# Best and Worst Recordings: SOLTI



## brunumb (Dec 8, 2017)

The recordings of Sir Georg seem to really polarise opinions based on the reviews I have read over the years. I'm a complete musical numpty, but I would really love to hear from the knowledgeable people here at TC about what they regard as some of his best and his worst. 
:tiphat:


----------



## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Obviously, his Ring (yes, I know many rate it poorly next to some others but it is still a great recording) is one. His Schubert 9 is very good as are his Verdi Requiem and Aida. But, in fact, many of his recordings are excellent without being my favourites for their works - much of his Bartok, some of his Strauss, his Brahms symphonies and his Elgar symphonies are examples. He was often at his best when he relaxed a little (which was not as rare as you might think) but has a reputation, which may not be as deserved as you might think, for driving music too hard.


----------



## flamencosketches (Jan 4, 2019)

I haven't heard his full Ring (or any full Ring) but his recording of Siegfried's Funeral Music might be the best ever. 

His recording of Strauss' Elektra is great! I also like his Mahler 2nd with the London Symphony, but it's not my favorite. 

Overall, I like Sir Georg, and think he is incredibly talented and, as another user put it in another recent thread, extremely hard-working, but wouldn't quite call him a favorite.


----------



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

There was a time some decades ago when Solti was high on my go to list but that has very slowly changed and now to the point that what I do have by him are either copies of something bought a long time ago (not much) or things I have for reasons other than the conductor. Having said that, there is no particular dislike of him, just that I have usually found performances which I prefer to his.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

From my collection, I think his Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and Music for Strings are my favorites. The worst in my collection is his Bruckner 5th. That was my first exposure to Bruckner, and it made me write the composer off until I stumbled on Georg Tintner's recordings.


----------



## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

I am not a big fan, but his Abduction from the Seraglio/decca is a gem.
Possibly also Nozze di Figaro (it's been a long time since I heard it).


----------



## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

I was never a big Solti fan, though I enjoyed his Brahms and Bartok. For a while his recording of Mahler's 8th with Popp and Auger was the only one I liked of that work. Never cared for his Beethoven much.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Solti was my introduction to the operas of Wagner and Richard Strauss many decades ago. I still listen to these recordings, and I'm pleased to say they're still wonderful after all these years. I can also recommend his recordings Tchaikovsky's _Eugene Onegin_, Schoenberg's _Moses und Aron_ and Mozart's _Le Nozze di Figaro_. Although not associated with baroque music, Solti also made surprisingly good recordings of Bach's _Matthew Passion_ and Handel's _Messiah_.

To choose a favourite recording would be difficult, but it would have to be his Decca _Ring_ cycle or, if I'm only allowed one work, the _Götterdämmerung_ from that set. Worst recording? Hard to say but, like Manxfeeder, I don't find myself revisiting Solti's Bruckner too often.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

D Smith said:


> For a while his recording of Mahler's 8th with Popp and Auger was the only one I liked of that work.


That's still a top contender, even though some other fine recordings of Mahler 8 have come out in recent years.


> Never cared for his Beethoven much.


I don't listen to his symphony recordings much, but I enjoyed his set of the Beethoven piano concertos with Vladimir Ashkenazy.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Solti is one of my favorites - his Mahler, Bruckner, Wagner, Strauss, Stravinsky, Bartok...are really excellent, top level in many cases....Brahms is very good, Beethoven generally very good...i also like his Verdi and Elgar...
often known mostly for his "big" orchestra stuff Solti was also excellent with Mozart, Haydn, Bach.....I wish he had performed more 2nd Viennese school - excellent Schoenberg, as much as he did... 
I don't think he had too many misfires...i don't always put him in first place, or top position, but overall, he's almost always in the running...he produced excellent results with different great orchestras - CSO, VPO, LSO, LPO plus his own Carnegie Hall Project.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

My first record of Solti was The Sorcerer's Aporentice when I was a boy. I saved up and bought his Rigoletto when a teenager which was my first opera set. I nearly wore it out and still regard it with affection even though Solti drives the score too hard. For excitement there is no-one like him, which is why his Ring was such a best seller. It reached its peak with Gotterdamerung probably, although his conducting never matched Karajan's, although his cast was superior. His biography 'Solti on Solti' is highly recommended.


