George Szell

by Charry, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780252036163
• ISBN10: 0252036166
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

This book is the first full biography of George Szell, one of the greatest orchestra and opera conductors of the twentieth century. From child prodigy pianist and composer to world-renowned conductor, Szell's career spanned seven decades, and he led most of the great orchestras and opera companies of the world, including the New York Philharmonic, the NBC and Chicago Symphonies, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and Opera, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. A proteacute;geacute; of composer-conductor Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera, his crowning achievement was his twenty-four-year tenure as musical director of the Cleveland Orchestra, transforming it into one of the world's greatest ensembles, touring triumphantly in the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union, South Korea, and Japan. Michael Charry, a conductor who worked with Szell and interviewed him, his family, and his associates over several decades, draws on this first-hand material and correspondence, orchestra records, reviews, and other archival sources to construct a lively and balanced portrait of Szell's life and work from his birth in 1897 in Budapest to his death in 1970 in Cleveland. Readers will follow Szell from his career in Europe, Great Britain, and Australia to his guest conducting at the New York Philharmonic and his distinguished tenure at the Metropolitan Opera and Cleveland Orchestra. Charry details Szell's personal and musical qualities, his recordings and broadcast concerts, his approach to the great works of the orchestral repertoire, and his famous orchestrational changes and interpretation of the symphonies of Robert Schumann. The book also lists Szell's conducting repertoire and includes a comprehensive discography. In highlighting Szell's legacy as a teacher and mentor as well as his contributions to orchestral and opera history, this biography will be of lasting interest to concert-goers, music lovers, conductors, musicians inspired by Szell's many great performances, and new generations who will come to know those performances through Szell's recorded legacy.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Abbreviations	p. xix
Chronology	p. xxi
Introduction	p. 1
The New Mozart (1897-1929)	p. 3
The Conductor Spreads His Wings (1930-38)	p. 23
Musical Pioneering in Australia (1938, 1939)	p. 42
New World, New Beginnings (1939-46)	p. 56
Cleveland: Contest and Commitment (1942-47)	p. 78
Szell, the Orchestra Builder (1947-54)	p. 105
George Szell and Rudolf Bing (1953-54)	p. 141
Keeping the Promise: ôSecond to Noneö (1954-57)	p. 149
The Golden Years (1957-65)	p. 172
The Cleveland Orchestra in the World (1965-68)	p. 223
Summers at Home	p. 254
Finale: Cleveland, Japan, Korea, Anchorage, Cleveland (1968-70)	p. 270
Epilogue	p. 289
In Szell's Words	p. 291
ôOn the 150th Anniversary of Schumann's Birth,ö	p. 295
Staff and Kulas Foundation Conductors under George Szell	p. 299
Apprentice Conductor Qualifications	p. 301
1957 European Tour Repertoire	p. 303
1965 European Tour Repertoire	p. 305
Szell's Repertoire	p. 307
Discography	p. 331
Notes	p. 355
Bibliography	p. 397
Index	p. 399
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