Constantin Silvestri and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

GEORGE ENESCU (1881-1955): Symphony No. 1 in E Flat, Op. 13 (Nov. 25, 1966), Orchestral Suites Nos. 1 in C, Op. 9 (Dec. 6, 1963) & 2 in C, Op. 20 (Feb. 27, 1966), CONSTANTIN SILVESTRI (1913-1969): 3 Pieces for Strings, Op. 4/2 (Aug. 16, 1967), WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791): Symphony No. 29 (Nov. 10, 1965), Overture to The Magic Flute (June 2, 1965), SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891-1953): Symphony No. 1 "Classical" (March 18, 1963), ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841-1904): Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, Nos. 3-5 (Feb. 27, 1966).

Description: This is a labor both of love and of luck. The BBC lost all of its tapes of Silvestri's Bournemouth concerts but the conductor had methodically taped every one of his concerts on his home hi-fi equipment and these tapes ended up in the possession of then-Bournemouth principal clarinettist Raymond Carpenter, now the composer's archivist. (Although I don't know if the BBC recorded in stereo in Bournemouth at the time, this would explain why these transfers are in mono.) A fellow Romanian emigré, Anda Anastasescu, decided to start her own record label to promote Silvestri whom, as a pianist, she played whenever possible. Note that not only are there around 85 minutes of Enescu (and who could be a better interpreter than Silvestri?) but also a ten-minute trio of works for strings from the late 1940s by the conductor himself which are based quite originally on Romanian folk musical styles. 2 CDs. Mono. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra; Constantin Silvestri.