Georg Solti

Georg Solti0:01

Hello, I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast. This is the only extract the BBC has of this episode and for rights reasons the music is shorter than on the original broadcast. The presenter is Roy Plumley. I hope you enjoy listening.

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How do you do, ladies and gentlemen?

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On our desert island this week is the internationally celebrated conductor who is musical director of the Royal Opera House Cotton Garden.

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George Shelty.

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Mr. Shelty, could you endure prolonged solitude?

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No, I couldn't.

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I would hate it.

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I really would hate it.

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For many reasons.

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Of course, but mainly because I like people around me all the time. I

Georg Solti0:50

Maybe

Georg Solti0:53

Good time.

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One great advantage, of course, it would be

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The solitude that this is probably which I hope. Silent and no noisy and no cars and no any nonsense. Let's put the one.

Speaker 21:05

The benefit.

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We've given you these eight records. If given the alternative, would you rather have scores than records?

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I would have scores always.

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Much out.

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Now you've chosen these records. What do you want them to do for you on the island? Evoke the past?

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Give you great performances? Is it music for music's sake?

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No, I chose mainly of the music sake because there are the pieces which I

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I think at least I can say today I like most of

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Naturally one change very much in taste also. I can well remember that the last ten years even my musical taste changed enormously.

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And it will go on, everybody has that.

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But

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Mainly I choose these eight pieces for the

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music sake and not for the interpretation.

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What's the first one you've chosen?

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The first one is the Veldi Requiem conducted by Toscanini. You worked with Toscanini early in your career, didn't you? Yes, I did. As a young boy in 1935, at 36 in Salzburg, I played in piano reasons through the requiem. And of course, there are some nostalgic reminiscence I have to dispense.

Georg Solti2:07

Yeah.

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Which part of the requiem shall we hear? The deer seri I think is most characteristic for his conducting very special

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Attoro Toscanini conducting the opening of the Dies Ire.

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from the Verde Requiem.

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What's your second choice, mister Shaulty?

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This is a Mozart quintet with two VLA.

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It's one of my favorite pieces of music.

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If not the most theoretical piece of no chat piece in any case.

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Is it marvelous?

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If you will hear the first movement, there's something an unbelievable sadness and an loneliness.

Georg Solti3:40

Only

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Of course he has a very special reason. He wrote after his beloved part's death.

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And this is in G minor, his favorite

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Key when he is very sad or very lonely, I adore this piece simply.

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The Mozart Spring Quintet and G minor played by the augmented Pro Arty Quartet.

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But the shelter, where were you born?

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I was born in Budapest.

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Don't ask me when.

Georg Solti5:00

One.

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Very long time. Was there a lot of music in your house as a child?

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Not a lot, but some kind of strange music, because my sister was a singer and was a soprano.

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Professional senior for a short time also.

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And so as a young boy, I already knew favorite

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So pran areas like Tosca, Vicidarte or Butterfly. Yes. You used to accompany her? I accompanied her, yes, as a very young boy, maybe seven, eight years old. You did indeed start giving concerts as a child?

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Yes, I was a so-called child prodigy. Where did you study?

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In the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest, which is a very excellent institution.

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And as I was told, still a very good one. And this is probably not...

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without fault the reason why so many Hungarian musicians.

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But if you look around, they're everywhere.

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I mean

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And what did you do when you graduated?

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About eighteen years.

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I had two diplomas at that point already, one with the piano playing and one composition.

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And then I decided to go to the open house.

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And I had a secret meeting with a

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That time opera director I

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Went for him.

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And he was a professor in the academy, so he knew me.

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As a pupil.

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And I said to him that I want to be a coach and he said, are your parents agree to that?

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I don't think so, but I still want to be a one not to be a conductor.

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So you got

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Did you have a chance to conduct in Budapest?

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Also very strange, rather very sad story. I had

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Olivancho.

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And this was like a drama, really. It was in it's an unforgettable day for me at least. Not for many, many.

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Thousands and millions as well.

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It was the eleventh of march, nineteen hundred and thirty eight.

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It was the evening when Hitler crossed the Austrian frontier from Bavaria coming and went marching to Vienna.

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And on that night I conducted. We had big celebration afterwards. I was twenty-four years old and of course full of ambition and hopes and so all that.

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What was the opera?

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Reddit, off you go.

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And that finished. Nobody had any kind of celebration reasons anymore. Everybody rushed home, listened to the radio. Is he coming to Budapest? Is he coming to Bucharest? Nobody really knew whatever. Merry Will stopped.

Georg Solti7:22

Right.

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Where did you spend the war years? Abasinsuri.

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Yeah.

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Were you conducting? No, no, I didn't. I in my despair began to play the piano again, because there were many other things which I could do. Yeah. And when the war was over?

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Then I wanted to go as quick as possible back to

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Open.

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And I was very lucky by sheer chance, the coincidence.

