Szell, George

Szell, George

(1897–1970) conductor; born in Budapest, Hungary. A child prodigy as pianist and composer, he made his conducting debut with the Berlin Philharmonic at age 17, conducting his own music. He went on to lead various opera orchestras including the Berlin State Opera (1924–29). After conducting the Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow for three years, he came to the U.S.A. in 1939 and guest-conducted widely. Named conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in 1944, he left two years later to take over the Cleveland Orchestra, which in the decades until his death he built into one of the great ensembles of the world, his interpretations marked by a remarkable clarity and elegance of playing—achieved by means of a famously dictatorial approach. During his Cleveland tenure Szell continued to guest-conduct worldwide, notably at the Salzburg Festivals (1949–68).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.