The name’s Solti.

Claudia Solti.

She’s the daughter of King Georg and she’s in the thick of rehearsing Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, opening at the Mariinsky in St Petersburg on July 23. Her father gave its London premiere with the Royal Opera House in 1961.

I think it’s her major house debut. Valery Gergiev liked and admired old King Georg and took over the World Orchestra for Peace when he died. Nice to see the link extended.

The great Czech violinist Josef Suk has died, aged 81.

He was a great-grandson of Antonin Dvorak and grandon of his son-in-law, also Josef Suk, a virtuoso performer and composer of Asrael.

He recorded all the major concertos for the national label, Supraphon, and had occasional excursions on foreign labels. For me, his most memorable performances were the Janacek sonata and the Alban Berg concerto.

Requiescat in pace.