What is Georg Solti?
[[File:Sir George Solti 6 Allan Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|right|Georg Solti]] '''Sir Georg Solti''' (pronounce: “George Shollti”), (born [[Budapest]], 21 October 1912; died [[Antibes]], [[France]], 5 September 1997) was a [[Hungary|Hungarian]] [[Conducting|conductor]] who later became a [[naturalization|naturalized]] [[United Kingdom|British]] citizen. == Early career == Solti was born ''György Stern'' in [[Budapest]] to a [[Jewish]] family. His father changed his name from ''György'' to ''Georg'' and changed his [[family name]] to ''Solti''. This was so that his name did not look [[Jew]]ish, because there was a lot of [[antisemitism]] in [[Europe]]. He learned the [[piano]] but, when he was 14, he heard [[Erich Kleiber]] conduct [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No.5 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 5]] and he immediately wanted to be a conductor. He studied at the [[Franz Liszt Academy of Music]], under [[Béla Bartók]], [[Zoltán Kodály]], Leo Weiner and [[Ernst von Dohnanyi]]. By 1935 he was becoming known as a conductor. He conducted ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' at the [[Budapest Opera]] in 1938. It was the first time he had conducted there, and it was also to be the last time. That very day, Hitler [[Anschluss|annexed]] [[Austria]]. Life became dangerous for Jews in Hungary. In 1939, he moved to [[Switzerland]], where he continued a career as a pianist and won the Geneva International Piano Competition, but he did not have many chances to conduct there. His father became ill and died, so he never saw him again. After [[World War II]] Solti became [[music director]] of the [[Bavarian State Orchestra]] in [[Munich]] (where he gave the first performance in [[Germany]] of [[Paul Hindemith]]'s opera ''[[Mathis der Maler]]'', which had been banned when the [[Nazi]]s were in power. He conducted the [[Frankfurt Opera]] where he gave the first performance in Germany of [[Alban Berg]]'s ''[[Lulu (opera)|Lulu]]''. In 1951 he performed at the [[Salzburg Festival]] conducting [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s '