AllMovie

This documentary is a tribute to the legendary conductor of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, George Szell. Born in 1897 in Budapest, Hungary, Szell was a child prodigy pianist and composer. He studied in Vienna until 1914 and in 1915 became assistant conductor to the German composer Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera. After a distinguished career in Europe, he came to the United States in 1939, where he conducted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and then became permanent conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1946. He served in that capacity until his death in 1970. Known for his exacting and restrained style, he is considered one of the great conductors of the 20th century. The film contains sensational rehearsal and performance footage of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, and an excerpt from Berg's Violin Concerto. The video is made from a 1966 television special on Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra produced for The Bell Telephone Hour.