George Szell

Lore & Background

György Endre Széll was born in Budapest but grew up in Vienna. His family was of Jewish origin but converted to Catholicism. He began formal music training as a pianist, studying with Richard Robert, and at age eleven toured Europe as a pianist and composer, making his London debut. He made an unplanned public conducting debut at seventeen when the Vienna Symphony's conductor injured his arm, and Szell was asked to substitute. He quickly turned to conducting full-time. Strauss recognized Szell's talent and was impressed with how well he conducted Strauss's music. Szell credited Strauss as a major influence on his conducting style. Szell worked with opera houses and orchestras in Berlin, Strasbourg, Prague, Darmstadt, Düsseldorf, and served as principal conductor of the German Opera in Prague and conducted the orchestra of the German Philharmonic Society of Prague. for a tour with the NBC Symphony Orchestra and decided to stay, settling in New York City. citizen and was named music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. He devoted his energy to exacting his will on musicians, releasing some and hiring others to achieve his desired sound. He expected technical perfection and total commitment.

Reader's Guide

When he arrived, the orchestra was respected but undersized and struggling after World War II. Through rigorous standards and complete artistic control over personnel, programming, and recording, Szell built it into an ensemble that critic Donal Henahan called 'what many critics regarded as the world's keenest symphonic instrument.' His recordings have kept him a presence in classical music long after his death, and his name remains synonymous with the Cleveland Orchestra. As later music director Christoph von Dohnányi remarked, 'We give a great concert, and George Szell gets a great review.' Szell's legacy includes his influence on orchestral sound—lean and transparent—and his role as an orchestra builder, both shaped by Richard Strauss. He also taught composition at Mannes College, with students including George Rochberg and Ursula Mamlok.

Did You Know?

• Szell made his London debut as a pianist and composer at age eleven.
• He credited Richard Strauss as a major influence on his conducting style.
• Szell was a member of the Prague Masonic Grand Lodge 'Lessing of the Three Rings' under the name 'Georg Szell.'
• During his Cleveland years, he occasionally demonstrated to guest pianists how he thought they should play a certain passage.