View source for George Szell

{{Short description|Classical conductor and composer (1897–1970)}}
{{For|the Hungarian Prime Minister|Kálmán Széll}}
{{Eastern name order|Széll György}}
[[File:George Szell.jpg|thumb|George Szell, 1954]]
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'''George Szell''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɛ|l}}; June 7, 1897 &ndash; July 30, 1970), originally '''György Széll''', '''György Endre Széll''', or '''Georg Szell''',<ref>Sources differ on Szell's birthname or "real" name.  ''Slonimsky 2001'', for example, begins its entry, "'''Szell, George''' (actually, '''György''') ...", and ''Charry 2011'' gives his birth name as '''György Endre Szél'''.  This form would seem consistent with Szell's Hungarian origins.  However, both ''Charry 2001'' and ''Rosenberg 2000'' fail to cite the name "György" at all, mentioning instead the more Germanic "Georg,"  which would seem appropriate in Szell's childhood home of Vienna.  Rosenberg goes so far as to say, "[h]e was ''born'' Georg Szell on June 7, 1897, in [[Budapest]] ..." (p. 237, emphasis added).  Sources agree, however, that in later life (at least after coming to America) Szell went by the Anglicised "George," and that is the name credited on his extant recordings.</ref> was a [[Hungary|Hungarian]]-born American [[conducting|conductor]], [[composer]] and pianist. Considered one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors,<ref>Charry, Michael (2011) "George Szell A Life of Music" University of Illinois Press.</ref> he was [[music director]] of the [[Cleveland Orchestra]] of [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], and recorded much of the standard classical repertoire in Cleveland and with other orchestras.

Szell came to Cleveland in 1946 to take over its respected if undersized orchestra, which was struggling to recover from the disruptions of [[World War II]].  By the time of his death he was credited, to quote the critic Donal Henahan, with having built it into "what many critics regarded as the world's keenest symphonic instrument."<ref name=Henahan>{{cite news | author=Henahan, Donal | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dht-QrfdzIwC&pg=PA145 | title=George Szell, Conductor, Is Dead | pages=1 | work=The New York Times | date=31 July 1970 |isbn = 9780405111532| access-date=2007-07-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Brown  | first=Richard  |author2=Brown, Gene  | title=The Arts | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dht-QrfdzIwC&pg=PA145 |location=New York | publisher=Arno Press | year=1978 | isbn=0-405-11153-3}}</ref>

Through his recordings, Szell has remained a presence in the classical music world long after his death, and his name remains synonymous with that of the Cleveland Orchestra. While on tour with the Orchestra in the late 1980s, then-Music Director [[Christoph von Dohnányi]] remarked, "We give a great concert, and George Szell gets a great review."<ref>{{cite news | author=Oestreich, James R. | title=Out From Under the Shadow | work=The New York Times | date=26 January 1997 }}</ref>

==Life and career==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2022}}
===Early life===
György Endre Széll was born in [[Budapest]] but grew up in [[Vienna]]. His family was of [[Jewish]] origin but converted to Catholicism. As a young boy he was taken regularly to [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]].<ref name="Charry-2011">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/georgeszelllifeo00char|url-access=registration|quote=George Szell: A Life of Music by Michael Charry|title=George Szell: A Life of Music|first=Michael|last=Charry|publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]]|date=2011|isbn=9780252036163|access-date=2018-04-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theartoftheconductor.com/news/tag/george-szell-a-life-in-music/|title=Welcome theartoftheconductor.com - BlueHost.com|website=theartoftheconductor.com}}</ref>

===Early career===
[[File:Széll György (1909).jpg|thumb|George Szell at the age of 12]]
Szell began his formal music training as a pianist, studying with [[Richard Robert]]. One of Robert's other students was [[Rudolf Serkin]]; Szell and Serkin became lifelong friends and musical collaborators.<ref>{{cite book | last=Rosenberg | first=Donald | title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: "Second to None" | pages=238 | location=Cleveland | publisher=Gray & Company | year=2000 | isbn=1-886228-24-8}}</ref>

At the age of eleven, he began touring Europe as a pianist and composer, making his London debut at that age. Newspapers declared him "the next Mozart." Throughout his teenage years he performed with orchestras in this dual role, eventually making appearances as composer, pianist and conductor, as he did with the [[Berlin Philharmonic]] at age seventeen.<ref name=szell>{{cite interview |title= George Szell talks to John Culshaw |publisher=BBC | location=London |date=September 1968 }}</ref>

