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Today marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Maestro Georg Solti. It's fitting that at this moment in Venice, at the beautiful Fondazione Giorgio Cini, our repetiteur course is in full-swing. Here, six young pianists are honing their skills in vocal coaching, repetiteurship, and conducting.
Much is written and discussed about Solti’s immense musical talent and artistic vision for the works that he performed. Less discussed, however, is his passion for education, and for supporting the next generation of great musicians. In fact, he was not the only member of the Solti family for whom mentorship was important. Education and the work of supporting the next generation of great musicians was also the passion of Valerie Solti, the wife of Georg, who sadly passed away in March of 2021. After his passing, Valerie continued their passion for education, using their combined vision to guide her leadership and philanthropic efforts for the rest of her life.
Valerie co-founded the Georg Solti Accademia in 2004 with our artistic director Jonathan Papp, and executive director Candice Wood. Together the three of them set-out to fulfill a longheld dream of Maestro Solti’s – to run a training programme based in Italy to mentor the exceptional young opera singers and repetiteurs of the next generation. We're proud to continue this legacy today and into the future.
It’s important, therefore, that as we remember the life and career of Maestro Solti today, we celebrate not just his contributions to the musical world, but also the legacy of invaluable support offered to young musicans by Valerie Solti, their daughters Gabrielle and Claudia, and by the Solti Foundations in both the USA and EU.
Here's one of our favorite videos of Maestro Solti in rehearsal with the Süddeutsche Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra.