Georg Solti - The London Orchestral Recordings

Alicia de Larrocha, Daniel Barenboim, Andras Schiff, Mischa Elman, Jorge Bolet, Kyung-Wha Chung, Heather Harper, Helen Watts, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kolos Kovats, Sylvia Sass, Peter Pears, Donald McIntyre, Stafford Dean, Benjamin Luxon, Ambrosian Singers, Chichester Cathedral Choir, Salisbury Cathedral Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Georg Solti

Generations of music lovers automatically associate Sir Georg Solti with Chicago and Vienna, unsurprising given the lasting value of the recordings he made there with two of the world's greatest orchestras. But it was London that proved pivotal to the career and personal life of the conductor, who took British citizenship in 1972. During his tenure as music director, he built the Covent Garden Opera Company from a promising newcomer to a preeminent leader in the league of international opera houses and was principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1979 to 1983, but his work as a guest conductor in London began long before that. When Hungary's fascist regime, emboldened by Nazi expansionism, escalated its anti-Semitic policies, Solti sought refuge in London, where he conducted performances of the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo for a season before finding safe haven in Zurich. Solti returned to London in 1949, two years after his conducting debut on Decca (with the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich), to record Haydn's Symphony No. 103 and Verdi's Overture to La forza del destino with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Kingsway Hall. The Haydn and Verdi sessions, completed in two days, marked the beginning of a fruitful collaboration with producer John Culshaw and engineer Kenneth Wilkinson, partners in many of the conductor's early symphony recordings in London. With this 36-CD set, Decca celebrates Solti's significant contribution to London musical life with a brand-new, limited-edition collection of symphonic, orchestral works and concerto recordings - a legacy rich in repertoire and artistic vitality The London orchestras with whom he recorded, often fatigued by overwork or beset by financial difficulties, embraced Solti's provocations in rehearsal and responded with a commitment to performance and recording not always so readily afforded to others. In his relentless pursuit of excellence, Solti brought out the best in the LPO and LSO, leaving a remarkable musical legacy in the studio that includes reference recordings of works by Bartók, Elgar, Haydn, Liszt, and Mahler. To complete the series of Solti's analog Elgar recordings, this anthology makes a brief detour from London to include his racy 1974 recording of the "Enigma" Variations with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Duke Bluebeard's Castle, an opera full of symbolism and destructive sensuality, is a bonus for this compilation of symphonic works, recorded here to accommodate Solti's complete analogue recordings of Bartók in a single box set

Price: $199.98