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> I don't listen to his symphony recordings much, but I enjoyed his set of the Beethoven piano concertos with Vladimir Ashkenazy.


I just stumbled on that one a couple weeks ago. It has mixed reviews, but I really like it. The orchestra is not so much there to support the piano as to occasionally slap you in the face (okay, that's hyperbole, but if you've heard it, you know what I mean).


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Manxfeeder said:


> I just stumbled on that one a couple weeks ago. It has mixed reviews, but I really like it. The orchestra is not so much there to support the piano as to occasionally slap you in the face (okay, that's hyperbole, but if you've heard it, you know what I mean).


yes, the LvB pfe concerti with Ashkenazy is a fine set....I love the orchestral detail, which so often is obscured in recordings


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Solti's autobiography "Memoirs" is a nice read ...Solti readily admits mistakes, misjudgements he may have made, and how he learned from them.... refreshing change from a whiny, finger-pointing, "they were all out to get me" diatribe like Leinsdorf's "Cadenza".

Solti had many outstanding qualities as a conductor, truly one of the giants of his generation - He, Bernstein and Karajan were the "big 3" of their generation, the last of the "podium superstar" genre. for me, Solti and Bernstein far surpass Karajan - both had large repertoire, most of which they conducted extremely well. Both were extremely passionate and exciting, and would give the orchestra the "green-light" to really cut loose with full throttle...the dynamic contrasts of some Solti performances are quite shattering - his CSO forces, esp, could unleash unheard of levels of sound...
Solti excelled in many ways - he was a master of the long buildup, shattering climax - so prevalent in much music- esp Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, Shostakovich [ie - Sym #8//I], etc.
He also was a master at finding, and exposing all the wonderful small details in a score....all of those little, seemingly hidden licks, the touches of genius, the almost unnoticeable interjections or additions that so many conductors miss or overlook....in this he was rivaled only by podium greats such as Reiner and Toscanini...with a Solti performance, you get everything... 
Yes, Solti was a "driver"., he would push, probably to excess in some cases, but I enjoy, favor those conductors - Toscanini, Reiner, Mravinsky, Abbado [sometimes] would really push their orchestras...their music-making is exciting, never logy, or ponderous, never draggy or monotonous..it is going someplace. Orchestras were alert, "on top of it", on "the front of the beat"....


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Way down my list of great conductors, but there are a few Solti recordings that warrant some praise. It speaks volumes that my first recommendation for a Solti recording is not even of him conducting - the Bartok piano collaboration with Perahia. Otherwise he left a Beethoven 9th (1972) that is still a reference recording in large part due to the inspired singing of the Margaret Hillis-trained chorus. He left a Mahler 8th that blazes even if it is not the last word in interpretive nuance (a common occurrence with Solti). His Ring is of course largely recognized today as overrated even though it was considered a sonic spectacular in its day. I will however list the Rheingold from that cycle as among his best achievements. Perhaps his greatest recording legacy was in the Richard Strauss operas. His Elektra is a reference.

