István Kertész (conductor) "Fidelio" and "La bohème". In March 1960, Kertész was invited to become General Music Director of the Augsburg Opera—a post especially created for him. There he conducted performances of Mozart's "The Magic Flute", "The Abduction from the Seraglio", "Così fan tutte", and "The Marriage of Figaro", earning himself a reputation as one of the finest interpreters of Mozart's work. With exhilarating performances of Verdi's "Rigoletto", "Don Carlos", "Otello" and "Falstaff", and Richard Strauss's "Salome", "Arabella", and "Der Rosenkavalier", Kertész also proved himself a master of the finest of Italian Romantic operas. Invited to the Salzburg Festival, he conducted "The Abduction
Donald Shanks (bass-baritone) "Norma" with Dame Joan Sutherland, "La bohème" with Luciano Pavarotti, and Banquo in "Macbeth" with Sherrill Milnes. Other roles he became associated with were Zaccharia in "Nabucco", Rocco in "Fidelio", Osmin in "The Abduction from the Seraglio", Boris in "Boris Godunov", Timur in "Turandot", Ramphis in "Aida", Pistol in "Falstaff", Kekal in "The Bartered Bride", Baron Ochs in "Der Rosenkavalier", Nourabad in "The Pearl Fishers", the Commendatore in "Don Giovanni", and a major role in Leoš Janáček's "The Cunning Little Vixen". He created the role of The Maestro in Alan John's 1995 opera "The Eighth Wonder" at the Sydney Opera