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The maestro known for guiding the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to international acclaim, Georg Solti, died. He is considered one of the greatest orchestral conductors of the modern era.

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JIM LEHRER: Now, our second music story: Remembering Conductor, Sir Georg Solti, and to Phil Ponce.

PHIL PONCE: A maestro considered one of the greatest orchestral conductors of the modern era, Solti died in his sleep this weekend at the age of 84. In a career spanning more than six decades the Hungarian-born Solti held directorships at nine major orchestras, opera houses, and music festivals worldwide. But he was best known for guiding the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to international acclaim as music director from 1969 to 1991. Here is Solti in action with the Chicago Symphony in a rehearsal and performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

SIR GEORG SOLTI: (1989) That four notes probably most famous four notes in the history of music, the most well-known four notes in the history of music--ta-ta-ta-ta. Here it is. ("Beethoven's Fifth Symphony" playing) A little more. A little more. Ta-ta—very beginning--almost nearly have it. Could you use a little more sound--it should be violent--really violent. ("Beethoven's Fifth Symphony" playing)

PHIL PONCE: With us now is Tim Page, classical music writer for the "Washington Post," and 1996 Pulitzer Prize winner for music criticism. Mr. Page, you just heard one of the most familiar pieces of music that exists. What makes--what made a Solti performance of "Beethoven's Fifth" different from that of any other conductor?

TIM PAGE, Washington Post: Well, he was terribly vigorous and terribly alive. There was something charged and exciting about almost all of his performances, a real intensity, and there was also something which was, I think, his own, which was this kind of vast dialectic of, you know, the strings would play and the brass would play, and they'd get a little bit louder, and it would become kind of a real--not exactly a competition but a sort of agitated partnership.

PHIL PONCE: So when you say vast dialectic, you mean this sort of--

TIM PAGE: Pushing--

PHIL PONCE: --tension between the different sections.

TIM PAGE: Yes and no. And, yes, that's more--that's what was going on, and--

PHIL PONCE: What kind of a sound was he after?

TIM PAGE: A big fall three-dimensional sound, I mean, just a sound that had a great deal of power, had a great deal of intensity, and force, and one thing about Solti was you never ever thought he was going to run out of energy. I think that's a terrific clip we just saw because it shows him when he must have been probably pushing 80. And there he is, absolutely dynamic, on the podium, saying, I want it more violent, I want to hear the brass, I want to, you know, I'm just getting very excited and conducting that sort of trademark style. You know, it almost looks like he's doing the twist at times.

PHIL PONCE: Would you say that it was more of a muscular approach to music, as opposed to more lyrical?

TIM PAGE: It was a very muscular approach. I mean, people would sometimes say that the Chicago sound sort of mirrored the city, itself, that it was big and brash and bold and really quite strong. And I think there's something to be said for that with Solti too because he--his performances--they could be very sensitive but they weren't known for reticence.

PHIL PONCE: What would an audience see? I mean, if you're sitting in an orchestra hall or someplace else watching Sir Georg conduct, what would you see as an audience member that you might not see in another conductor?

TIM PAGE: Well, a great deal of agitation on the podium. I mean, it's funny that one of his earlier colleagues was Fritz Reiner, who would conduct sort of like this, you know, and then you had Solti, and, of course, he was sort of all over the place, although he wasn't as balletic and histrionic as say somebody like Leonard Bernstein.

PHIL PONCE: Although, at one point he actually hurt himself on the podium, didn't he?

TIM PAGE: Oh, it doesn't surprise me. Yes. You know, conductors have died in the middle of performances. I mean, it's a very strenuous workout. I think it was Bernstein that said he used to lose about three pounds in one performance. It sounds a little high to me, but maybe not that high.

PHIL PONCE: Can an ordinary person tell the difference between conductors when listening to a recording or if you're sitting in a--sitting in a concert hall say with your eyes closed?

TIM PAGE: It depends on who it is.

