George Szell

György Széll, best known by his Anglicised name George Szell (June 7, 1897 – July 29, 1970) was a conductor and composer. He is remembered today for his long and successful tenure as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1946 to 1970 and for the many recordings of the standard classical repertory he made with Cleveland and other orchestras. He was said to have had a baton with "one of the sharpest points" among all conductors, which is to say that his orchestras were distinguished by their precision.

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June 7 - 1897 - July 29 - 1970 - Conductor - Composer - Music director - Cleveland Orchestra - Baton

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Szell was born in Budapest, but he grew up in Vienna, studying there and in Leipzig under Eusebius Mandyczewski (and, for a brief period, Max Reger). Richard Strauss appointed him to be his assistant at the Berlin Royal Opera before Szell went off to hold a number of conducting posts throughout Europe: in Berlin, Strasbourg (succeeding Otto Klemperer at the Municipal Theatre there), Prague, Darmstadt, Düsseldorf and Glasgow before becoming principal conductor of the Berlin Staatsoper (which by now had replaced the Royal Opera) in 1924. In 1930, Szell made his United States debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

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Budapest - Vienna - Leipzig - Eusebius Mandyczewski - Max Reger - Richard Strauss - Berlin Royal Opera - Berlin - Strasbourg - Otto Klemperer - Prague - Darmstadt - Düsseldorf - Glasgow - Berlin Staatsoper - 1924 - 1930 - United States - Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra

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Szell was in the USA at the outbreak of World War II and settled there. From 1942 to 1946, he was a regular conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. In 1946, he became an naturalized citizen of the United States, and that same year took up the post of principal conductor (music director) of the Cleveland Orchestra, a post he held until his death in 1970. It is for his work with them that he is best known — he is credited with raising the ensemble from a solid regional orchestra to a world-class level. In addition to taking the orchestra on annual tours to Carnegie Hall and the east coast of the United States, he led Cleveland on its first international tours (to Europe, the Soviet Union, and Japan).

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World War II - Metropolitan Opera - New York City - Naturalized citizen - Cleveland Orchestra - 1970

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Szell also became closely associated with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, where he was a frequent guest conductor, and he often appeared at the Salzburg Festival. In the last years of his life, he also served as Musical Advisor to the New York Philharmonic.

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Concertgebouw Orchestra - Amsterdam - Salzburg Festival - New York Philharmonic

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Szell's work as a composer is less well-known. Apart from completely original pieces, he also arranged Bedrich Smetana's String Quartet No. 1, From My Life, for orchestra.

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Arranged - Bedrich Smetana - String Quartet No. 1

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