Allan warren · CC BY-SA 3.0

Born György Stern in Budapest, Solti trained under Béla Bartók and worked at Salzburg for Toscanini before Hungary's anti-Jewish laws forced him to flee in 1938; barred from conducting in wartime Switzerland, he supported himself as a pianist instead. He rebuilt his career after the war, leading the Bavarian State Opera, raising the Royal Opera House to international standard during a decade at Covent Garden, and becoming the longtime music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.