For the most part, Solti was master of simple orchestral execution blessed with the best recording techniques available. Dozens of conductors on record have given us much more than that by which to remember them, which is why Solti's name continues to sink down the list of notable maestros.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Way down my list of great conductors, but there are a few Solti recordings that warrant some praise. It speaks volumes that my first recommendation for a Solti recording is not even of him conducting - the Bartok piano collaboration with Perahia. Otherwise he left a Beethoven 9th (1972) that is still a reference recording in large part to the inspired singing of the Margaret Hillis-trained chorus. He left a Mahler 8th that blazes even if it is not the last word in interpretive nuance (a common occurrence with Solti). His Ring is of course largely recognized today as overrated even though it was considered a sonic spectacular in its day. I will however list the Rheingold from that cycle as among his best achievements. Perhaps his greatest recording legacy was in the Richard Strauss operas. His Elektra is a reference.
> 
> For the most part, Solti was master of simple orchestral execution blessed with the best recording techniques available. _*Dozens of conductors on record have given us much more than that by which to remember them, which is why Solti's name continues to sink down the list of notable maestros.*_
> 
> IMG]


I certainly rate other conductors more highly than Solti but to say that his name 'continues to sink down the list' is just not true for most of us. He is where he has generally been. His Beethoven 9th was never a reference recording in my book. When you say a 'master of simple orchestral execution' I thought that is what conductors were supposed to do! In any case, Solti was far too electrifying as a conductor - like it or not - to come into the category of simply a band master.


----------



## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

When Solti got it right he produced some great stuff (Brahms and Schumann cycles)
















When he didnt get it right performances were uneven, noisy and occasionally awful (his Bruckner cycle, apart from a very good 7th)


----------



## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

The best or compelling examples of what Sir Georg Solti had to offer (an excellent opera conductor, by the way)


----------



## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

I think Solti's best recording, by far, is his acclaimed Ring that is typically No. 1 on most polls of greatest recordings ever made. He shares the credit, however, as he was assisted by every great Wagner singer of the middle 20th century.

I also liked his Shostakovich No. 10, especially the YouTube version.

But he was two steps forward, three steps backward for me. I thought he had no sense for Bruckner, trying unsuccessfully throughout his recordings to make them virtuosic, brassy and impatient -- things that aren't Brucknerian.

His Schubert Symphony 9 was hailed by critics but, to me, it did not fare well in comparison to Josef Krips' classic version.

I also once read a review saying his then-new Berlioz Fantastic Symphony explained what all the hubbub was about in the early 1970s. I bought it and was underwhelmed. I have never since seen it mentioned in any comparison of recordings of that symphony.

So Solti helped me learn an important lesson: critics perspectives are opinions, not facts.


----------



## Bourdon (Jan 4, 2019)

A number of Solti recordings in this box are very disappointing.
Beethoven 5 & 7
Bruckner 7 & 8
I do not understand that these are included in this selection. His Beethoven is lifeless and has no structure and everything that I appreciate in Bruckner is completely absent here.










*To say something positive about Solti,I love his Carmen,to give just one example.*


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

DavidA said:


> In any case, Solti was far too electrifying as a conductor - like it or not - to come into the category of simply a band master.


Well, that's why I called him a master of simple orchestral execution. It's a still a compliment, and one he has earned.


----------



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

All his Wagner operas, except for his Tristan which he wanted to record again, are very good.
His Brahms set is excellent and his Schumann very good.
His analog Mozart operas are excellent. (not his later digital ones.
His Elektra is a wild ride.
Some of his Mahler I like, number 1 and 5.
His Messiah is excellent. His Bartok is pretty good.

His Bruckner not spiritual and too rough.
and Mahler to bombastic mostly.

Lately been listening to his Beethoven and think it's pretty good.
He gets the "Pastoral" and his analog 9th is a great one.
His Haydn London symphony set is wonderful.

Not a bad catalog, I don't think.


----------



## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

My favorite Mendelssohn 3 and 4. Great interpretation from Solti and the CSO.


----------



## Kiki (Aug 15, 2018)

Have not heard any Solti record that I find genuinely bad, on the other hand there isn't any that has become my favourite of any work either.

I'm impressed by this the most, for all the usual Solti brilliance, the big sound, the mesmerizing slow movement, while managing to sound unpretentious (right, I'm not exactly a fan of Liszt's orchestral works).









