This collection of overtures – many of them appearing internationally on Decca CD for the first time – comes from the very start of Georg Solti’s recording career. That for Beethoven’s Egmont was, in fact, his first recording as conductor, issued as a 78rpm record. The two Rossini overtures were issued as a 45rpm and the Verdi was included on a collection of other overtures and orchestral music from opera.

Solti re-recorded several of the overtures in this collection in stereo with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. But for sheer explosive energy, these rare mono recordings from the late-1940s and the first half of the 1950s remain as persuasive as ever and are collectors’ items.

‘The playing is real musical, intelligent, and interested.’ - (Suppé) Gramophone, November 1951

‘Most enjoyable … well recorded’ - (Verdi) Gramophone, July 1951

‘First-rate, both of them, with every player on his toes (which is the only position in which to play Rossini) and the result is of both charm and virtuosity. A bright recording suits the character of the music…’ - (Rossini) Gramophone, December 1955

Recording locations:
- Radio Studio, Zurich, Switzerland, 25 June 1947 (Egmont)
- Kingsway Hall, London, UK, 29 & 31 August 1949 (La forza del destino), 6 & 10 April 1951 (Suppé overtures), 25 February 1955 (L’italiana in Algeri), 21 April 1955 (Il barbiere di Siviglia)