Solti on

Sir Georg Solti is the most famous and accomplished conductor of our age. He was born in Hungary, where he suffered from pre-war anti-Semitism; he spent the war years in Switzerland then went to Germany to become musical director of Bavarian State Opera. In 1961 he came to England, where he has been based for most of his working life, including a long stint (1969-90) as Musical Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and as Artistic Director of Covent Garden (from 1961-71). He worked with Bartok, Kodaly and Richard Strauss, and trained with Furtwangler and Toscanini. He has collaborated with practically all the great musicians and singers of our time and has made thousands of recordings. He has agreed to write his life story -in collaboration with the writer Harvey Sachs - for publication on his 85th birthday. He died in September 1997.