This "Classical" symphony is not really that bad, but the first movement sounds so strange. It sounds like some kind of jesting caricature, and it's one of those rare occasions when Decca made the Chicago strings sound, ar, shiny and plasticky... The coupled excerpts from Romeo & Juliet are brilliantly played and well-engineered though.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

larold said:


> I also once read a review saying his then-new Berlioz Fantastic Symphony explained what all the hubbub was about in the early 1970s. I bought it and was underwhelmed. I have never since seen it mentioned in any comparison of recordings of that symphony.


Both Solti "Symphonie Fantastiques" [/72, '92] are outstanding - my measuring standard for other performances - few match up - Mitropoulos/NYPO, Abbado/CSO perhaps...The virtuosity is phenomenal....as so often with Solti/CSO - they make difficult music sound easy. all of those performances far outstrip the sloppily played, rushed accounts given by Munch, both from the podium, and the orchestra pit..


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Well, that's why I called him a master of simple orchestral execution. It's a still a compliment, and one he has earned.


there is nothing "simple" about the stunning level of level of orchestra clarity, precision and execution, soft-to-loud climaxes, with shattering sound levels at the top. to preside over the greatest virtuoso ensemble ever put together, and keep it at the top level is complex, demanding, and requires effort and attention to the most minute detail....he was able to master the most complex scores [Elektra, Salome, Moses and Aron] and conduct them with solid concept and purpose..


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Heck148 said:


> there is nothing "simple" about the stunning level of level of orchestra clarity, precision and execution, soft-to-loud climaxes, with shattering sound levels at the top. to preside over the greatest virtuoso ensemble ever put together, and keep it at the top level is complex, demanding, and requires effort and attention to the most minute detail....he was able to master the most complex scores [Elektra, Salome, Moses and Aron] and conduct them with solid concept and purpose..


Very impressive. But why then have I sold off more Solti recordings than I've kept? What's missing? Could it be that telling the story of a great symphonic work involves more than precision and clarity?


----------



## brunumb (Dec 8, 2017)

Thank you for all of the thoughtful posts which I have enjoyed reading. Many of the recordings cited are in my collection. It's not that Solti is a favourite conductor, just that over the years I have responded to reviews and recommendations and sought out the discs. I don't actually have any favourite conductors as I am not really able to appreciate the differences in performance like you folk here. Not having any musical education at all doesn't help. I keep buying and listening to discs but mostly all I really hear is the composer's music which I respond to or not. A favourite recording in my collection is the 2LP gate-fold set of Beethoven's 9th with the CSO having one movement per side. Love it.

The following sentence is from an MWI review:


> The nervous energy present in most of his work was cited as a weakness; his interpretations suffered from a certain driven quality, a lack of grace, even of finesse and subtlety.


My problem is that I don't really experience those qualities when I listen to music. It is either exciting, or passionate, or tranquil, or whatever, but to me that comes from the composer rather than the conductor. I don't understand how someone brings out the spiritual nature of music or fails to achieve that. What does that even mean? This sounds like something I could explore in another thread.

Anyway, I was just trying to understand why I liked the Solti recordings that I do while others find them wanting.


----------



## paulbest (Apr 18, 2019)

Reading over the comments,,,seems we all had some good early experiences of his records,,,yet as time rolls on,,,we come to find out there are other records which equal and many others surpass his performances.
I came into only 1 Solti recording,,his Tchaikovsky 6th with the Chicago on LP,. 
I have no idea how it compares to others today, as i am not interested now , as before listened to it every day. 
After hearing the final few seconds of Strauss Alpine Sym/Chicago live broad cast/FM radio, Bernard Haitink conducting, I think it may have been a recent concert, The coda was simply STUNNING.
So I went over the various YT uploads of the Alpine Sym to see how others take the coda. 
Not even close, Right away I knew there are some members within the Chicago Orch who have taken the score up a notch. 
Which leads me to this thought and I am sure Heck who is our Chicago expert here on TC will chime in to confirm. 
The Chicago lineup may have had more to do with Solti's success than due to his skills alone. 
That is to say, take Bruno Walter with his east coast Columbia SO. 
Now there was a equal match, greatest orchestra with the greatest conductor.
I would say Solti is *above average*, which means what?
I think Martinon made the Chicago orchestra into a world class philharmonic, he did all the hard work which allowed Solti to step in and take the glory. 
.


