"Solti" by Paul Robinson

."a beautifully balanced assessment.The author has obviously drawn extensively on personal experience and he expresses himself with clarity, precision and a refreshing impartiality.Robinson displays a scrupulous knowledge of the scores and of the ethos of the works in question."

-Jeffrey Joseph, "Music and Musicians," September, 1979. Excerpts from a review of the first edition of "Solti."

When Sir Georg Solti died in 1997 he was at the height of his powers and one of the conducting titans of his generation. The Hungarian-born Solti conducted like a man...

Herbert von Karajan emerged after World War II as the most important conductor of his generation. In 1955 he became conductor-for-life of the Berlin Philharmonic and the following year became director of the Vienna State Opera. He made frequent international tours and recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic and the combination of the charismatic conductor and his remarkable orchestra became the stuff of legend. Karajan died in 1989 at the age of 81 but his reputation lives on through his vast number of recordings and films and through the memories of those who witnessed his incomparable...

On these pages one encounters the moving image of the holy God with Isaiah in the temple, the powerful call to justice through the thundering voice of Amos, the depth of despair in the heart of Jeremiah, and the struggle for faithfulness in the prophetic work of Hosea, Elijah, and others.
"Underlying every page is the presence of Jesus of Nazareth, who is constantly uppermost as each sermon unfolds. Robinson's writing, like his preaching, reveals a person who is in close touch with the common ventures of life. More significantly he is in touch with the common people of the working,...