Background
George Szell was born on June 7, 1897 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, the son of Georg Charles Szell, a lawyer and businessman, and Margarethe Harmat.
( This book is the first full biography of George Szell, ...)
This book is the first full biography of George Szell, one of the greatest orchestra and opera conductors of the twentieth century. From child prodigy pianist and composer to world-renowned conductor, Szell's career spanned seven decades, and he led most of the great orchestras and opera companies of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the NBC and Chicago Symphonies, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and Opera, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. A protégé of composer-conductor Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera, his crowning achievement was his twenty-four-year tenure as musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra, transforming it into one of the world's greatest ensembles, touring triumphantly in the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union, South Korea, and Japan. Michael Charry, a conductor who worked with Szell and interviewed him, his family, and his associates over several decades, draws on this first-hand material and correspondence, orchestra records, reviews, and other archival sources to construct a lively and balanced portrait of Szell's life and work from his birth in 1897 in Budapest to his death in 1970 in Cleveland. Readers will follow Szell from his career in Europe, Great Britain, and Australia to his guest conducting at the New York Philharmonic and his distinguished tenure at the Metropolitan Opera and Cleveland Orchestra. Charry details Szell's personal and musical qualities, his recordings and broadcast concerts, his approach to the great works of the orchestral repertoire, and his famous orchestrational changes and interpretation of the symphonies of Robert Schumann. The book also lists Szell's conducting repertoire and includes a comprehensive discography. In highlighting Szell's legacy as a teacher and mentor as well as his contributions to orchestral and opera history, this biography will be of lasting interest to concert-goers, music lovers, conductors, musicians inspired by Szell's many great performances, and new generations who will come to know those performances through Szell's recorded legacy.
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(EMI Classics relaunches the popular EMI Masters Series: T...)
EMI Classics relaunches the popular EMI Masters Series: The definitive series of great classical music from a trove of the most notable and revered classical recordings ever made. Available on CD and for digital download, this newly repackaged installment of 30 masters celebrates EMI Classics' greatest artists,including Itzhak Perlman, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti. All performances in this series were recorded, mastered, or re-mastered at the internationally renowned Abbey Road Studios in London.
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Quick Shipping !!! New And Sealed !!! This Disc WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. A multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player is request to view it in USA/Canada. Please Review Description.
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(George Szell was the greatest opera conductor who never r...)
George Szell was the greatest opera conductor who never recorded a complete opera. Early in his career, he decided to leave the opera house because he was unable to work with what he considered to be the compromising conditions of modern opera production. The most tantalizing recording he never conducted was the complete "Ring" for London. The honor went instead to Sir Georg Solti, and although Solti's work was hardly inconsiderable, this exceptional disc gives us some sense of what we lost. In fact, if you can only afford to buy one Wagner disc, get this one. Not only is the playing incredible, the whole package is available at a budget price. It's more than a bargain; it's a steal. --David Hurwitz
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(- German pressings of the immense Sony Classical Masters ...)
- German pressings of the immense Sony Classical Masters Catalog in smart, desirable and collectible multi-disc editions - The Sony catalog is replete with legendary artists and many of the greatest recordings of the classical repertoire - Box fronts feature large, prominently displayed photo of the featured artist - Slender, shelf-friendly boxes; CD's housed in space-saving slipsleeves
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(2014 Japanese pressing. 2011 Remaster. Warner Classics.)
2014 Japanese pressing. 2011 Remaster. Warner Classics.
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George Szell was born on June 7, 1897 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, the son of Georg Charles Szell, a lawyer and businessman, and Margarethe Harmat.
Szell displayed a remarkable ear for music at an early age and at six commenced formal piano study with Richard Robert in Vienna.
In 1908, Szell made his public debut as pianist and composer in a concert with the Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra, during which he performed several compositions, including his own Rondo for Piano and Orchestra. An immediate success, Szell next played in Dresden and in London, where the Daily Mail referred to him as "the new Mozart. "
His parents, however, refused to exploit him as a prodigy. Instead, they withdrew him from the stage so that he could study theory and composition with Josef Foerster, Eusebius Mandyczewski, and Max Reger.
In 1913, Szell conducted for the first time at a concert of the Vienna Konzertvereins-Orchester in Bad Kissingen. Exhilarated by this experience, Szell decided upon a conducting career.
In 1914 he appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as piano soloist in Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and as conductor of Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and a symphonic work of his own. Strauss was so impressed with Szell's musicianship that he engaged him as an assistant conductor and coach at the Berlin Royal Opera.
From 1915 to 1917, Szell performed a variety of duties under Strauss's tutelage. He received no pay for his labor, but the learning experience was invaluable. Upon Strauss's recommendation, Szell was signed to a five-year contract in 1917 as principal conductor of the Municipal Theater in Strassburg. A year later, however, French troops occupied the city and the theater closed. After intermittent engagements as guest conductor and concert pianist, Szell served from 1919 to 1921 as an assistant conductor of the German Opera in Prague.
In 1921-1922, Szell was principal conductor of the Darmstadt Court Theater, and from 1922 to 1924, principal conductor of the Municipal Theater in Dusseldorf. From 1924 to 1929, he was principal conductor of the Berlin State Opera under Generalmusikdirektor Erich Kleiber. Concurrently, he conducted the Berlin Radio Orchestra and taught at the Berlin Hochschule fur Musik. From 1929 to 1937, Szell resided in Prague as music director of the German Opera House, conducted Philharmonic concerts, and was professor at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
During this period, he enhanced his musical reputation with numerous guest-conducting appearances throughout Europe, as well as his first American concert (January 24, 1930, with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra). Alarmed in 1937 by Germany's militant aggressiveness, Szell hastened to Western Europe. From 1937 to 1939 he was simultaneously principal conductor of the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow and conductor of the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague.
