Silvestri Conducts Enescu and More
George Murnu
that really the answers my prayers, since it contains Silvestri's
Bournemouth performances of Enescu's 1st Symphony and first two Suites
for Orchestra, filling an important gap. Plus we have Silvestri
conducting Mozart (Symphony no. 29 and Overture to The Magic Flute),
Prokofiev (Classical Symphony), Dvorak (Slavonic dances nr 3-5), as
well as a work by Silvestri himself: Three Pieces for String
Orchestra. None of the works were recorded by Silvestri in the
studio.
The pick of the pack for me is the superb reading of Enescu's 1st
Symphony. For those who know Silvestri's reading of Elgar's In the
South, the performance of Enescu's symphony is just as good and cut
from the same cloth: full of an unbridled energy. This is for me the
dream recording and it may even convert those who were lukewarm of
Enescu's composition.
Of the suites, I prefer Silvestri's reading of the 1st over that of
the 2nd. But another revelation was the Mozart: this is some of the
best big band Mozart that I heard, especially the Overture to The
Magic Flute. Indeed, I am prepared to say that Silvestri is one of
the great Mozart conductors, basing my judgement not only on this CD,
but also on his other Mozart performances (Mass in C minor, Piano
Concerto no. 22 with Anda, Violin Concerto no. 3 with Kogan.)
The Dvorak dances are full of zest, although one cannot help thinking
what would Silvestri have achieved with the Czech Philharmonic which
he conducted so memorabilly on other occasions (the Bournemouth
Symphony is the orchestra in all of the works, if I didn't make that
clear.) Fianlly, Silvestri's own piece is folk-influenced and well
written. He throws himself with an intensity known to his fans from
his marvelous recording of the Tallis Fantasia (one of the best ever
recordings of that piece.)
The sound is comparable to the other BBC releases of Silvestri
recordings. In fact BBC erased most of Silvestri's tapes and the
source of most of those BBC Legends as well as the present CD is the
tapes that Silvestri himsef made.
Sadly, this is not a BBC Legends release (though made in cooperation
with the BBC); sadly because of the limited distribution. The CD was
made by a new label called Romanian Musical Adventure:
http://www.romanianmusicaladventure.org/index.html. For now, this is
the only place from which the CD can be ordered; I have no financial
interest.
More Silvestri is always welcome. More Silvestri conducting Enescu is
(for me at least) a dream.
Regards,
George
Gerard
> This is a superb new CD, essential for both Enescu and Silvestri fans,
This one?
http://www.romanianmusicaladventure.org/new_release.html
The page mentions:
"You can listen to clips from George Enescu /Menuet lent/ /Sarabande/ and
Silvestri /Veloce/ by clicking on these links."
However, the links are nowhere (I see three little rectangles, non-clickable).
SG
Thank you for your note, George, I am looking forward to hearing this
set. I probably know this (only?) 1st symphony already - and it is
exactly as you describe it, full of unbridled energy, not to mention a
combination of warmth and clarity which synthesizes the best of both
Rozhdestvensky and Georgescu, and then some.
I don't know the other recordings, and I can hardly wait.
reagrds,
SG
PS As you are much more up-to-date than me in most respects, which
Enescu works did Gergiev perform at the Enescu Festival?
Frank Berger
Very exciting news. Thank you. I've orderd and wouldn't care if you *did*
have a financial interest.
George Murnu
Thanks, Samir. As for Gergiev, he conducted the 1st Orchestral Suite
in 2005 with the Mariinsky Orchestra and the 2nd Suite in 2007 with
the Rotterdam Philharmonic. He also conducted the 2nd Rhapsody in
1984 or 1985 (don't remember exactly) with the Bucharest Radio
Orchestra.
Regards,
George
George Murnu
I wish I could help, but as I said, I am not affiliated. However I
would try to send an e-mail. Small firms are usually more responsive
with such issues.
Regards,
George
Steve de Mena
http://www.romanianmusicaladventure.org/cd.html
The clips are here too and they work.
Actually the clips on the page you link too work for me also.
Steve
Bob Lombard
"Steve de Mena" <st...@stevedemena.com> wrote in message
news:TpadnWiFAKoPzJnW...@giganews.com...
20UKP + shipping is too steep for a reissue.
bl
Gerard
Thanks. But it's the same thing there: small non-clickable rectangles.
Looking in the source I found this:
"sound/Enescu_FirstSuite_menuet.mov"
Moving to
http://www.romanianmusicaladventure.org/sound/Enescu_FirstSuite_menuet.mov
did not work either.