[[File:Szell Kricka Prague 1932.jpg|thumb|George Szell and composer [[Jaroslav Křička]] during the staging of Křička's opera ''The Gentleman in White'' in [[Prague]], April 1932.]]
Szell quickly realized that he was never going to make a career out of being a composer or pianist and that he much preferred the artistic control he could achieve as a conductor. He made an unplanned public conducting debut when he was seventeen, while vacationing with his family at a summer resort. The Vienna Symphony's conductor had injured his arm, and Szell was asked to substitute. Szell quickly turned to conducting full-time. Though he abandoned composing, throughout the rest of his life he occasionally played the piano with chamber ensembles and as an accompanist. Despite his rare appearances as a pianist after his teens, he remained in good form. During his [[Cleveland]] years he occasionally would demonstrate to guest pianists how he thought they should play a certain passage.<ref name=szell/>

In 1915, at the age of 18, Szell won an appointment with Berlin's Royal Court Opera (now known as the [[Berlin State Opera|Staatsoper]]). There, he was befriended by its Music Director, [[Richard Strauss]]. Strauss instantly recognized Szell's talent and was particularly impressed with how well the teenager conducted Strauss's music. Strauss once said that he could die a happy man knowing that there was someone who performed his music so perfectly. In fact, Szell ended up conducting part of the world premiere recording of ''[[Don Juan]]'' for Strauss. The composer had arranged for Szell to rehearse the orchestra for him, but having overslept, showed up an hour late to the recording session. Since the recording session was already paid for, and only Szell was there, Szell conducted the first half of the recording (since no more than four minutes of music could fit onto one side of a 78, the music was broken up into four sections). Strauss arrived as Szell was finishing conducting the second part; he exclaimed that what he heard was so good that it could go out under his own name. Strauss went on to record the last two parts, leaving the Szell-conducted half as part of the full world premiere recording of ''Don Juan.''<ref name=szell/>

Szell credited Strauss as being a major influence on his conducting style. Much of Szell's baton technique, the Cleveland Orchestra's lean, transparent sound and Szell's willingness to be an orchestra builder, were influenced by Strauss. The two remained friends after Szell left the Royal Court Opera in 1919; even after World War II, when Szell had settled in the [[United States]], Strauss kept track of how his protégé was doing.<ref>Mermelstein, David (1997):  "George Szell and Richard Strauss." (Liner notes to Don Quixote). Sony Music Entertainment Inc. {{OCLC|659116832}}</ref>

In the fifteen years during and after World War 1, Szell worked with opera houses and orchestras in Europe: in [[Berlin]], [[Strasbourg]] — where he succeeded [[Otto Klemperer]] at the Municipal Theatre — [[Prague]], [[Darmstadt]], and [[Düsseldorf]], before becoming principal conductor, in 1924, of the [[Berlin Staatsoper]], which had replaced the Royal Opera. In 1923 he conducted the premiere of [[Hans Gál]]'s opera ''[[Die heilige Ente]]'' in Düsseldorf.<ref>Gál, Hans (2014). Music Behind Barbed Wire: A diary of Summer 1940. London:Toccata Press, {{ISBN|9780907689751}}. p. 15.</ref> He was engaged as First Kapellmeister at the [[Berlin State Opera]] from 1924 to 1929. At the same time, he directed the [[Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra]] and taught at the [[Berlin Academy of Music]] (from 1927 to 1930), making recordings with the Vienna Philharmonic.

From 1936 to 1939, he led the [[Scottish National Orchestra]] and, from 1937 to 1939, the [[Residentie Orchestra|Resident Orchestra of The Hague]]. In 1939, Szell returned to Prague as General Music Director and Director of the [[State Opera (Prague)|Prague State Opera]]. The Prague Masonic Grand Lodge "Lessing of the Three Rings" lists him as a member under the name "Georg Szell."

===Move to the U.S.===
At the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, Szell was returning via the U.S. from an Australian tour and ended up settling with his family in [[New York City]].<ref name=Henahan/>  From 1940 to 1945 he taught composition, orchestration, and music theory at the [[Mannes College of Music]] in Manhattan; his composition students at Mannes included [[George Rochberg]] and [[Ursula Mamlok]].<ref>Michael Charry, ''George Szell: A Life of Music'', University of Illinois Press, 2011, pp. 58-59 {{ISBN|9780252093104}}</ref> He made his [[Metropolitan Opera]] debut in 1942; he conducted the orchestra regularly for the next four years. In 1946, Szell became a naturalized U. S. citizen.