During the summers of 1938 and 1939, Szell journeyed to Australia to conduct the Celebrity Concerts of the Australian Broadcasting Commission. While returning to Europe in September 1939, Szell received word in New York that the Scottish Orchestra had been disbanded because of the outbreak of World War II. Stranded in America and unable to find a full-time conducting post, Szell obtained employment as a teacher of composition at the Mannes School of Music and as director of an opera workshop at the New School for Social Research, both in New York City.
Appearances as conductor with Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1941 and early 1942 focused national attention upon Szell and produced several guest-conducting offers.
On December 9, 1942, Szell made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera, conducting a highly acclaimed performance of Salome. Szell remained with the Met until 1946 and returned for three performances of Tannhuuser during the 1953-1954 season. In all, he conducted there twelve operas a total of eighty-seven times.
He specialized in Wagner and Strauss, but he also conducted Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Mozart's Don Giovanni, and Verdi's Otello. Szell's first appearance with the New York Philharmonic (1943) marked the beginning of a fruitful twenty-seven-year association. (In 1969-1970 he served as its senior adviser and guest conductor. )
Guest-conducting appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1944 and 1945 led to Szell's appointment as music director of that organization in 1946, the year he became an American citizen.
Assured that full support would be forthcoming, Szell replaced recalcitrant and lethargic players, obtained the best available musicians for the first-chair positions, and expanded the orchestra to over 100 pieces. Furthermore, Szell demanded total concentration and commitment from his players.
At rehearsals, which were as exhausting as concerts, Szell dissected each composition.
In the 1950's and 1960's, Szell guest-conducted regularly in Europe, including appearances at the Edinburgh, Lucerne, and Salzburg festivals and at La Scala and the Vienna State Opera. He served as co-conductor of the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1958-1961. He took the Cleveland Orchestra to Europe during the summers of 1965 and 1967 and to the Orient in 1970.
These, too, were the composers he most frequently recorded (usually for Columbia or its Epic affiliate) in both Europe and America. He found much of extremely modern music "boring" and frequently delegated its performance to his associate or guest conductors.
He died from bone-marrow cancer in Cleveland in 1970. His body was cremated, and his ashes were buried, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, along with his wife upon her death in 1991.
(- German pressings of the immense Sony Classical Masters ...)
(EMI Classics relaunches the popular EMI Masters Series: T...)
( This book is the first full biography of George Szell, ...)
(Quick Shipping !!! New And Sealed !!! This Disc WILL NOT ...)
(George Szell was the greatest opera conductor who never r...)
(2013 Japanese pressing. Sony.)
(2014 Japanese pressing. 2011 Remaster. Warner Classics.)
(CD ALBUM)
(CD ALBUM)
His family was of Jewish origin but converted to Catholicism and so as a young boy he was brought up as a Catholic and taken regularly to Mass.
George Szell's credo was, "Honesty and integrity in performance are matters of artistic morality. "
Quotations:
"It is my conviction that to accomplish greatness one must love music more than oneself. "
At the time of his engagement, Szell told the orchestra board that if given the necessary power, he would "make the orchestra second to none and establish Cleveland as one of the symphony capitals of the world. "
Nearly six feet tall, broad-shouldered and stern, he exuded confidence and authority. A man of keen intellect and curiosity who read widely, Szell was well versed on a variety of subjects. His memory was phenomenal, and he usually conducted without a score.
Szell was a commanding figure on the podium. Eschewing exaggerated theatrical gestures, he conducted with short, concise beats and rapierlike thrusts, a style patterned on that of Richard Strauss.
Quotes from others about the person
While on tour with the Orchestra in the late 1980s, then-Music Director Christoph von Dohnányi remarked, "We give a great concert, and George Szell gets a great review. "
Szell's reputation as a perfectionist was well-known, but his knowledge of instruments was deep. The Cleveland trumpeter Bernard Adelstein recounted Szell's knowledge of the trumpet: "He knew all the fingerings on the trumpet. For example, on the C-trumpet, the "E" on the fourth space is played open, with no valve, and it's a flat note. But there are two other options on the C-trumpet. You can play the same note with the first and second valves or the third valve. Both of them sound sharp. The third valve is a little sharp and the first and second valves together sounds even sharper. And he knew that. He called me in once when we were playing an octave in Don Juan. He said, "The 'E' is a flat note on the C-trumpet. " I said, "Yes, that's why I play it on one and two. " He said, "But one and two is sharp, isn't it?" I said, "Yes, but I make an adjustment, by lengthening the first slide a little bit. " And he said, "Ah, yes, but it's still out of tune. "
When not making music, Szell was a gourmet cook preparing ethnic cuisine. He was an automobile enthusiast and, regularly refusing the services of the orchestra's chauffeur, he drove his own Cadillac to rehearsal until almost the end of his life. He also enjoyed playing golf.
Szell admired most the Germanic composers of the classical and romantic periods, especially the works of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Mahler, and Strauss.
Szell married twice. The first, in 1920 to Olga Band, another of Richard Robert's pupils, ended in divorce in 1926. His second marriage, in 1938 to Helene Schultz Teltsch, originally from Prague, was much happier, and lasted until his death.