----------



## paulbest (Apr 18, 2019)

Just cking his Ravel, he has Le Tombeau paired with Mussorgsky's Pictures . YT has a upload, right away, too fast tempo, /too flippant, all movements = ain't gonna fly with me = a *dud*, = not interested. 
So thats just one,,,,,everyone here might be able to make this same compare on their fav composers and Solti might very well come up *short*. 
Oh and btw, everyone on amazon gave the cd 5 huge stars. 
,,so what do i know?,,really....


----------



## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

For a bunch of years after it came out, his Rosenkavalier was one of the few multi-disk recordings I couldn't put the beginning on without listening through to the end, for whatever that's worth. I too found his Beeethoven Ninth ponderous, but Margaret Hillis' chorus magical.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Brahmsianhorn said:


> Very impressive. But why then have I sold off more Solti recordings than I've kept?


I've no idea....probably for reasons similar to why I discarded my Furtwangler recordings so long ago...



> What's missing?


Not too much, in my book..
I realize that we "hear" different things in a performance, or rather, different things are important to each of us.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

brunumb said:


> My problem is that I don't really experience those qualities when I listen to music. It is either exciting, or passionate, or tranquil, or whatever, but to me that comes from the composer rather than the conductor. I don't understand how someone brings out the spiritual nature of music or fails to achieve that. What does that even mean? ....


That's a good point...as you listen more, and begin to compare different recordings, you will hear differences....tempo [speed of the performance] is a quick one, so is the overall orchestra sound - esp for big orchestral works - Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner., Strauss, etc...but you will hear it with smaller works as well,once you become aware of it...
as far as the "spiritual nature" of music - that is a more obscure, even esoteric concept....great musicians differ widely on this subject...perhaps Toscanini summed it up best:

<<Toscanini - regarding the First mvt of Beethoven Symphony "Eroica"
"_*To some it is Napoleon, to some it is a philosophical struggle, to me it is allegro con brio.*_"


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I haven't gone out of my way to listen to Solti's work. I know him mainly for some Wagner and Strauss opera recordings. On average I'd give him a B+ for these: his _Rheingold_ an A, his _Gotterdammerung_ an A-, his _Siegfried_ a B+, his _Parsifal_ a B, his _Walkure_ a B-, and his _Tristan_ a C (though part of the problem with that recording is the engineering). The _Walkure_ is the only part of his _Ring_ I didn't buy, back in my vinyl days, preferring the Leinsdorf recording to complete my cycle.

Solti's _Salome_ seems pretty exciting, and his _Elektra_ may be his best opera recording. Actually the whole production of that recording is high-octane, over-the-top Cecil B. DeMille razzmatazz, and Birgit Nilsson, in her absolute prime, is a force of nature. A masterpiece of spookhouse kitsch.

I have Solti's recording of Liszt's _Faust Symphony_ and think it excellent, almost good enough to make me feel like listening to the work. I had his Mahler 8th, but I never feel like listening to that piece either.

From what I can recall, I share the perception of others that Solti's Verdi is hard-driven. What I'd think of it now I don't know and won't know unless I get out the old _Rigoletto_ with Moffo, Merrill and Kraus. Moffo is so gorgeous to listen to, I really ought to do that.


