Review: Solti in Europe--A Big Box Offering Little Of Value

44 CDs plus 2 DVDs of Solti featuring music-making that either isn't very special or which he did better elsewhere. Many of these recordings are either very early or very late, which means they leave out most of the good stuff from the apex of Solti's career (in London and Chicago). For rabid Solti fans only.

[@brianburtt7053]

Solti is a sentimental favorite for me. Learning about classical music in the early 90s, Solti's recordings and Järvi/Detroit and von Dohnányi/Cleveland's concerts on the radio were my guides. So I'm going to ignore Dave and happily get this box. :)

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

As well you should.

[@russellb5573]

I have the first and best of the Solti/ Chicago Mahler 5. It is one of my favourite renditions of the symphony. The sound has a brilliant clarity to it

[@301268bmh]

In his youth, Solti was an adherent of Toscanini but eventually came to be an admirer of Furtwangler as well. Often, his music making seems to reflect both influences. Sharp attacks and incisive rhythms in faster music and very slow tempos in slower music. Problem is that he didn't give a lot of attention to the shaping of phrase. Take his first recording of the Beethoven 2nd symphony with the CSO, for example. The larghetto is well over 13 minutes but seems to take even longer because the phrasing is bland. Just listen to the first couple of minutes and compare, say, with Walter and the Columbia SO, whose tempo is even slower but who makes the melody sing.

[@jimf.4858]

Dave, when you reviewed the Solti Bruckner 7 and 8 as part of the Vienna Phil Bruckner cycle, you said it was early Solti and "pretty damn good."

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

Yes, it is, especially compared to his remakes, but you can look at it two ways, since neither performance is exceptional--they are just very solid and better than their reputations led me to suggest when I first heard them. The Beethoven, on the other hand, remains very impressive.

[@markokassenaar4387]

“Iphigenia in Brooklyn”….Dave knows his PDQ Bach 😉

[@papagen00]

As a young lad just getting into classical music, I heard Solti conduct one of his last concerts in 1997 in San Francisco (Tchaikovsky concerto with Van Cliburn). He was great, but Van Cliburn was not (lots of wrong notes). Went backstage to get his autograph, he was kind but looked very feeble, and just scribbled "Solti" on my program.... one of my greatest treasures :)

[@artistinbeziers7916]

Good talk, David. Thanks for your thoughts on this - shall I say, variable box! I always think of Solti, as very much a 'pick and mix' conductor. The customer chooses what they deem to be their favourite bits. I won't be going for the box, for sure, but I have quite a lot of his - carfully chosen, by me - recordings. Well, that's my pennyworth of input!

[@petterw5318]

To me Solti is an opera conductor, he made some interesting orchestral recordings, but his talents shined mostly in the theater. In that regard he's like Böhm and Sawallisch, only those two were much better conductors.

[@dennischiapello7243]

But, but... he won all those awards! 🤔

[@bigg2988]

Not in Europe. :)

[@CortJohnson]

Thanks Dave - saved me $150 😎 I have a soft spot s for Solti and I’m sure I would have enjoyed it - but there are soooo many other boxes… it’s competitive out there! (Munch just popped up on Amazon - $550!)

[@giveall9695]

So now I suppose that Decca will do the Opera box in Europe? And then London or vice versa? Lol... But I bought the box set anyway as I preordered it for much lower price than it's selling now...

[@fredcostas1945]

I love the way you call things out for what they are. Presently, $137 on Amazon.

[@loiccery1419]

I remember being totally horrified by Solti's version of Schubert's Ninth, so much so that for years it remained for me the pinnacle of musical misunderstanding. Can I take this opportunity to ask Dave again what he thinks of the 'Bach 333' big box? I look forward to hearing it.

[@salocindejuan9648]

Thank you for your review. You have helped me to save a lot of space!

[@simontrezise8495]

This is helpful, thank you. I have the London and Chicago boxes. This one can stay on Amazon's shelf. I'm also getting a bit tired of this rigid adherence to original LP content. My shelves are already strained to breaking point. Why not spare us the unnecessary plastic? Eloquence is getting pretty bad as well.

[@user-wp4ju4hp5w]

Solti s long tenure with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is epic. I used to have all his Mahler recordings on vinyl records. Being a timpanist myself the Principal Timpanist Donald Koss was very exacting in his playing. The opening timpani solo from the last movement of Mahler s 7th Symphony is a good example of his playing style

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I think he was terrible. In the 7th, the tempo is too fast for him to play the tremolos at the end of the phrase, and he seldom managed an even roll.

[@user-wp4ju4hp5w]

@@DavesClassicalGuide I do agree with you about his uneven rolls. Vic Firth from the Boston Symphony Orchestra was my favourite timpanist. I used to have his signature timpani mallets

[@hiphurrah1]

Even in his lifetime i didnt know why he was regarded as a great conductor. His stint with the concertgebouw (rite of spring) was a disaster, the orchestra didnt get his unclear gestures. His reputation after his death diminished very soon...

[@bloodgrss]

As a young man, in school, Solti was worshipped in Chicago. Nice to see you redress the balance...

[@geraldmartin7703]

The Solti/Chicago publicity machine was in full gear in the early 1970s. I was harrangued by a clerk in a D.C. record shop for choosing the Munch Beethoven #9 over the just issued Solti. (Munch was cheaper on a bargain Victoria disc while Solti was two L.P.s at full price).

[@neilford99]

Dangerous comments about my home town, London. 😅😅

[@grantparsons6205]

I've never been a fan. I do really enjoy the early Paris Tchaikowsky recordings, though, for the characterful orchestra rather than Solti's kapellmeisterish contribution...

[@henrygingercat]

Why did so many terrific, if mostly terrifying, Jewish conductors come from Hungary?

[@neilford99]

Terrifying and terrific.

[@gold2chrome]

Can't answer the question, but probably you should read the article "The Martians (scientists)" on wikipedia. I once read the source code of software written by a hungarian programmer and it made me think that the hungarians think somewhat differently. My guess is that it has to do maybe with their spoken language being so different.

[@neilford99]

​@@gold2chromeinteresting. I worked with some Hungarian java developers. They were wedded to annotations.

[@SoiledWig]

@@gold2chrome Here and there i hear about studies that show the way we express ourselves, the language we grew up with, affects the way we think and reason in so many ways. The way our respective languages treat time, for example, can have an impact on our abilities to manage time and get stuff done.

[@barrysaines254]

Bela Lugosi 😂

[@stevemcclue5759]

But isn't Solti an example of a conductor who listened to his critics - to his detriment? Being told that he was always too fast and too loud, he tried to pull it back, only to be told that he was now boring. Sigh. You can't please all the people...

[@DavesClassicalGuide]

I didn't notice that.