===The Cleveland Orchestra: 1946 to 1970===
[[File:George Szell.png|thumb|Szell at University of Michigan, c. 1956]]

“A new leaf will be turned over with a bang!” said Szell, who was named Music Director and Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra in January 1946. “People talk about the New York, the Boston, and the Philadelphia. Now they will talk about the New York, the Boston, the Philadelphia, and the Cleveland.”<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=229}}</ref> However, Szell's time in Cleveland began during a period of unrest and uncertainty. The Orchestra's previous music director, [[Erich Leinsdorf]], had temporarily vacated his post after being drafted into the armed forces.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=207}}</ref> During Leinsdorf's absence, Szell made his [[Severance Hall]] debut — in November 1944 — to glowing reviews.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=214–215}}</ref> And despite Leinsdorf's impending return, public opinion shifted toward Szell. Following intense negotiations that included granting Szell complete artistic control over personnel, programming, scheduling, and recording, the Orchestra's Board of Trustees appointed him the ensemble's fourth music director.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=227–228}}</ref>
{{external media|float=right|width=190px|audio1=You may hear George Szell conducting  [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 with the [[Cleveland Orchestra]] in 1954  [https://archive.org/details/J.S.BACHSuiteForOrchestraNo.3-Szell/02.+Air.mp3 '''Here on archive.org''']}}

Shortly after accepting the position, Szell remarked that he would "dedicate all [his] efforts...to make The Cleveland Orchestra second to none in quality of performance."<ref name="Rosenberg 2000 229">{{cite book | last=Rosenberg | first=Donald | title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: "Second to None" | pages=229 | location=Cleveland | publisher=Gray & Company | year=2000 | isbn=1-886228-24-8}}</ref> He devoted much of his energy to exacting his will on his musicians — releasing some and hiring others in an effort to achieve his desired sound.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=229; 246–247}}</ref> He expected technical perfection and total commitment from musicians during rehearsals and performances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=243}}</ref> His standards were stringent, his goals lofty: He was singularly focused on elevating the Orchestra to new levels of excellence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=243–244}}</ref>

Not long into his tenure, Szell began making guest appearances in other cities, especially New York, and Cleveland steadily gained a reputation as one of the world's leading ensembles.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=263–264}}</ref> By the early 1950s, he'd grown concerned about "dry" acoustics at Severance Hall — an issue that had preoccupied him since his arrival in Cleveland.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=272}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Charry|first=Michael|title=George Szell: A Life of Music|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2011|location=Urban|pages=178}}</ref> "I only wish you had a hall with acoustics worthy of your great art," said [[Leopold Stokowski]], former conductor of the [[Philadelphia Orchestra]]. "In the hall the music was dry and half dead-sounding."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=273}}</ref> Although plywood was later added to the hall, further changes were still required to achieve Szell's desired tone.<ref name=":0" />

As early as the 1955-56 season, Szell recognized the need for an outdoor venue at which the Orchestra would host summer concerts and programs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=286}}</ref> During the preceding years, summer attendance for Orchestra performances at Cleveland's Public Auditorium had waned and, among the adjustments made to provide employment for the musicians, a series of concerts was played before Cleveland Indians baseball games.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=271–272}}</ref> Around the same time, Szell determined that the Orchestra needed to embark on its first international tour if it hoped to keep pace with other major symphonies.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=285–286}}</ref> As a result, the Orchestra traveled to Europe in the spring of 1957, with stops in Antwerp, Brussels, and behind the Iron Curtain.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=291–294}}</ref> The tour was a success, bringing the Orchestra worldwide acclaim and instilling a sense of pride in the citizens of Cleveland.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=296–297}}</ref>

The next decade or so was a busy and fruitful time for Szell and the Orchestra. By the 1958-59 season, acoustic renovations had been completed on a new stage — the Szell Shell — that surrounded the musicians and projected their tone in a different way, eliminating “dryness” and providing clearer-sounding strings.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Charry|first=Michael|title=George Szell: A Life of Music|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2011|location=Urbana|pages=179}}</ref> In July 1968, the Orchestra opened its new summer home, [[Blossom Music Center]], about 25 miles south of Cleveland, providing Szell and his musicians with year-round employment.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=356–358}}</ref> Two years later, in May 1970, the Orchestra continued to advance its reputation internationally by touring to the Far East, including stops in Japan and Korea.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=389; 392–393}}</ref>

However, Szell's health began to deteriorate.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=389; 396–397}}</ref> During a concert in [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]], [[Alaska]], Szell ceased conducting momentarily and, as cellist Michael Haber recalled, "I felt a chill through my body...I remember thinking something was terribly wrong."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=393}}</ref> Indeed, something was wrong: This was Szell's final performance, and he died on July 30, 1970.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rosenberg|first=Donald|title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None|publisher=Gray & Company|year=2000|location=Cleveland|pages=397}}</ref>

