“He took this Central German theater in Essen and he turned it, in 17 years, into the most effective ensemble homes in Europe, and he turned the Essen Philharmonic into an absolute A-grade orchestra,” the Australian opera director Barrie Kosky, who collaborated with Mr. Soltesz on 4 productions on the Aalto Theater within the early 2000s, stated on Saturday after studying of Mr. Soltesz’s loss of life. Mr. Kosky was talking from Salzburg, Austria, the place he was rehearsing a brand new manufacturing of Janacek’s “Kat’a Kabanova” that he’s directing subsequent month on the Salzburg Competition.
Throughout his profession, Mr. Soltesz additionally led performances all through Asia, and in 1992, he made his United States debut with the Nationwide Opera with a efficiency of Verdi’s “Otello” on the Kennedy Middle in Washington. Mr. Soltesz is survived by his spouse, Michaela Selinger, a mezzo soprano.
“He was a really high-quality, refined musician, and music, you already know, was first. He got here second,” Mr. Dorny, a Belgian impresario who stated he had recognized Mr. Soltesz for the reason that Nineties when he ran the Competition of Flanders, stated on Saturday.
“He was the right diener for the artwork type,” Mr. Dorny added, utilizing the German phrase for servant.
On Friday evening, Mr. Soltesz was conducting a revival of Mr. Kosky’s 2010 manufacturing of Strauss’s not often carried out “The Silent Girl,” as a part of the Bavarian State Opera’s summer season pageant. Mr. Soltesz had beforehand led different revivals of the manufacturing. And it was considered one of a number of all through Germany that he and Mr. Kosky had labored on collectively.
“He was an incredible musician,” Mr. Kosky stated, singling out Mr. Soltesz’s interpretations of Strauss for prime reward, including, “He understood the thought of orchestra accompanying, and understood the thought of the structure of an act — or a three-act opera. He understood that, and he was at residence within the pits. That was his residence.”
“In a world of dilettantes,” Mr. Kosky stated, “he was the actual factor.”
