# Where does Solti stand as Richard Strauss conductor?



## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Borrowing from DavidA's thread on the subject of Solti's standing as a Wagner conductor, and with sincere gratitude, I thought I compose a thread regarding his standing as a Straussian. Personally, I find his Strauss traversal slightly more impressive than his Wagner, although the latter is highly regarding, and rightly so (his Lohengrin is special, no doubt in my mind, and the one I come to more often than not). But his Strauss recordings rank right up there (Der Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten (the pinnacle of the series), Salome, Elektra). It's highly regrettable that Solti never recorded Die ägyptische Helena, for I would have love to hear his take of it (though Botstein fill that void nicely in his Teldec album). But his niche as a Straussian is as firm as Mackerras' as a Janacekian (how often revealing is the artistry in the playing by all involved in the always successful yet probing Decca recordings).

So, my fellow aficionados, what say you?


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Like in the Wagner thread. A lot of Solti's sound came from Culshaw and I highlighted Elektra in that thread. I do like his Salome however, but prefer Bohm for Elektra. His uncut Der Rosenkavalier is good but not in the same league as von Karajan and Erich Kleiber. I also think that there has not been a great recording of Die Frau without big cuts made yet...


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

For my tuppenny's worth the best Strauss conductors of the 20th century were both Kleibers and Bohm.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

I do like all of Solti's recordings:tiphat:


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