==Conducting style==
Szell's manner in rehearsal was that of an autocratic taskmaster.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=17100 | title=Proper Conduct | author=Bernheimer, M. | date=May 2002 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304141924/http://www.andante.com/article/article.cfm?id=17100 | archive-date=2007-03-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cim.edu/newsIssuesInMusic.php | title=Gary Graffman, CIM Commencement Address | date=May 21, 2007 }}</ref>  He meticulously prepared for rehearsals and could play the entire score on the piano from memory.<ref name="McLanathanBraunBrownTheArts">{{cite book | title=The Arts | author=McLanathan, R.B.K., Braun, G., and Brown, G. | publisher=Ayer Publishing | isbn=0-405-11153-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dht-QrfdzIwC&q=szell+score+memory&pg=PA146 | year=1978 }}</ref> Preoccupied with [[Musical phrasing|phrasing]], transparency, balance and architecture, Szell also insisted upon hitherto unheard-of rhythmic discipline from his players.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bernardadelstein.com/conductors.html | title=Conductors | author=Adelstein, B.}}</ref> The result was often a level of precision and ensemble playing normally found only in the best string quartets.<ref name="NYTimes1999RehearingSzell" /> For all Szell's absolutist methods, many of the orchestra's players were proud of the musical integrity to which he aspired.<ref name="McLanathanBraunBrownTheArts" /> Video footage also shows that Szell took care to explain what he wanted and why, expressed delight when the orchestra produced what he was aiming for, and avoided over-rehearsing parts that were in good shape.<ref name="YoutubeSzellBeethovenSym5Mvt2">{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXCD5Cuum6c | title=Video of Szell rehearsing the 2nd movement of Beethoven Fifth Symphony | website=[[YouTube]] }}</ref> His left hand, which he used to shape each sound, was often called the most graceful in music.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=The Glorious Instrument | magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] | date= 22 February 1963 | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828034-4,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209094355/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828034-4,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 9, 2008 | access-date=2008-06-07 }}</ref>

As a result of Szell's exactitude and very thorough rehearsals, some critics (such as [[Donald Vroon]], editor of ''[[American Record Guide]]'') have censured Szell's music-making as lacking emotion.  In response to such criticism, Szell expressed this credo: "The borderline is very thin between clarity and coolness, self-discipline and severity. There exist different nuances of warmth &mdash; from the chaste warmth of Mozart to the sensuous warmth of Tchaikovsky, from the noble passion of ''[[Fidelio]]'' to the lascivious passion of ''[[Salome (opera)|Salome]]''.  I cannot pour chocolate sauce over asparagus."<ref name="Rosenberg, Donald 2000 p. 238">Rosenberg, Donald (2000). The Cleveland Orchestra Story: "Second to None". Cleveland: Gray & Company, p. 238. {{ISBN|1-886228-24-8}}</ref>  He further stated: "It is perfectly legitimate to prefer the hectic, the arhythmic, the untidy.  But to my mind, great artistry is not disorderliness."<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828034-5,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219124325/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828034-5,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 19, 2010 | magazine=Time | title=Music: The Glorious Instrument | date=1963-02-22}}</ref>

He has been described as a "literalist", playing only what is in the score. However, Szell was quite prepared to play music in unconventional ways if he thought the music needed these; and, like most other conductors before and since, he made many small modifications to orchestrations and notes in the works of Beethoven, Schubert and others.<ref name="NYTimes1999RehearingSzell">{{cite journal | journal=New York Times | title=Rehearing Szell: Intensity Without Ponderousness | date=July 18, 1999 | author=Schiff, D. | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05EFD71E3CF93BA25754C0A96F958260 }}</ref>

[[Cloyd Duff]], timpanist with the [[Cleveland Orchestra]], once recalled how Szell had insisted that he play the [[snare drum]] part in [[Concerto for Orchestra (Bartók)|Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra]], an instrument which he was not supposed to play. A month after having recorded the concerto in [[Cleveland]] (October 1959), it was to be performed at [[Carnegie Hall]], as part of an annual two-week tour of the Eastern United States along with [[Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)|Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5]]. Szell had begun getting increasingly irritated about the [[side drum]] part in the second movement and by the time they reached [[New York City]], Szell's escalation was going off the scale. "Starting with the one who had played on the recording, Szell tried out each of the staff percussionists on the side drum part. He made them so nervous that, one by one, they all stumbled. Finally Szell turned to timpanist Cloyd Duff."<ref name="Charry Michael">Charry, Michael (CD booklet insert: Prokofiev-Symphony No. 5; Bartok-Concerto for Orchestra, Sony Masterworks Heritage Series, Sony Classical, Catalogue# MHK63124)</ref>

