Sir Georg Solti, a renowned orchestra and opera conductor, was best known for his association with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, a position he held from 1969 to 1991, and for his record-breaking 31 Grammy Awards. Born György Stern in Budapest, Hungary, to a Jewish family, Solti's mother had a musical background, which influenced his early musical education.
At the age of 10, Solti began his formal musical training at the Ernö Fodor School of Music in Budapest, before transferring to the prestigious Franz Liszt Academy, where he was taught by notable faculty members Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. A performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony at the age of 12 sparked his desire to conduct an orchestra.
To finance his further education, Solti provided piano instruction from the age of 13 and graduated in 1930. He became a member of the Hungarian State Opera staff and also worked at the Salzburg Festival under the direction of Arturo Toscanini.
As Hungary became increasingly aligned with Adolf Hitler during World War II, Solti's Jewish heritage made his future uncertain. In 1938, he conducted at the Royal Opera House in London and subsequently sought refuge in Switzerland, where he remained throughout the war, forced to support himself as a pianist.
After the war, Solti was appointed director of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 1946, followed by a stint at the Frankfurt Opera from 1952 to 1961. He then became the musical director of London's Covent Garden Opera Company, where he earned a reputation for turning the company into a world-class institution and winning it the honorific "Royal".
Solti's tenure at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, from 1969 to 1991, saw the orchestra regain its status as one of the world's premier ensembles, with Solti winning 24 of his 31 Grammy Awards during his time there. He also produced over 250 sound recordings, including a critically acclaimed complete set of Richard Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen", which has been cited as the greatest recording ever made.
Sir Georg Solti passed away on September 5, 1997, at the age of 84, leaving behind a legacy as one of the most accomplished and celebrated conductors of the 20th century.