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

Heck148 said:


> <<Toscanini - regarding the First mvt of Beethoven Symphony "Eroica"
> "_*To some it is Napoleon, to some it is a philosophical struggle, to me it is allegro con brio.*_"


To me it is Beethoven


----------



## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Bourdon said:


> A number of Solti recordings in this box are very disappointing.
> 
> [
> 
> *To say something positive about Solti,I love his Carmen,to give just one example.*


May I add Le Nozze, with te Kanawa/ Popp/ von Stade etc among some very fine others.
Each his own.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Itullian said:


> *All his Wagner operas, except for his Tristan which he wanted to record again, are very good.*
> His Brahms set is excellent and his Schumann very good.
> His analog Mozart operas are excellent. (not his later digital ones.
> His Elektra is a wild ride.
> ...


He himself was not happy with his first mastersingers which is why Decca re-recorded it. Whether or not the second version is better I do not know as I have heard neither


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Heck148 said:


> yes, the LvB pfe concerti with Ashkenazy is a fine set....I love the orchestral detail, which so often is obscured in recordings


Agreed, which is doubly good news when the orchestra sounds as good as the Chicago Symphony.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

DavidA said:


> He himself was not happy with his first mastersingers which is why Decca re-recorded it. Whether or not the second version is better I do not know as I have heard neither


I enjoy them both. The later recording is probably the more polished overall, but I listen to the first more - not least because it has Norman Bailey's glorious Sachs and Bernd Weikl's excellent Beckmesser.


----------



## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

I'm not a huge Solti fan. I enjoy a number of his operatic recordings, mostly because they are so well cast, not because of his conducting. But even in those recordings, there are long passages where Solti isn't really able to sustain slower music, so those passages lack tension and forward momentum.

Oddly, one of my favorite Solti recordings is the previously mentioned Bach St. Matthew Passion.


----------



## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

wkasimer said:


> I'm not a huge Solti fan. I enjoy a number of his operatic recordings, mostly because they are so well cast, not because of his conducting. But even in those recordings, there are long passages where Solti isn't really able to sustain slower music, so those passages lack tension and forward momentum.
> 
> Oddly, one of my favorite Solti recordings is the previously mentioned Bach St. Matthew Passion.


His Mahler 8th has been praised because it's well cast but I seldom listen to it.


----------



## Guest (Aug 11, 2019)

Best: Suppe, Poet and Peasant Overture, etc, LPO










Worst:

Just about everything else. Not a big fan, obviously.


----------



## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

My dessert island discs for now.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

^^^

Good call on the Salome, which is arguably still the best recording; at least, I can't think of many that surpass it off the top of my head. The Tannhäuser is still a top recommendation, too, although that might have been shaded by Sinopoli's as my recording of choice. Be that as it may, Solti's recordings of these two works are spectacular.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> ^^^
> 
> Good call on the *Salome, which is arguably still the best recording*; at least, I can't think of many that surpass it off the top of my head. The Tannhäuser is still a top recommendation, too, although that might have been shaded by Sinopoli's as my recording of choice. Be that as it may, Solti's recordings of these two works are spectacular.


the Salome is a tour de force of orchestral playing and sound but no way does Nilsson suggest a 16 year old princess. The whole thing is OTT. A far better representation of the opera is Karajan's account with Behrens.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

DavidA said:


> the Salome is a tour de force of orchestral playing and sound but no way does Nilsson suggest a 16 year old princess. The whole thing is OTT. A far better representation of the opera is Karajan's account with Behrens.


I rate Karajan's recording highly as well, but I can tolerate "OTT-ness" in this opera more than most, and whilst I agree that Behrens, or even Caballé, make for more youthful protagonists than Nilsson, I can live with it, as I can live with her stellar performances of the purportedly youthful Isolde.


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> I rate Karajan's recording highly as well, but I can tolerate "OTT-ness" in this opera more than most, and whilst I agree that Behrens, or even Caballé, make for more youthful protagonists than Nilsson, I can live with it, as I can live with her stellar performances of the purportedly youthful Isolde.


The opera is OTT anyway so a little subtlety goes a long way


----------



## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Rogerx said:


> To each his own. Just this morning, I decided to cull this recording - Solti's conducting is routine, and except for Christa Ludwig's Venus, the cast is subpar, even by the rather low standard set by the rest of the Tannhauser discography.