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somebody in Munich who was at that point the so-called music officer of Bavaria, which is of course a very funny nonsense, but it was a title at that point.

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He was an ex-colleague of mine, Madrnali, a piano player. He knew that I'm in Switzerland and asked for me and arrived in early March, morning, something at three o'clock, with a jeep coming for the Swiss frontier arrived with an American jeep. Munich, that was my beginning. Yes. Now Munich was in rather a sorry state.

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Were any of the productions in the opera house um available? Had they all been damaged? They started the year before, forty-five, they had about

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Three or four productions.

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clapped somehow together. They had some old things.

Georg Solti8:34

Yeah.

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So when I arrived we had to do everything from the very beginning.

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Well, they were musical director of a fine opera house. This was the achievement of an ambition, wasn't it? It was, yes. So let's break off here for your third record. What is it?

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The voice of Vincent Churchill Churchill was

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not only my favorite politician and is still, but our great hope during Switzerland, the year, during the war. And I listen all of his broadcasting.

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On this record, which of his speeches are we going to hear? We hear the famous.

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I don't promise you anything blood, tears, toil and sweat.

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Which I think is a marvellous thing.

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We are in the preliminary stage of one of the greatest battles in history.

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that we are in action at many points in Norway and in Holland.

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that we have to be prepared in the Mediterranean.

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that the air battle is continuing.

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and that many preparations have to be made here at home.

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I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government,

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I have nothing to offer but blood.

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And directly.

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The Voice of Winston Churchill.

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How long did you stay in Munich?

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I was six years in Munich and then and I went to Frankfurt.

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Was Frankfurt more rewarding or just different? It was different and in some way

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More rewarding I did in Frankfurt.

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Internant who was a close friend of mine, who is still there.

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Just saw him.

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A few days ago.

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And

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I was free in Frankfurt, absolutely could work in the best possible amicable

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surrounding and I could do everything which I wanted and therefore I chose Frankfurt, preferred Frankfurt and Munich, where not absolutely case I had difficulties with my intern damp, with my ministerium and so on.

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And then you were invited to come to the garden as musical director. Yes. Now you hesitated for quite a time. Why was that?

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It was a bit of a long story, I'll tell I'll tell you as com as short as possible.

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I came to the conclusion.

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that after fifteen years

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Being musical director and two great German opera outside.

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I had my share.

Georg Solti10:51

Yeah.

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And I want to be now mainly the symphony conductor and want to stop the responsibilities to be an operatic.

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leader of an open house, which is a heavy one, is a very difficult responsibility.

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Then I

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Got

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Here is very honorable offer and Sir David and Lord Reuter really tried very hard.

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to persuade me and then I said I can see very much the honor which lie behind that offer but I could I have some time to think it over and I said you can have as long time as you want.

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I went to America, actually actually I went to Los Angeles, where at that point Bruno Malta.

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Lift was his home.

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I need it.

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And I talked to him. He was very...

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a kind of featherly friend of mine and always talking all of my problems.

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He watched my carriage with very great interest and very, very sweetly helped me.

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And he said, no, no, I don't I think you are wrong. He said, don't forget it. This transition from one generation after the next has to be done. And if you're stopping now, there will be an empty generation practically. You must go on and do your share. So after I wrote a letter to S Sir David Webster, so.

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Give me honest. Yeah.

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Now the musical director is is responsible for choosing the repertoire and picking the cast.

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the director, the scene designer and so on.

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In a well-run, successful opera house should the musical director be a dictator?

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Yes, in a certain sense, definitely yes. I mean a mild dictator. Don't forget an opera house is not a democratic institution.

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Because if everybody ha you have to ask everybody and make majority decisions, you won't come nowhere. There is always a point in every day when you have to make a decision.

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I have a contract which says that in certain fields I can do the decision alone. In certain, mainly the international fields, I have to consult Sir David Webster or in a kind of disagreement my board. I must tell you with great honor and proud that we never came to that. In all these six, my six years, I never consulted my board.

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Over the back of Sir David has to be always agreed in a policy and this is of course a great joy.

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Let's have your fourth record now. What's that going to be?

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This is now the Trischstand, The Love to Epnod, the Second Act, conducted by Fortran.

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And who is going to sing it?

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Giestenflakta and Sutau.

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The love duet from Tristan and Isolde.

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Kirsten Flagstadt and Ludwig Suthaus.

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When you took over your post as musical director at Cobben Garden in 1961, you set out your aims to cover the next five years. Have you achieved all those aims?

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Not all, naturally no.

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But I think quite a lot of

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Uh what I try to achieve

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A well-balanced, as repertory as the general level of the performance, the opera house. Get a well-balanced opera house.

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I think we have very great reparatory shortages still.

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But I think

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As the weekly average, I mean by that, that you can go at least once a week to Covent Garden without to be ashamed.

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That I think that we achieved.

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You brought a lot of new talents into opera, people from the straight theatre, new designers.

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Yes, I think it's very logical.

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This country has them.

