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The subject of this article is Sir Georg Solti and his interaction with the business of sound recording. Solti has been seen by many as a distinguished conductor whose career was significantly assisted by his involvement with the record industry. The quotation above from one of his own producers succinctly encapsulates this view. The purpose of the article therefore is to examine this relationship in detail and to seek to establish whether or not recording and the record industry were significant influences upon musical activity as undertaken by Sir Georg. More specifically it will seek to isolate and identify any major changes which came about through this association. Individual sections of the article relate to: Solti the man and his relationships with musicians; his interaction with record company personnel and producers; repertoire decisions; the act of recording; and the use of records. In addition, the article includes a short section on promotion and reputation. A concluding section ties together these various strands. The purpose of this analytical framework is to isolate and to examine those elements of recording where some level of influence upon musical activity may be discerned.
He was the child of the record business. James Mallinson
Solti, the Man and his Relationships with Musicians
...you see it is a little more than being good...what is the extra ingredient? The extra ingredient is image. Robert Cowan
In considering Solti the man it is necessary to distinguish between the image and the reality. Like his mentor, the conductor Arturo Toscanini, Solti was very conscious of being 'the maestro,' especially towards the end of his life. Study of his early recordings and their promotion by Decca Records shows that at the time of his first Wagner operatic recordings he was already being portrayed by Decca in their advertisements during late 1957 in the same visual and written styles as those employed for many other eminent conductors. Solti would be photographed with his head bowed, in deep study of the score. The copywriting attached to such images sought to establish and reinforce his position among the great conductors, and described him as "one of the great Wagnerians of our time."1
Decca, for whom Solti recorded loyally throughout his career, consistently maintained this image of Solti...