This is the story as Duff tells it:<ref name="Charry Michael"/>

{{blockquote|Szell came to me and said to me, "Cloyd I want you to play the snare drum part. I remember how you played these things in Philadelphia [over twenty years earlier at the Robin Hood Dell when Szell was guest conductor and Duff was a student at [[Curtis Institute of Music|Curtis]]]." He had an awfully good memory, he liked my percussion playing. He said, "I want you to play the part," and I really blew my lid. I said, "You're ruining the whole section. Nobody can make a diminuendo to please you because they're so nervous. Every one of those men is capable of doing that." He said, "Even so, I want you to play the part." I said, "Do you realize how silly that will look, to see me get up from the timpani to go over to the snare drum and then back to the timpani and back to the snare drum at the end?" I said, "It's really uncalled for," or words to that effect. But, he said, "OK, but I want you to play that part. It's very important that we do it just right." I said, "OK, I'll play it for you, but don't you dare look at me." So when I played it, I played it louder than they had played it before so I had more room to make a diminuendo. Everybody was a little bit shocked that I had played it as loudly as I did. But Szell, true to his word, looked away, didn't look at me once and I didn't look at him under the circumstances.}}

Szell's reputation as a perfectionist was well-known, and his knowledge of instruments was deep. The Cleveland trumpeter [[Bernard Adelstein]]  recounted Szell's knowledge of the trumpet:<ref name="Charry Michael"/>

{{blockquote|He knew all the [[Fingering (music)|fingering]]s on the trumpet. For example, on the C-trumpet, the "E" on the fourth space is played open, with no [[Piston valve#Brass instruments|valve]], and it's a flat note. But there are two other options on the C-trumpet. You can play the same note with the first and second valves or the third valve. Both of them sound sharp. The third valve is a little sharp and the first and second valves together sounds even sharper. And he knew that. He called me in once when we were playing an octave in ''[[Don Juan (Strauss)|Don Juan]].'' He said, "The 'E' is a flat note on the C-trumpet." I said, "Yes, that's why I play it on one and two." He said, "But one and two is sharp, isn't it?" I said, "Yes, but I make an adjustment, by lengthening the first slide a little bit." And he said, "Ah, yes, but it's still out of tune."}}

==Repertoire==
Szell primarily conducted works from the core Austro-German classical and romantic repertoire, from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, through Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms and on to Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler and Strauss.  He said once that as he got older he consciously narrowed his repertoire, feeling it was "actually my task to do those works which I thought I'm best qualified to do, and for which a certain tradition is disappearing with the disappearance of the great conductors who were my contemporaries and my idols and my unpaid teachers."<ref>{{cite news | author=Kozinn, Allan | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A07E7DE173FF93AA25753C1A961958260&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fOrganizations%2fC%2fCleveland%20Orchestra | title=Filling Out the Picture of an Autocratic Maestro | work=The New York Times | date=19 October 1997 | access-date=2007-07-15}}</ref>  He did program contemporary music, however; he gave numerous world premieres in Cleveland, and he was particularly associated with such composers as [[Henri Dutilleux|Dutilleux]], [[William Walton|Walton]], [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]], [[Paul Hindemith|Hindemith]] and [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]].  Szell also helped initiate the Cleveland Orchestra's long association with the composer-conductor [[Pierre Boulez]].<ref name="McLanathanBraunBrownTheArts" />  Szell recorded as a pianist with the Budapest String quartet [https://www.classicalsource.com/cd/mozart-szell-goodman-the-budapest-quartet/]; and also as a duo with Cleveland Orchestra concertmaster, violinist [[Rafael Druian]], on four sonatas by Mozart.  [https://www.discogs.com/release/3413529-Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart-George-Szell-Rafael-Druian-Four-Sonatas-For-Piano-And-Violin?srsltid=AfmBOorLYlo5o5jnv4uNe-_4w4v1wiHvaa5foqXT5UHA5hdlynaNGBm_]

