10 years old, he began his musical education at Budapest's Ernö Fodor School of Music before transferring to the Franz Liszt Academy, which was more highly regarded, with a faculty that included Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. At the age of 12, a performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth instilled in him the desire to conduct an orchestra. He had to finance his own further musical education from the age of 13 on by providing piano instruction. He graduated in 1930 and became a member of the Hungarian State Opera staff. He also worked at the Salzburg Festival for Arturo Toscanini.

Hungary was destined to become an ally of Adolf Hitler during World War II, and the future for a Jew in Hungary was not bright. In 1938, he served a season at the Royal Opera House in London conducting Russian ballet, after which he sought sanctuary in Switzerland. He remained there throughout World War II, forced to support himself as a pianist as he was forbidden to conduct.

In 1946, he was named the director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, moving to the Frankfurt Opera in 1952, where he stayed until 1961, when he was appointed musical director of London's Covent Garden Opera Company. Solti won fame for turning Covent Garden into a world class company, winning for it the honorific "Royal". He moved on to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1969, where he would serve as music director until 1991. That orchestra had seen its reputation in decline after maestro Fritz Reiner's departure in the early '60s, but under his baton, Chicago re-established itself as one of the world's premier orchestras. With Chicago, Solti would win 24 of his 31 Grammy Awards.

Solti in his career produced than 250 sound recordings. One of his works, a complete set of Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen' produced between 1958 and 1965, has been cited as the greatest recording ever made.

Sir Georg Solti died on September 5, 1997 at the age of 84.
BornOctober 21, 1912
DiedSeptember 5, 1997(84)
BornOctober 21, 1912
DiedSeptember 5, 1997(84)
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  • Awards

Known for

Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now (1979)
Apocalypse Now
8.5
  • Soundtrack("The Ride of the Valkyries")
  • 1979
Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci in Casino (1995)
Casino
8.2
  • Soundtrack(as Sir Georg Solti, "J.S. Bach Matthäuspassion BMV")
  • 1995
Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, and Clive Owen in Closer (2004)
Closer
7.2
  • Soundtrack(as Sir Georg Solti, "Bella vita militar!", "Non v'e piu tempo, anici", "Di scriverni ogni giorno", "Eccovi il medico, signore belle!", "Dammi un bacio, o mio tesoro")
  • 2004
Mickey Rourke, Keira Knightley, and Edgar Ramírez in Domino (2005)
Domino
5.9
  • Soundtrack(as Sir Georg Solti, "Bach Matthauspassion BMV")
  • 2005

Credits

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IMDbPro

Music Department

  • Tobias Bastian Them Burø, Bastian Lars Andreasen, Vigga Rohweder, and Morgan Batchelor in BaseBoys (2018)
    BaseBoys
  • Ring: The Legend of the Nibelungen
  • Great Composers (1997)
    Great Composers
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Sophie Marceau in Anna Karenina (1997)
    Anna Karenina
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • La traviata (1994)
    La traviata
    • (as Sir Georg Solti - Music Director Laureate)
  • HBO First Look (1992)
    HBO First Look
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Gary Oldman in Immortal Beloved (1994)
    Immortal Beloved
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Der Rosenkavalier (1994)
    Der Rosenkavalier
  • Otello (1992)
    Otello
  • Die Frau ohne Schatten (1992)
    Die Frau ohne Schatten
  • Requiem Mass (1991)
    Requiem Mass
  • Simon Boccanegra (1991)
    Simon Boccanegra
  • Die Zauberflöte
  • Un ballo in maschera (1990)
    Un ballo in maschera
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Eugene Onegin (1988)
    Eugene Onegin
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)

Soundtrack

  • Matthias Schweighöfer, Nathalie Emmanuel, Ruby O. Fee, Stuart Martin, and Guz Khan in Army of Thieves (2021)
    Army of Thieves
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Da 5 Bloods (2020)
    Da 5 Bloods
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Julianne Moore and Ken Watanabe in Bel Canto (2018)
    Bel Canto
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Diamantino (2018)
    Diamantino
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland in The Leisure Seeker (2017)
    The Leisure Seeker
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Sunshine Superman (2014)
    Sunshine Superman
  • Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield in 99 Homes (2014)
    99 Homes
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • 1987 (2014)
    1987
    • (uncredited)
  • Mad Men (2007)
    Mad Men
    • (uncredited)
  • Triptych (2013)
    Triptych
  • Elizabeth Olsen and Josh Radnor in Liberal Arts (2012)
    Liberal Arts
    • (as Sir Georg Solti)
  • Toren C (2008)
    Toren C
  • Kate Winslet in Mildred Pierce (2011)
    Mildred Pierce
  • Mark Calaway, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Levesque, Mike 'The Miz' Mizanin, and John Cena in WrestleMania XXVII (2011)
    WrestleMania XXVII
  • Julia Roberts in Eat Pray Love (2010)
    Eat Pray Love

Personal details

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    • October 21, 1912
    • Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]
    • September 5, 1997
    • Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, France
    • Valerie PittsNovember 11, 1967 - September 5, 1997 (his death, 2 children)
  • Other works
    Played the glockenspiel solos in Toscanini's famous 1937 production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute", at the Salzburg Festival.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Orchestra conductor. He received 32 Grammy Awards, which, at the time of his death, was the record for an individual.

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