Probably a problem with my browser again.
But thanks anyway.
td
In which case he would be shilling, which we do not allow here.
TD
td
wrote:
> "Steve de Mena" <st...@stevedemena.com> wrote in messagenews:TpadnWiFAKoPzJnW...@giganews.com...
Reissue?
Where have these been issued before, Bob?
TD
Bob Harper
first issue rather than a reissue, And there's no rebate of VAT for
non-EU purchasers. Still, it's Silvestri live, and that merits
consideration.
Bob Harper
Christopher Webber
>20UKP + shipping is too steep for a reissue.
Just to re-emphasise the point, these discs are not reissues, but a 2-CD
album of legendary performances only circulated before now in poor
bootleg copies-of-copies. Silvestri inspired his Bournemouth players to
starry heights more often than not, and everything here has a special
fire and intensity.
It's worth mentioning the caveat that the recordings (mastered from
Silvestri's own tapes of the performances) are not state of the art, and
that the playing is as fallible as you'd expect from live performance in
the 1960's.
But the blazing passion of the Enescu 1st Symphony here has to be heard
to be believed. Silvestri equals Georgescu for sheer energy, as well as
musical insights, and I for one consider my money extremely well spent.
--
___________________________
Christopher Webber, Blackheath, London, UK.
http://www.zarzuela.net
td
Canada has just put through a policy whereby visitors can no longer
get rebates on GST when they return home. I have no idea how this
affects mail-order purchases, of course.
Frankly, the USA should institute a form of GST. The resulting tax
would cure a lot of what ails America today, most notably no universal
health care for American citizens. They won't do it, of course, as
Americans hate taxes of all kinds. Always have, always will. So, they
will continue to push citizens into bankruptcy for health care bills.
TD
Frank Berger
> Bob Lombard <thorste...@vermontel.net> writes:
>> 20UKP + shipping is too steep for a reissue.
>
> Just to re-emphasise the point, these discs are not reissues, but a
> 2-CD album of legendary performances only circulated before now in
> poor bootleg copies-of-copies. Silvestri inspired his Bournemouth
> players to starry heights more often than not, and everything here
> has a special fire and intensity.
>
> It's worth mentioning the caveat that the recordings (mastered from
> Silvestri's own tapes of the performances) are not state of the art,
> and that the playing is as fallible as you'd expect from live
> performance in the 1960's.
>
> But the blazing passion of the Enescu 1st Symphony here has to be
> heard to be believed. Silvestri equals Georgescu for sheer energy, as
> well as musical insights, and I for one consider my money extremely
> well spent.
Listening to this now. I second everything George said. The performance of
Enescu's 1st symphony is pretty spectacular. Does anybody else hear
something reminscent of Korngold in the 3rd movement?
td
My copy just arrived in the mail, so I cannot respond. But I will get
to this recording in the coming days.
TD
Christopher Webber
>The performance of Enescu's 1st symphony is pretty spectacular.
It certainly is. Georgescu with added wit and fire. Quite marvellous,
despite some orchestral blemishes. How we undervalued Silvestri here in
England! We are still waiting (I think) for an official reissue of his
"In the South", which is hors concours.
Ludwig
wrote:
It's on this set:
http://emiclassics.co.uk/release.php?id=5099996892428
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/elgar-symphonies-nos-1-2-etc/id326916855
.
Taree Dawg
> Frank Berger <frank.d...@dal.frb.org> writes:
>> The performance of Enescu's 1st symphony is pretty spectacular.
>
> It certainly is. Georgescu with added wit and fire. Quite marvellous,
> despite some orchestral blemishes. How we undervalued Silvestri here in
> England! We are still waiting (I think) for an official reissue of his
> "In the South", which is hors concours.
Certainly is from memories on LP. I often think Silvestri, with his
success with In The South, would have made a great Straussian. Did he do
much Richard Strauss?
Ray Hall, Taree
George Murnu
>
> - Show quoted text -
Or perhaps the other way around since Korngold would have been only
seven years old when Enescu wrote his first symphony.
Regards,
George
George Murnu
He did conduct some Richard Strauss, yes: Till Eulenspiegel with the
Berlin Philharmonic, plus The Four Last Songs (Marilyn Tyler), Oboe
Concerto (Roger Winfield, the principal in Bournemouth at that time),
or Tod und Verklärung in Bournemouth from the top of my head. There
is most likely more.
