- Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra (1946-1970).
- He made the then (1946) obscure Cleveland Orchestra into one of the great orchestras of the world and into one of the five leading orchestras in the United States - the others being the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
- Became a US citizen in 1946.
- Was also serving as Music Advisor and senior guest conductor of the New York Philharmonic at the time of his death, after Leonard Bernstein stepped down as music director.
- Was on his way back to Europe in 1939 when WWII broke out, leaving him marooned in New York City. Conducted at the Metropolitan Opera from 1942 to 1946, when he was offered the post of permanent conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra.
- Conducted opera in Prague and Berlin; left Germany when Hitler rose to power.
- Pictured on one of a set of eight 32¢ US commemorative postage stamps in the Legends of American Music series, issued 12 September 1997, celebrating "Classical Composers & Conductors". Others honored in this issue are Leopold Stokowski, Arthur Fiedler, Eugene Ormandy, Samuel Barber, Ferde Grofé Sr., Charles Ives, and Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
- When former Metropolitan Opera General Manager (1950 - 1972) Sir Rudolf Bing was told that Szell was his own worst enemy, Bing supposedly replied, "Not while I am alive!"
- Single-handedly demolished the reputation of conductor Enrique Jorda, then the conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Szell had been invited to guest conduct the orchestra, and was shocked at the lack of preparation among the musicians, for which he blamed Jorda. His criticism led directly to Jorda's dismissal.
- When not making music, he was a gourmet cook and an automobile enthusiast. He regularly refused the services of the orchestra's chauffeur and drove his own Cadillac to rehearsal until almost the end of his life.
- Most of Szell's recordings were made with the Cleveland Orchestra for Epic/Columbia Masterworks (now Sony Classical).
- After World War II Szell became closely associated with the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, where he was a frequent guest conductor and made a number of recordings.
- Through his recordings, Szell has remained a presence in the classical music world long after his death, and his name remains synonymous with that of the Cleveland Orchestra. While on tour with the Orchestra in the late 1980s, then-Music Director Christoph von Dohnányi remarked, "We give a great concert, and George Szell gets a great review.".
- Through his recordings, Szell has remained a presence in the classical music world long after his death, and his name remains synonymous with that of the Cleveland Orchestra.
- Richard Strauss had arranged for Szell to rehearse the orchestra for him, but having overslept, showed up an hour late to the recording session. Since the recording session was already paid for, and only Szell was there, Szell conducted the first half of the recording (since no more than four minutes of music could fit onto one side of a 78, the music was broken up into four sections). Strauss arrived as Szell was finishing conducting the second part; he exclaimed that what he heard was so good that it could go out under his own name. Strauss went on to record the last two parts, leaving the Szell-conducted half as part of the full world premiere recording of Don Juan.
- At the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, Szell was returning via the U.S. from an Australian tour; he ended up settling with his family in New York City.
- Szell credited Strauss as being a major influence on his conducting style. Much of Szell's baton technique, the Cleveland Orchestra's lean, transparent sound and Szell's willingness to be an orchestra builder, were influenced by Strauss.
- From 1940 to 1945 he taught composition, orchestration, and music theory at the Mannes College of Music in Manhattan; his composition students at Mannes included George Rochberg and Ursula Mamlok.[.
- Throughout his teenage years he performed with orchestras in this dual role, eventually making appearances as composer, pianist and conductor, as he did with the Berlin Philharmonic at age seventeen.
- Szell began his formal music training as a pianist, studying with Richard Robert. One of Robert's other students was Rudolf Serkin; Szell and Serkin became lifelong friends and musical collaborators.
- At the age of eleven, he began touring Europe as a pianist and composer, making his London debut at that age. Newspapers declared him "the next Mozart.".
- In 1915, at the age of 18, Szell won an appointment with Berlin's Royal Court Opera (now known as the Staatsoper). There, he was befriended by its Music Director, Richard Strauss. Strauss instantly recognized Szell's talent and was particularly impressed with how well the teenager conducted Strauss's music. Strauss once said that he could die a happy man knowing that there was someone who performed his music so perfectly. In fact, Szell ended up conducting part of the world premiere recording of Don Juan for Strauss.
- Szell's reputation as a perfectionist was well-known, and his knowledge of instruments was deep. The Cleveland trumpeter Bernard Adelstein recounted Szell's knowledge of the trumpet: He knew all the fingerings on the trumpet. For example, on the C-trumpet, the "E" on the fourth space is played open, with no valve, and it's a flat note. But there are two other options on the C-trumpet. You can play the same note with the first and second valves or the third valve. Both of them sound sharp. The third valve is a little sharp and the first and second valves together sounds even sharper. And he knew that. He called me in once when we were playing an octave in Don Juan. He said, "The 'E' is a flat note on the C-trumpet." I said, "Yes, that's why I play it on one and two." He said, "But one and two is sharp, isn't it?" I said, "Yes, but I make an adjustment, by lengthening the first slide a little bit." And he said, "Ah, yes, but it's still out of tune.".
- He also made recordings with the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. Many live stereo recordings of repertoire Szell never conducted in the studio exist, both with the Cleveland Orchestra and other orchestras.
- The British government made Szell an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1963.
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