PHIL PONCE: Could you tell the difference when it was Solti?

TIM PAGE: Absolutely when it was Solti. For better and for worse, there is real emphasis on strain and strife and dazzling the audience and dazzling the music. Sometimes, for me at least, it got a little much, especially in his last years, but there was never ever doubting that this was an absolute master of the podium, who knew what he was doing, and he gave you that. And in certain pieces he was absolutely unsurpassed. I would still say that his first performance of that huge work by Wagner, "The Ring Cycle," is probably still the best recording. And they began making that record just about 40 years ago.

PHIL PONCE: And some of the criticisms of the sound that he was after were--what would people say as far as his possibly going over the top?

TIM PAGE: I think there was sometimes a sense that he was--he was goal-oriented and sort of furious to a degree that maybe went a little to far. You sometimes had the sense that we were hearing the most amazing horns in the world, the most amazing orchestra in the world, the most amazing, the most amazing, on and on, but we we're always hearing gentler moments in a piece, more subtle moments in a piece.

PHIL PONCE: Some people might saying that he was playing to the orchestra's strengths, for example, the CSO, the Chicago Symphony, was known for their brass--

TIM PAGE: Sure. Absolutely. And the question becomes whether an orchestra really should be known for one section, like Chicago was, or whether it should be something like the Cleveland Orchestra, which is known for not being known for its sections. It's known as sort of a big communal orchestra, where everybody is sort of on the same level as the others. And it's--you know, it's a difference in philosophies. It doesn't matter--I would never want to say one was right or one was wrong. But--

PHIL PONCE: But as long as you brought up the issue of orchestras, I mean, there's such sensitivity and interest in the relative ranks of the different orchestras. What kind of an impact did Sir Georg Solti have on the Chicago symphony as far as its reputation?

TIM PAGE: Well, he took what was already there and made it more so. It was already well known as a terrific virtuoso orchestra. Some of his old Fritz Reiner recordings are still--again, like Solti's "Ring"--

PHIL PONCE: Again, Fritz Reiner being one of his predecessors.

TIM PAGE: Fritz Reiner was one of his predecessors. And some of those recordings show that it was just a spectacular orchestra then, but Solti brought electricity and muscle and a certain personal style. Many conductors nowadays try to avoid having a personal style. They prefer to let the--let the music determine their style, rather than their style determine the music. Again, it's a question of philosophy. But Solti knew exactly what he anted from an orchestra. And what was amazing when he left Chicago is that he could conduct say a student orchestra one night and the Vienna Philharmonic the next, and they'd all sound like a Chicago symphony. I mean, he really carried that sound with him, and he instilled into any musicians that he worked with. And you have to hand it to him for that. You know, in an era of faceless proficiency, he really managed to have his own style.

PHIL PONCE: Would you say that the prevailing philosophy among other conductors now is--for want of a better term--a more homogenous approach then?

TIM PAGE: I would say so. And I would say also it tends to be a little more focused on the music, itself, rather than the effects that can be made with the music. There were times when Solti reminded me a little bit of Stokowski, Leopold Stokowski, who I think is probably best known to people from "Fantasia," but he was with the Philadelphia orchestra for many years. He emphasized the strings, but you were always talking about the Stokowski sound, and even those of us who felt that he sometimes went a little far and made it too creamy and too smooth, we still knew it was Stokowski and that was terrific.

Now, the thing with Solti, of course, is the opposite. It's--sometimes people found him too agitated and too fast, and too brilliant. There was always a rumor that the Chicago Symphony tuned it's "a" to a higher "a" than the usual 44 cycles per second. You know, the oboe comes out and plays the "a" note and the orchestra tunes to that. And it was always rumored, although never proven, that Solti would actually tune it a little bit higher just for a little extra brilliance.

PHIL PONCE: A question which will have to remain unanswered. Tim Page, I thank you very much.

TIM PAGE: It's been a pleasure.

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