Georg Solti

Sir Georg Solti KBE (21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a world-renowned Hungarian-born British orchestral and operatic conductor.

In my orchestra, I hate slackness, idle talk and lost time. I always hated this and still hate it. But I can achieve much more when I am quiet and not shouting.

Quotes

Conductors by John L. Holmes (1988) pp 256-261 ISBN 0-575-04088-2

• From Toscanini I learnt the essential and desperate seriousness of making music.

• Everyone says you have to be a specialist, and if you conduct Wagner you cannot conduct Mozart - this is nonsense.

• Fight the tendency to become complacent and do one kind of music - that is the death of a musician.

• In my orchestra, I hate slackness, idle talk and lost time. I always hated this and still hate it. But I can achieve much more when I am quiet and not shouting.

• Between the two men, somewhere, a truth is lying, and that is what I try to find.
  • Arguing that Toscanini and Furtwangler both went to extremes.

Interview, Charlie Rose, February 28, 1995

• Charlie Rose: What's your favorite symphony in the world now? Sir-
• Georg Solti: There isn't any. There isn't any for me. This is a question for amateurs. Amateurs have favorite symphonies. A pro never have favorites. The favorite is what I am doing now, today. That's my favorite.