==Other orchestras==
{{external media|float=right|width=190px|audio1=You may hear George Szell conducting [[Johann Strauss II]]'s ''[[On the Beautiful Blue Danube]]'' Op. 314 with the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] in 1934  [https://archive.org/details/JOHANNSTRAUSSTheBlueDanube-Waltz-NEWTRANSFERJOHANNSTRAUSSTheBlueDanubeWaltz '''Here on archive.org'''] |audio2= George Szell and the Columbia Symphony Orchestra with Robert Casadesus in Mozart's: Piano Concerto No 22 in e flat, K.482 & Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 in 1960 [https://archive.org/details/lp_mozart-concertos-no-22-in-e-flat-k-482_wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-robert-casadesus-g/disc1/01.01.+Concerto+No.+22+In+E-Flat+Major%2C+K.+482%3A+I+-+Allegro.mp3 '''Here on arch;ive.org''']}}
After World War II Szell became closely associated with the [[Concertgebouw Orchestra]] of [[Amsterdam]], where he was a frequent guest conductor and made a number of recordings.  He also regularly appeared with the [[London Symphony Orchestra]], [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]], the [[Vienna Philharmonic]], and at the [[Salzburg Festival]].  From 1942 to 1955, he was an annual guest conductor of the [[New York Philharmonic]] and served as Musical Advisor and senior guest conductor of that orchestra in the last year of his life. In 1960 he conducted the [[Columbia Symphony Orchestra]] with [[Robert Casadesus]] in a recording for Columbia Masterworks of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat, K.482 and Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 (ML 5594, 1960).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/lp_mozart-concertos-no-22-in-e-flat-k-482_wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-robert-casadesus-g|title=Mozart Concertos - No. 22 In E-Flat, K. 482 / No. 23 In A Major, K. 488|date=June 7, 1960|website=Archive.org|access-date=June 7, 2024}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Szell married twice.  The first, in 1920 to Olga Band (1898-1984), another of [[Richard Robert]]'s pupils, ended in divorce in 1926.<ref>[http://www.hansgal.com/biography/2-musicaleducation.html hansgal.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001082151/http://www.hansgal.com/biography/2-musicaleducation.html |date=2013-10-01 }}; Retrieved 28 August 2013</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/georgeszelllifeo00char <!-- quote=olga band. --> Michael Charry, ''George Szell: A Life of Music'', pp. 6, 19]; Retrieved 28 August 2013</ref> His second marriage, in 1938 to Helene Schultz Teltsch, originally from Prague, was much happier, and lasted until his death.<ref name=Henahan/><ref>{{cite web | author=Charry, Michael | url=http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/szell/bio.html | title=George Szell: Biography and Chronology | publisher=SonyClassical | year=2005 | access-date=2007-07-15 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://archive.today/20051018001155/http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/szell/bio.html | archive-date=2005-10-18 }}</ref>  Szell had homes on [[Park Avenue]] in New York City and in [[Shaker Heights, Ohio|Shaker Heights]], near Cleveland's orchestra hall.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mayer |first1=Martin |author1-link=Martin Mayer |title=Szell, Still Storming After 50 Years; The fiery maestro brings his orchestra to New York for its 50th Carnegie Hall concert. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/02/archives/szell-still-storming-after-50-years-the-fiery-maestro-brings-his.html |access-date=7 April 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=2 Feb 1964}}</ref><ref>The home was at [https://www.google.com/maps/place/14215+Larchmere+Blvd,+Shaker+Heights,+OH+44120/@41.4868259,-81.5819878,17.87z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x8830fc8caedbb63b:0x25f2bc137b6b188a!8m2!3d41.4868672!4d-81.5821345!16s%2Fg%2F11c16hgwym?coh=164777&entry=tt 14215 Larchmere Boulevard] according to a [https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2972&context=temianka_correspondence telegram from Szell] to [[Henri Temianka]], a [https://www.facebook.com/groups/473473359331705/posts/3463706920308319/?comment%20id=3464561233556221 2020 Facebook post] and [https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/14215-Larchmere-Blvd-Shaker-Heights-OH-44120/33683364%20zpid/? a real estate listing].</ref> When not making music, he was a gourmet cook and an automobile enthusiast. He regularly refused the services of the orchestra's chauffeur and drove his own [[Cadillac]] to rehearsal until almost the end of his life.

The British government made Szell an honorary [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in 1963.

==Death==
He died from [[bone-marrow cancer]] in Cleveland in 1970.  His body was cremated, and his ashes were buried, in [[Sandy Springs, Georgia]], along with his wife upon her death in 1991.<ref>{{Google books|id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons|page=730|keywords=szell}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{external media|float=right|width=190px|audio1=You may hear George Szell conducting [[Felix Mendelssohn]]'s [[Symphony No. 4 (Mendelssohn)|Symphony No. 4 in A major, Op. 90 ("Italian")]] with the [[Cleveland Orchestra]] in 1947  [https://archive.org/details/MendelssohnSymphonyNo.4-szell/01.I.AllegroVivace.mp3 '''Here on archive.org''']}}
Most of Szell's recordings were made with the Cleveland Orchestra for [[Epic Records|Epic]]/[[Columbia Masterworks Records|Columbia Masterworks]] (now [[Sony Classical Records|Sony Classical]]). He also made recordings with the New York Philharmonic, the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] and the [[Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra]]. Many live stereo recordings of repertoire Szell never conducted in the studio exist, both with the Cleveland Orchestra and other orchestras.

