Georges Enescu

[SonicMan46]

This morning, listened to the two discs below from the Ottavo label - I've had them for a while, includes:

Romanian Rhapsodies 1 &2, Suites 1 & 3, and Symphony No. 3 w/ Lascae & Philharmonia Moldova.

Not totally pleased w/ the performances nor sound of these recordings - definitely want to obtain the 'Symphony' package posted by Todd earlier - excellent review on MusicWeb w/ a comment that the Ottavo offerings were 'inferior'! 

Now, just need to find a replacement for the Rhapsodies & Suites - 

For a comprehensive list of Enescu's compositions check HERE - 

 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

I will indeed Todd 

Err...you're on the butt end of a joke, bro.

There are no symphonies 4-6.

[mahler10th]

   Yep.  Shows how much I know about Enescu. I might buy his Symphonies 7 - 102 instead.  Deserves me right for not reading the thread more thoroughly...  Despite my gaffe and subsequent suckering, Enescu is clearly worth looking into, so I will seek out that EMI release Todd posted below.
I think also I will get Enscu's forty hour long 'Symphony for Dafties' which should help reveal my ignorance of compsers on my undiscovered list.

[SonicMan46]

Concerning my previous post on the Ottavo discs, I decided to 'improve' & expand on my orchestral works of George Enescu, so ordered the CDs below (posted this already in the listening thread but wanted to include the information here):

Rhapsodies & Suites on a 2-CD Ultima Erato - had to go w/ a 'used' set, so hope that the discs play? 

Symphonies, Nos. 1-3 w/ Lawrence Foster directing several French orchestras - reviewed HERE - 

 

[SonicMan46]

  Yep.  Shows how much I know about Enescu. I might buy his Symphonies 7 - 102 instead.  Deserves me right for not reading the thread more thoroughly...

Not to worry - I was a little more subtle & posted a link to his list of compositions; only 3 Symphonies w/ Opus numbers; but, interestingly, a lot of non-Opus works - take a LOOK - 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Despite my gaffe and subsequent suckering, Enescu is clearly worth looking into, so I will seek out that EMI release Todd posted below.

Oh, I agree with that! Enescu is a really fine talent.

Two discs I really enjoy are these:

[mahler10th]

Thank you SonicMan and donwyn.  My faith has been restored.  I won't be making a mistake like THAT again.  I'm away now to look up your recommendations...

[Harry]

Thank you SonicMan and donwyn.  My faith has been restored.  I won't be making a mistake like THAT again.  I'm away now to look up your recommendations...

John, good afternoon! May I direct you to the excellent Chandos recordings, all three Symphonies in well recorded and performed renderings. They are very detailed recordings, and you can see through the thickly scored structure quite easily!
Something which is necessary with Enescu's music.

[SonicMan46]

Well, today in the mail, the 2-CD Erato Ultima set of Enenscu's non-symphonic works (shown below) - this was a surprise discovery for me on the Amazon Marketplace - Lawrence Foster, conductor w/ the Orch Philharm de Monte-Carlo (never heard of them before but the same group recommended highly in the Symphonies, also ordered by me) - well, this is an absolutlely wonderful set of CDs - ordered as a 'used' set but came in excellent condition and played w/o a problem - quite pleased! 

As to the music, Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11, No. 1 & 2; Poeme Roumain, Op. 1, Suites, Nos. 1-3, & Symphonie for Cello, Op. 8 - these were recorded in 1983-84, but great sound reproduction & wonderful performances - I'm quite happy w/ this purchase, and doubt for the number of works & quality of the playing/recording that they can be duplicated currently - assume these are OOP, but if interested in a nice 2-CD combo w/ the symphony selection recommended by Todd (w/ the same conductor & orchestra), a no-brainer for me at least - 

[SonicMan46]

Well, about half way through the book on George Enescu mentioned previously; quite an interesting read - contains a lot of pictures (many rather poor quality, esp. after scanning), but four are posted below (scanned in 4 others from the book, which I'll post next) - these seem to be hard to find:

Solo portrait from 1904 (so early 20s); image w/ him & the violin from 1918; Pablo Casals & Enescu, also from 1904; and Marie Cantacuzino (known as Maruca), a Romanian princess, love of his life, whom he eventually married. 

 

 

[SonicMan46]

And the remaining 4 scanned pics from the book:  Enescu w/ a young Dinu Lipatti (1921); Enescu w/ an older but still young Yehudi Menuhin; Menuhin w/ Enescu later in life (1952); tomb of Enescu (French spelling of his name) in Paris - 

 

 

[Christo]

Now I discover this thread, I remember to have visited an impressive villa / city palace in Bucharest, back in the year 2000, a former home of Enescu and now/then his museum:

                           

Anybody been there too? And how is it nowadays?

