Georg Solti: The Making of a Maestro [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Amazon.co.uk Review

The Making of a Maestro is a moving film of the life of conductor Sir Georg Solti, completed by producer/director Peter Maniura shortly before Solti's death in 1997. One of the most dynamic conductors of the 20th century, Solti gained something of a reputation as a tartar on the rostrum--"like playing for Mephisto," as one member of the Chicago Symphony puts it. Yet it's theatre director Sir Peter Hall's phrase, "a deeply lyrical soul", that comes to the fore watching this beautifully photographed film from the BBC's Omnibus series. Solti may have driven his orchestras and singers to a point where some of them felt cajoling became bullying, but it was always at the service of the music. This documentary sensibly does not take a view on Solti's ranking in the hierarchy of great conductors; instead Maniura wisely lets the conductor's words tell the story, making this film a very personal one.

Over half the running time is devoted to Solti's upbringing and post-war years in Munich, where he built up the bombed-out opera house from scratch. Solti's friendship with Richard Strauss makes for a poignant interlude. His initial unpopularity at Covent Garden, where the opera posters were frequently daubed "Solti must go", his achievement at raising their orchestral standards, as well as his later starrier role as conductor of the Chicago Symphony, are also given their full due. Maniura handles the musical soundtrack with sensitivity, pointing up many striking images with music to create indelible impressions. The film concludes with Solti at his grandparents' grave reflecting without bitterness on those relatives--such as his father--who were never buried but disappeared in the Holocaust. The Making of a Maestro is an inspirational film from which the viewer cannot but help take heart.

On the DVD: No special features to speak of, although the DVD trailer promotes other ArtHaus Musik productions, including their award-winning Damnation of Faust, the Penderecki choral work The Seven Gates of Jerusalem, Claudio Abbado conducting a New Year's Gala and Herbert Blomstedt a performance of Beethoven's Fifth.--Adrian Edwards

Customer Reviews:

A FITTING TRIBUTE TO A GREAT MAN........2004-10-22

If I couldn't buy another DVD, it wouldn't matter, because this one is the best I have ever seen.
It is an excellent tribute to Sir George Solti who died a few weeks after this documentary was first broadcast.
He was 84 years old, and this documentary charts the high (and low) points in his remarkable life.
The experience of watching it is unforgettable because there is an intimacy about the whole experience. Sir George looks directly at the camera, and in his unmistakeable accented English, tells us of his life.
The documentary begins near the end of his life, and of course watching it now is sad, because we know that he died about three months after the opening scene was filmed. He was back in Hungary for the first time since the war, and he was about to open the Liszt Academy where he trained under the guidance of his beloved Bela Bartok, Kodaly and Weiner.
The children are playing music to him before he plants a tree and cements his relationship with his fatherland once again.

During the course of this documentary, we see rare shots of Toscanini conducting and Richard Strauss, blind and almost completely deaf, conducting with skill and confidence.

We see Solti at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, where he embarked on a turbulent career at first, until he was accepted and beloved by the people.
Then he travels to Chicago, where he was chief conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra between 1969 and 1991.
We see his wife, Valerie and his beautiful daughters, whom he loved so much.

We have the pleasure of hearing and seeing him conducting extracts from Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen, as he makes the first ever studio recording of the entire Ring Cycle.

There are interviews with famous opera singers, who speak warmly of him, Kiri te Kanawa says how he reminded her of her father and that helped her with her original nervousness on meeting the maestro for the first time.

Finally we go back to the trip to Hungary and Sir George visits the graves of his family,his father who died of diabetes in hospital before his son could see him again since the day that he left Hungary, and his mother whom he loved and respected so much.
As the camera holds the memory of Sir George, we weep because we know that soon, he will die and all we will have is the memories and tributes like this, but none as beautiful as this one.

Buy it, for the intimate moments, but also for the outstanding music which is conveyed to us from many places and times in the life of a truly remarkable man.

Average customer rating:
Sir Georg Solti:Making of a Maestro [1997] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Peter Maniura
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
ASIN: 6306588167
Release Date: 2001-10-09

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