Below is a selection of Szell's more notable recordings — all with Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra (issued by Sony, unless otherwise noted).
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}
'''[[Béla Bartók]]''':
*[[Concerto for Orchestra (Bartók)|Concerto for Orchestra]] (1965)
'''[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]''':
*The 9 Symphonies (1957–64)
*Symphony No. 6 (New York Philharmonic)
*The Piano Concertos; [[Leon Fleisher]] (p) (1959–61)
*The Piano Concertos; [[Emil Gilels]] (p) (1968, EMI)
*''[[Missa Solemnis (Beethoven)|Missa Solemnis]]'' (1967, TCO)
'''[[Johannes Brahms]]''':
*The 4 Symphonies (1964–67)
*Piano Concertos; Leon Fleisher (p) (1958 & 1962)
* Piano Concerto No1 Clifford Curzon (p) (1962)
*Piano Concertos; [[Rudolf Serkin]] (p) (1968 & 1966)
*[[Violin Concerto (Brahms)|Violin Concerto]]; [[David Oistrakh]] (vn) (1969, EMI)
*[[Double Concerto (Brahms)|Concerto for violin and violoncello]]; David Oistrakh (vn), [[Mstislav Rostropovich]] (vc) (1969, EMI)
'''[[Anton Bruckner]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 3 (Bruckner)|Symphony No. 3]] (1966)
*[[Symphony No. 8 (Bruckner)|Symphony No. 8]] (1969)
'''[[Claude Debussy]]''':
*''[[La mer (Debussy)|La mer]]'' (1963)
'''[[Antonín Dvořák]]''':
*Symphonies Nos. 7-9 (1958–60)
*[[Slavonic Dances]] (1962–65)
*[[Cello Concerto (Dvořák)|Cello Concerto]]; [[Pablo Casals]](vc) / [[Czech Philharmonic Orchestra]] <br>(1937, HMV)
*Cello Concerto; [[Pierre Fournier]](vc) / [[Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra]] <br>(1962, DG)
'''[[Joseph Haydn]]''':
*Symphonies Nos. 88, 92-99, 104 (1954–69)
'''[[Zoltán Kodály]]''':
*''[[Háry János]]'' Suite (1969)
'''[[Gustav Mahler]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 4 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 4]]; [[Judith Raskin]] (sop) (1965)
*[[Symphony No. 6 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 6]] (1967)
*[[Symphony No. 10 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 10]] (Adagio only) (1958)
*''[[Des Knaben Wunderhorn]]''; [[Elisabeth Schwarzkopf]] (sop), [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]] (bar) / [[London Symphony Orchestra]] (1968, EMI)
'''[[Felix Mendelssohn]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 4 (Mendelssohn)|Symphony No. 4]] (1962)
*''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream (Mendelssohn)|A Midsummer Night's Dream]]'', Overture and Incidental Music (1967)
'''[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 39 (Mozart)|Symphony No. 39]] Part of the first series of recording with the [[Cleveland Orchestra]], (Columbia Masterworks MM-801) (April 22, 1947) 
*Symphonies Nos. 28, 33, 35, 39-41 (1960–67)
*''[[Eine kleine Nachtmusik]]'' (Serenade K. 525) (1968)
*[[Mozart piano concertos|Piano Concertos]]; [[Robert Casadesus]] (p) (1955–68)
; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Szell as pianist:
*[[Piano Quartet No. 1 (Mozart)|Piano Quartets Nos. 1]]-[[Piano Quartet No. 2 (Mozart)|2]]; [[Budapest String Quartet]], Szell (p) (1946)
*Violin Sonatas, K. 301, 304, 376 & 296; Rafael Druian (vn), Szell (p) (1967)
{{col-break}}