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uh stage directors and designers and I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be using operas. More than that, to my great joy, they all very musically interested.

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You have presented a brand new production of the entire ring.

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How many operas new to this country have you presented? Well, I don't know exactly, but I would think that every year at least one.

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Yeah, one each season. One each season.

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Isn't it frustrating not to have some provincial outlets for your work?

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Oh yes, this is very frustrating and I think it's a very great necessity to this country.

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We must start some public job now this. I was told that in Manchester

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very soon should establish thy own provincial

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So I think it's very essential and necessary.

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What sort of liaison do you keep up with, Saddler's Wells? A very good one.

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You've had occasion to complain of the severity of the London critics in your early years at the garden. Is the atmosphere friendlier now? Yes, much friendlier enough. I think my complaint was not quite fair in a way because I took them much too seriously.

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I don't ignore them now.

Georg Solti16:17

I

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No, but I thought if you get a bad notice, you are bad for all of your life. And he said for England, luckily not so. You know, in continent it's entirely different.

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If you in Germany get a bad notice for a big newspaper, you never get a good one actually anymore. They think you are bad and you will stay bad at the end of your life.

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Or if you are good, you never get a better.

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So

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I grew up on the bed.

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Now coming to England, suddenly faced that you are one day very good and next day are horrible.

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And so I was always afraid God I will be stay always horrible, but I know now that it isn't so. And of course, one has to take it with a great amount of philosophy.

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You're contracted to be with us at least until 1970. Have you any particular major ambition in mind for the years to come?

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Yes, I think I would like to see very much a a broader, more broadened repertory which we have now. We have very great shortages still. We have French opera shortages, Slavic opera, great shortages.

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And I would like to see more and more

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Young

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to come into us and develop. I think we achieved quite a lot along deadlines, but I think there is luck.

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Yeah.

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Let's have record number five now.

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This is Lipati

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The very

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Soon, very unluckily, he died so, so young.

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Remember my favorite piano player was he playing the Schumann piano chord.

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Why do choose this work in particular?

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First I love the work very much and I think he is rather marvelous.

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Dino Lapate.

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An excerpt from the first movement of Schumann's concerto in A minor.

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Mr. Shelter, you have a reputation for being a tireless worker. There's a story that during the interval of Goethe Damrum, which must be a gruelling physical feat to conduct, you were in your office getting on with the casting of Moses and Aaron.

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Is this true or is it possible? No, in this form it is not true. No, it's a legend.

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But of course it happens. It happened also during the intervolum getter demand that I had to do some urgent

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work which concern the next day. There are some sometimes urgent decisions has to be made and then

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I have to be talked and talk about it and so it happened.

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Well, let's have your sixth record now. What next?

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Sh maybe it seems to you very strange. I just recently discovered that symphony, the tenth symphony of Mahler.

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which is finished and orchestrated.

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partly by Derek Cochis, very brilliant English musicologist.

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And I was shattered. I think it's a marvellous piece of music.

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And button

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But I think it's extraordinary this symphony.

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It bleeds.

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So clearly to the twentieth century language. We always knew that Maler is a kind of ling.

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There's not no more nineteenth century, it's a kind of link to the twentieth century, but this piece shows very clearly that leading direct Schoenberg and Stawinski, you'll find sound elements and both of them absolutely clearly in this symbol. I think it's marvelous.

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An excerpt from the first movement of Mahler's Tenth Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Ormondy.

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Mr. Sheltie.

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How practical a man are you? How well could you look after yourself on this desert island? Oh, I'm absolutely impossible.

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I never learned anything. I can't make even tea. I I can't do anything. I would die in Desert Island very soon, the short time. So therefore this whole programme of course doesn't make sense. But I would never listen to the records. I would die sheer physical exhaustion, the shortest

Georg Solti21:44

Yeah.

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Possible time. No shelter? No shelter. I couldn't make anything. No food? No food. I always learn in my two hands to playing piano or conducting. That's all that I can.

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Very little. I can see that.

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Sorry, let's get back to records. What's your next choice?

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That's probably very strange to you. I chosen this

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Monderful Sir John Gilgit record Ages of Man. What are we going to hear, Sir John, read?

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When my love swears that she is made of two

Speaker 222:18

When my love swears that she is made of truth, I do believe her, though I know she lies, That she might think me some untutored youth, Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.

Speaker 222:31

Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young, Although she knows my days are past the best, Simply I credit her false speaking tongue On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.

Speaker 222:45

But wherefore says she not she is unjust? And wherefore say not I that I am old? O love's best habit is in seeming trust And age in love loves not to have years told.

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Therefore I lie with her, and she with me.

Speaker 223:04

And in our faults by lies we flatter'd.

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Sir John Gilgood reading a Shakespeare sonnet.

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What's your last record going to be?

Speaker 323:55

May contracambio.

Georg Solti24:02

I see a

Speaker 324:07

Strano Inguncio.

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Miss Piego