SZELL, GEORGE

SZELL, GEORGE (Georg; 1897–1970), conductor, pianist and composer. He was born in Budapest but grew up in Vienna, where he studied piano and composition with Richard Robert and Max Reger. As a composer and pianist, dubbed "the new Mozart," he turned to conducting at age 17. Szell assisted Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera (1915) and held conducting posts in German opera houses and in Prague, before his appointments as chief conductor of the Berlin State Opera (1924–29) and of the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague (1929–37). From 1937 he conducted the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow and the Residentie Orchestra of The Hague. Immigrating to the United States in 1939, he became principal conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (1942–46), and was noted for his performances there of Wagner and Strauss. From 1946 until 1970 he was appointed permanent conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra and built its ensemble to one of world class by combining the profound European orchestral tradition with the brilliance of the great American orchestras. He won repute for his pedantic approach, his extensive repertoire of modern and classical works, and his lucid interpretations of the Viennese classics. Outstanding among his numerous recordings are the five Beethoven piano concertos (with fleisher ), the four Brahms symphonies, and Dvořák's last three symphonies. His many world premieres included Hindemith's Piano Concerto (1947), Walton's Partita (1958), and Mennin's Symphony no. 7 (1964), and at the Salzburg Festival, operas by Liebermann and Egk. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Grove Music Online; Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (1997); D. Rosenberg. "George Szell: Portrait of a Perfectionist," in: Symphony Magazine, 31:6 (1980), 15–19; B. Surtees, "George Szell: 25 Years Later," in: Classical Music Magazine, 18:1 (1995), 30. (Naama Ramot (2nd ed.)