'''[[Modest Mussorgsky]]''':
*''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]'' (1963)
'''[[Sergei Prokofiev]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 5 (Prokofiev)|Symphony No. 5]] (1959)
*Piano Concertos Nos. [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Prokofiev)|1]] & [[Piano Concerto No. 3 (Prokofiev)|3]]; [[Gary Graffman]] (p) (1966)
'''[[Maurice Ravel]]'''
* ''[[Daphnis et Chloé]]'' Suite No. 2 (1963)
'''[[Franz Schubert]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 8 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished"]] (1957)
*[[Symphony No. 9 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 9 "The Great"]] (1957)
'''[[Robert Schumann]]''':
*The 4 Symphonies (1958–60)
'''[[Jean Sibelius]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 2 (Sibelius)|Symphony No.2]]; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra <br>(1964, Philips)
*Symphony No.2 (1970) &ndash; Live concert in Tokyo, Japan, Szell's last recording.
'''[[Bedřich Smetana]]''':
*''[[Vltava|The Moldau]]'' / [[New York Philharmonic]] (1951/2007 United Archives)
*''[[Prodaná nevěsta|Four Dances from the Bartered Bride]]'' (1958)
*[[String Quartet No. 1 (Smetana)|String Quartet in E minor, ''From My Life'']] (orch. Szell) (1949)
'''[[Richard Strauss]]''':
*''[[Don Juan (Strauss)|Don Juan]]'' (1957)
*''[[Don Quixote (Strauss)|Don Quixote]]''; [[Pierre Fournier]] (vc), [[Abraham Skernick]] (va) (1960)
*''[[Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks|Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche]]'' (1957)
*''[[Death and Transfiguration|Tod und Verklärung]]'' (1957)
*[[Four Last Songs]]; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (S) / [[Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin|Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin]] (1965, EMI)
'''[[Igor Stravinsky]]''':
*''[[The Firebird]]'' Suite (1919 version) (1961)
'''[[Pyotr Tchaikovsky]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 4 (Tchaikovsky)|Symphony No. 4]]; London Symphony Orchestra (1962, Decca)
*[[Symphony No. 5 (Tchaikovsky)|Symphony No. 5]] (1959)
*[[Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky)|Symphony No. 6]]; Cleveland Orchestra (1969)
*''[[Capriccio Italien]]'', Op. 45; Cleveland Orchestra (1958)
'''[[Richard Wagner]]''':
*Overtures, Preludes & Extracts from ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen|The Ring]]'' (1962–68)
*''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', Helen Traubel, Alexander Kipnis, Lauritz Melchior, Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra, live (1942, Music & Arts) 
'''[[William Walton]]''':
*[[Symphony No. 2 (Walton)|Symphony No. 2 "Liverpool"]] (1961)
*Partita for Orchestra (1959)
*Variations on Theme by [[Paul Hindemith|Hindemith]] (1964)
{{external media|float=right|width=190px|audio1=You may hear George Szell conducting [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]'s [[Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)|Symphony No. 40 in G. minor, K. 550]] and [[Jean Sibelius]]'s [[Symphony No. 2 (Sibelius)|Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 43]] with the [[Cleveland Orchestra]] in 1966  [https://archive.org/details/TheClevelandOrchestraInConcert-1964 '''Here on archive.org''']}}
{{col-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book | last=Charry | first=Michael | title=George Szell: A Life of Music | location=Champaign, IL | publisher=University of Illinois Press | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-252-03616-3 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/georgeszelllifeo00char }}
*{{cite encyclopedia | last=Charry | first=Michael  |editor-last=Sadie |editor-first = Stanley  | chapter=George Szell | title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians | edition = 2 | volume = 24 | pages=880–881 | location=London | publisher=MacMillan | year=2001 | isbn=0-333-60800-3}}
*{{cite book | last=Schonberg | first=Harold | pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatconductors00scho/page/337 337]–340; Index | title=The Great Conductors | url=https://archive.org/details/greatconductors00scho | url-access=registration | location=New York | publisher=Simon & Schuster | year=1967 | isbn=0-671-20735-0}}
*{{cite book | last=Slonimsky | first=Nicolas | author-link=Nicolas Slonimsky |author2=Kuhn, Laura Diane  | title=Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians | pages=vol. 6; pp. 3559–3560 | location=New York | publisher=G. Schirmer | year=2001 | isbn=0-02-865525-7 | no-pp=true}}
*{{cite book | last=Donald Rosenberg | author-link=Donald Rosenberg | title=The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None | location=Cleveland, Ohio | publisher=Grey & Company Publishers| year=2000 | isbn=1-886228-24-8 }}

==External links==
* {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=q6109}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060821194426/http://www.szell.co.uk/ George Szell discography]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXCD5Cuum6c Video of Szell rehearsing the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110726042117/http://www.europarchive.org/item.php?id=lp-00759_BeG European archive] Copyright free LP recording of Brahms 3rd symphony by George Szell (conductor) and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra at the European Archive (for non-American viewers only).

{{Cleveland Orchestra conductors}}
{{RSNO principal conductors}}
{{NYPhil music directors}}
{{Laurel Leaf Award}}
{{Gramophone Hall of Fame}}
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