Sir Georg Solti - Liszt: A Faust Symphony (1986)

The 'Faust' Symphony included here was recorded in 1986 by Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra whose boss for many years he was. It is a legendary collaboration with quite a recording catalogue behind it, mostly for DECCA; both the legendary status and the recording legacy are probably second only to Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker. Such close collaboration between great musicians and great label is bound to produce memorable results. As it might be expected from DECCA, the digital sound is excellent, with impeccable clarity and dynamic range beyond reproach; but without that annoying flatness, or glassy artificiality, or call it what you like, that often affects digital recordings - or at least it used to do so in the early days of the digital era. Solti's interpretation, however, leaves something to be desired. It is not that I mind his occasional lack of subtlety or disrespect of detail; I do, in fact, mind all these things, but I do expect them from any new recording of Solti I come across. What I don't expect, but what I do, disappointingly, find here, is lack of excitement and involvement - and that, whatever his faults, is not something typical for Solti. Nevertheless, he conducts a fine recording, well-paced and wonderfully musical, if a little dry and dull from time to time. I don't know the reason for this strange inhibition on Solti's side - maybe he just had a bad day; maybe he didn't like the music enough; maybe it came too late in his career - but, had this been absent, this might well have been a definitive recording. (Not THE definitive recording; there is no such thing; every work that justifies the grand description 'masterpiece' must be opened to at least several equally definitive interpretations). Still, Solti's 'Faust' remains one of the best on record and an excellent introduction to this rather complex and not-so-easy to assimilate music.