Good job opportunities in the U.S await young conductors with some ver special qualifications. Among the qualifications: showmanship, an ability to interpret other men's compositions without being either pedantic or too free with the scores, and a knack for charming old ladies in symphony societies. With such old maestros as Arturo Toscanini, 87 Bruno Walter, 78, and Pierre Monteux 79, no longer accepting permanent posts U.S. orchestra managements are keeping their eyes open for new talent. One of the most promising new conductors to come within their gaze is balding Georg Solti 41, a peppery-tempered Hungarian who is now beating a lively path through the Western Hemisphere.
Heady Beethoven. Last fall, visiting Conductor Solti electrified San Francisco operagoers ("Taut, brilliant, masterly: wrote the San Francisco Chronicle's Critic Alfred Frankenstein). This summer Solti led the Chicago Symphony in its fines week at Ravinia Park, later got raves from critics and audiences for appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra; at the Hollywood Bowl. Last week Solti whipped the Mexican National Symphony Orchestra through a brilliant concert at Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts.
Solti's podium technique reflects his: high-voltage personality. Somewhat in the manner of Leonard Bernstein, he danced the music, stamping until little swirls of dust rise around his ankles, slicing the air with his baton, jabbing an accusing finger at a dilatory player, then relaxing utterly with his arms dangling, letting the music play itself. Unlike Monteux, Solti never inspires his men to play out of pure adulation for him; unlike Toscanini, he never terrifies them into giving the performance of their lives. But Solti's athletic, enthusiastic method, which sometimes startle; unprepared listeners, usually manages to sweep the orchestra along.
In Mexico, Solti teased the crowd with Stravinsky's triple-sec Symphony in Three Movements before solacing it with a heady version of Beethoven's Fifth. He made the orchestra play with superb power and authority, was cheered back for six bows.
Growing Tradition. For Conductor Solti, this kind of success is nothing new. He started accompanying his sister at her singing before he was ten, got high marks for his piano and composition studies (with Hungarian Composers Bela Bartok, Ernest von Dohnanyi and Zoltan Kodaly), began coaching Budapest opera stars at the age of 18. High point of his apprenticeship came when, at 24, he was appointed an assistant conductor to Arturo Toscanini at the Salzburg Festival. He still recalls one concert when he was waiting to play the glockenspiel under the Maestro's baton. "Never in my life such nervousness," says Solti. "Never."
Solti spent the war in Switzerland, earning his keep as a pianist. For the last two years, he has been musical director of the excellent Frankfurt Opera. Solti is sure he will eventually settle with a U.S. orchestra. Says he: "This is the country of the future. It has a growing music tradition. I like something that is growing."