----------



## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> I rate Karajan's recording highly as well, but I can tolerate "OTT-ness" in this opera more than most, and whilst I agree that Behrens, or even Caballé, make for more youthful protagonists than Nilsson, I can live with it, as I can live with her stellar performances of the purportedly youthful Isolde.


Behrens and Caballé don't exactly sound like any 16 year olds I've ever come across, either. The composer described his Salome as "a 16 year old princess with the voice of an Isolde", which in reality means a voice that simply doesn't exist in this universe. Strauss himself regarded the Isolde part of the description as more practicable. Ljuba Welitsch is probably the best exponent of the role I've heard, in an excerpt of the final scene recorded with Fritz Reiner, with a voice that is somehow able to sound innocent and perverse yet still have the heft to cut through Strauss' massive orchestra. But all different sorts of sopranos have tackled the opera's obstacles, and Nilsson and Beherens both bring something different to the role: Beherens is more warm and lyrical, while Nilsson is the most accurately and securely sung Salome on record, easily flowing forth at every dynamic level and riding over the orchestra. Her words are clear and insinuating, and her interpretation is never uninvolved. I too cherish the Solti as my favorite rendition of the opera for its electric atmosphere, technical brilliance and sheer power. My second favorite recording is the Leinsdorf with Caballé.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

DavidA said:


> The opera is OTT anyway so a little subtlety goes a long way


I don't really look for subtlety in Salome, but I see what you mean.


----------



## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

wkasimer said:


> Rogerx said:
> 
> 
> > To each his own. Just this morning, I decided to cull this recording - Solti's conducting is routine, and except for Christa Ludwig's Venus, the cast is subpar
> ...


----------



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

wkasimer said:


> Rogerx said:
> 
> 
> > View attachment 122521
> ...


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

wkasimer said:


> Rogerx said:
> 
> 
> > View attachment 122521
> ...


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

I dislike most of his Wagner, although he got better later--I'd say he's probably at his best on Lohengrin and Meistersinger II out of his Wagner. I strongly dislike a lot of his Verdi, although again he got better--his 80s Ballo is much better than his 60s Ballo, and his 70s Otello isn't bad. 

I like him best in numbers operas where his lack of flow and transition matters less and where his fanatical attention to detail and rhythmic schwung can really sparkle--his Mozart/Da Ponte operas are very good and his Carmen is my favorite version.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

the role of Salome is indeed difficult to cast...Nilsson is superb, thoshe hardly sounds like a neurotic 16 year old....Reiner had two excellent Salomes with whom he recorded the final scene...both are classics:with Inge Borkh/CSO/"56, and Ljuba Welitsch/MetOpera/'49...Borkh is a pretty good screamer, quite convincing as the blood-lust crazed princess; but Welitsch comes out the best, there's plenty of lust, but she somehow manages to convey a certain innocence, a vulnerability which is most effective. I wouldn't want to be without either Borkh or Welitsch, in addition to Solti's great complete version with Nilsson.


----------



## Brahmsianhorn (Feb 17, 2017)

My vote for best Salome goes to Goltz/Krauss, though I also love the vivid Bokh/Reiner RCA scenes


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Another great Solti recording is Michael Tippett Sym #4...a work the composer wrote for Solti/CSO, iirc...this is a tough piece, lots of [difficult] notes...Solti's band is definitely equal to the challenge, and they deliver a powerful performance...this was coupled with Tippett's "Prince Charles Suite"...an attractive readily acessible work. with a definite Renaissance flavor. it deserves much more concert exposure.


----------



## Curmudgeon (Jun 14, 2019)

Rogerx said:


> My dessert island discs for now.


Solti's Mahler 4 is one of my all-time favorite recordings.


----------



## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Curmudgeon said:


> Solti's Mahler 4 is one of my all-time favorite recordings.


That's the spirit, it's about what _you_ like .


----------