But speaking of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Silvestri performance
that I would to hear is that of Mahler's 3rd Symphony, if it was
preserved. It was the first time the orchestra played the piece!!! -
at least after the war.
Regards,
George
Frank Berger
Sure, but I guess what I meant was that I heard something that sounded
"typically" Korngold that I don't think of as "typically" Enescu.
Dontait...@aol.com
[snip]
> But speaking of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Silvestri performance
> that I would to hear is that of Mahler's 3rd Symphony, if it was
> preserved. �It was the first time the orchestra played the piece!!! -
> at least after the war.
I'd certainly love to hear that, too. Do you know when the
performance took place?
Also: has the Silvestri recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis been
issued on CD? I own it on an LP set I got from a Budapest dealer in
the early 1990s, but the records are somewhat worn. (They were
described as that way, so I knew what I was getting.) It sounds like a
great performance, even an overwhelming one. I'd love to have a decent-
sounding CD release.
Don Tait
George Murnu
> On Dec 9, 11:20 am, George Murnu <gmu...@erols.com> wrote:
>
> [snip]
>
> > But speaking of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Silvestri performance
> > that I would to hear is that of Mahler's 3rd Symphony, if it was
> > preserved. It was the first time the orchestra played the piece!!! -
> > at least after the war.
>
> I'd certainly love to hear that, too. Do you know when the
> performance took place?
On 23 and 24 March 1960, according to the Berlin Philharmonic
Archives. The soloist was Lucretia West, and it was a long night:
besides the Mahler Symphony, Ravel's "Pavane pour une infante défunte"
and Reger's "An die Hoffnung für Singstimme und Orchester op. 124"
were played as well.
>
> Also: has the Silvestri recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis been
> issued on CD? I own it on an LP set I got from a Budapest dealer in
> the early 1990s, but the records are somewhat worn. (They were
> described as that way, so I knew what I was getting.) It sounds like a
> great performance, even an overwhelming one. I'd love to have a decent-
> sounding CD release.
It is indeed a great performance, and was transfered on CD, coupled
with the equally great performance of Mozart's Mass in C minor - the
Schmitt / Paumgratner "completion." HMV Japan has it:
http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/2648237
Plus more Silvestri conducting Enescu - again, great stuff:
http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/2648238
Regards,
George
>
> Don Tait
SG
Silvestri can be actually heard conducting some Strauss on one of the
BBC Legends sets - Don Juan, live with Bornemouth.
Excellent performance, probably not one of my very first choices
though.
regards,
SG
George Murnu
Can't believe I forgot about that one...
Regards,
George
SG
George, you remember more of this stuff and are more up-to-date with
it than I've ever been, OK, at least in the last four-five years. (Not
playing modest.)
regards,
SG
Dontait...@aol.com
> On Dec 9, 2:39�pm, Dontaitchic...@aol.com wrote:
>
> > On Dec 9, 11:20 am, George Murnu <gmu...@erols.com> wrote:
>
> > � [snip]
>
> > > But speaking of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Silvestri performance
> > > that I would to hear is that of Mahler's 3rd Symphony, if it was
> > > preserved. It was the first time the orchestra played the piece!!! -
> > > at least after the war.
>
> > � I'd certainly love to hear that, too. Do you know when the
> > performance took place?
>
> On 23 and 24 March 1960, according to the Berlin Philharmonic
> Archives. �The soloist was Lucretia West, and it was a long night:
> and Reger's "An die Hoffnung f�r Singstimme und Orchester op. 124"
> were played as well.
>
>
>
> > � Also: has the Silvestri recording of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis been
> > issued on CD? I own it on an LP set I got from a Budapest dealer in
> > the early 1990s, but the records are somewhat worn. (They were
> > described as that way, so I knew what I was getting.) It sounds like a
> > great performance, even an overwhelming one. I'd love to have a decent-
> > sounding CD release.
>
> It is indeed a great performance, and was transfered on CD, coupled
> with the equally great performance of Mozart's Mass in C minor - the
> Schmitt / Paumgratner "completion." �HMV Japan has it:http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/product/detail/2648237
Huge thanks. I'll try HMV Japan for sure.
Thanks again, and all the best.
Don Tait
Christopher Webber
>Sure, but I guess what I meant was that I heard something that sounded
>"typically" Korngold that I don't think of as "typically" Enescu.
The great thing about Enescu is that he doesn't really do "typical".
Every piece seems freshly thought-through, from the ground upwards. I
find his music more and more absorbing....