Solti’s last interview: ‘Would you kindly not bring out so much my love of ladies?’

Searching for something else online, I stumbled across an interview I conducted with Solti 19 years ago, the last one of his life. It was the happiest I had ever seen him, the day of his daughter’s engagement, and we spent the whole morning in reckless mood, sharing unbuttoned intimacies.

Sample:

At a recent record industry party, he recalled being lobbied by an American executive who was defending three-minute shellacs against Decca’s long-playing record. Solti heard the man out, then said: “Tell me, what do you prefer – coitus interruptus, or coitus? Myself, I like coitus.”

Read the full, fond interview here.

I cannot believe it’s almost two decades since he has been gone.

portrait (c) Robin Del Mar/Lebrecht, 1995