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Well, today in the mail, the 2-CD Erato Ultima set of Enenscu's non-symphonic works (shown below) - this was a surprise discovery for me on the Amazon Marketplace - Lawrence Foster, conductor w/ the Orch Philharm de Monte-Carlo (never heard of them before but the same group recommended highly in the Symphonies, also ordered by me) - well, this is an absolutlely wonderful set of CDs - ordered as a 'used' set but came in excellent condition and played w/o a problem - quite pleased! 

As to the music, Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11, No. 1 & 2; Poeme Roumain, Op. 1, Suites, Nos. 1-3, & Symphonie for Cello, Op. 8 - these were recorded in 1983-84, but great sound reproduction & wonderful performances - I'm quite happy w/ this purchase, and doubt for the number of works & quality of the playing/recording that they can be duplicated currently - assume these are OOP, but if interested in a nice 2-CD combo w/ the symphony selection recommended by Todd (w/ the same conductor & orchestra), a no-brainer for me at least - 

I listened to this a few days ago - my first introduction to Enescu. And I agree whole-heartedly with your assessment. Great set, great music.

Thanks for the pics!

[Josquin des Prez]

and Marie Cantacuzino (known as Maruca), a Romanian princess, love of his life, whom he eventually married. 

Biggest mistake of his life, too.

[SonicMan46]

Rhapsodies & Suites on a 2-CD Ultima Erato - had to go w/ a 'used' set, so hope that the discs play? 

Symphonies, Nos. 1-3 w/ Lawrence Foster directing several French orchestras - reviewed HERE - 

 

Well, I've listened to these 4 discs several times over now - Foster does a great job w/ this music (comments & links to reviews given previously) - if interested, these CDs really provide a nice collection of Enescu's major orchestral output (and at a good price) - 

[SonicMan46]

Biggest mistake of his life, too.

Well, just getting through the last third of the biography - not much said about her up to this point, but the relationship was certainly a complicated one (as many of these 'romances' can be!) - now, looking forward to the remainder of the book - 

[eyeresist]

I'm a fan of cello concertos , so reading for the first time of a Symphonie for Cello Op. 8 intrigues me - can anyone give me some detail or description on this work?

[david johnson]

sonicman:

thank you very much for those fine pix!

dj

[SonicMan46]

sonicman:

thank you very much for those fine pix!

Hello David - no problem, and thanks for starting this thread!    I was goin' to start one but found yours already - 

Biggest mistake of his life, too.

Well, just finished the book and agree - she was a TRIP!   

But, just for those who might be interested in this story - the bio contains only scattered references (would have enjoyed to have more details!) - but his 'love' interest was a Romanian 'princess' - married name was Marie Cantacuzino, husband Michael & her both from higher nobility families; Enescu & her met before the start of WWI - the first marriage seemed to have been a failure and the two lived apart, but not much detail on her relationship w/ Enescu in these 'early years'.  Michael C. died in the late 1920s, and Marie (known as Maruca) had a 'severe illness' in 1933 (likely a mental breakdown?) - in 1939, Enescu and Maruca were married - she was a 'burden' before & after the marriage.  After WWII, the couple were virtually broke (properties confiscated in Romania - Enescu never returned to his country) - Enescu despite increasing ill health, had to 'make a living' performing, teaching, conducting, all of which took its toll.  The 'money' he made was not spent wisely by his wife, Maruca (still thinking that she was a princess!) - toward the end, she even sold off his Guarnerius violin and many of his manuscripts, likely to satisfy her own extravagant needs - BOY, what a woman!  A very sad ending to such a glorious 'human being', i.e. George Enescu - 

[SonicMan46]

Well, finished the biography on Enescu shown on the previous page of the thread - an astounding human being - as reading, I jotted down some amazing statements about his performance skills and his remarkable memory - below are just a half dozen of many mentioned (some may have already been quoted previously):

Yehudi Menuhin:  "..he remains for me the most extraordinary human being, the greatest musician and the most formative influence I have ever experienced."

Noel Malcolm:  "He could sit down at a piano and begin at any point in The Ring, or a Beethoven quartet, or The Rite of Spring, or any of of at least 150 Bach cantatas, and play from memory, bringing out every nuance of the writing."

Alfred Cortot:  "Why is it, he once complained, that you, a violinist, have a better technique at the piano that I do?"

Leopold Stokowski:  "I have known very many great musicians, and very few geniuses.  Enescu was a genius"

Alexandru Radulescu: "once asked him..that if the works of Beethoven were destroyed, would he be able to reconstruct them all from memory.  Oh no, said Enescu - only the Symphonies, Quartets and Trios, the Missa Solemnis and Fidelio."

Pablo Casals:  "Enescu was, in the depth and range of his gifts, the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart."