Constantin Silvestri

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Constantin Silvestri (31 May 1913, Bucharest – 23 February 1969, London) was a
Romanian conductor and composer.

Early life
Silvestri, born of Austro-Italian-Romanian stock, was brought up on his own by his mother,
his father dying from alcoholism and his stepfather dying when the boy was 16. He had learnt
how to play the piano and organ before the age of 6. He played the piano in public at 10 and
was a skilled improviser.[1] He studied at the Târgu Mureş Conservatoire, and later at the
Bucharest Conservatoire. His teachers in Bucharest included Mihail Jora (composition) and
Florica Muzicescu (piano). Despite not having taken conducting classes he was already
appearing as conductor in his teens, making his debut in 1930 with the Bucharest Radio
Symphony Orchestra in a concert which included The Rite of Spring[1] and his own
composition Prelude and Fugue (Toccata)

Career
Silvestri's success in this 1930 National Radio Orchestra of Romania concert persuaded him
to follow conducting as a career. He conducted at the Romanian National Opera from 1935
on, and, following the brief tenures of two caretakers, he also directed the Bucharest
Philharmonic Orchestra for six years as successor to George Georgescu, in disgrace as a Nazi
collaborator. Georgescu, ironically, assumed directorship of the Radio Orchestra; following
Silvestri's emigration to the West, Georgescu would resume his place at the head of the
Philharmonic, shortly thereafter renamed the George Enescu Philharmonic.[2] From 1948 to
1956, Silvestri taught at the Bucharest Conservatoire (Conservatorul din Bucureşti), where he
founded its Conducting Department. Among Silvestri's students were Sergiu Comissiona,
Marius Constant, Anatol Vieru, Iosif Conta, Edgar Cosma. By the 1950s Silvestri was
accepting guest engagements in the USSR, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. His career in
Romania came to a climax in 1958 with the highly successful Romanian premiere of Oedipe
in Bucharest.[1]

After leaving his home country Silvestri made Paris his domicile in 1959, also travelling to
Australia that year, and appearing with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Philadelphia
Orchestra in 1960-61, and making a number of recordings in Paris, London and Vienna for
EMI.[1]

Having made his UK début with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957 at the Royal
Albert Hall, Silvestri moved to England in 1961 on assuming the post of Principal Conductor
of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He raised the standard and prestige of the orchestra
to one of international standing.[3] He was demanding and meticulous in rehearsal, his scores
marked in different colours; however, his performances often differed from one concert to the
next.[1]
He became a British citizen in 1967 shortly before his growing reputation was cut short by
increasing ill health, and he died of cancer at the age of 55. His last concert was in Exeter on
29 November 1968, and there is a memorial at St Peter's Church in Bournemouth.

Two biographies are available on Silvestri, by Eugen Pricope and John Gritten.

Recording
Silvestri made around 20 LPs in Romania and Eastern Europe before moving to the west,
often of repertoire he did not subsequently re-record.[1]

Recordings for which he is particularly well known include Elgar's Overture Alassio (In the
South), and Tchaikovsky's 5th symphony. His recordings received a First Prize from the
Académie Charles Cros (for Antonin Dvořák's Symphony No.9, "From the New World") and
the Grand Prix du Disque (for George Enescu’s Dixtuor for Winds). Silvestri conducted and
recorded with many of the world's finest orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic,
Philharmonia, Concertgebouw, Paris Conservatoire Orchestra, Suisse Romande, Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra,[4] Chicago and Philadelphia.

In addition to commercial recordings, the BBC Legends label has issued six CDs of radio
performances from the 1960s with Silvestri conducting the Bournemouth orchestra.[1]

Compositions
Silvestri also composed over 40 orchestral, chamber and vocal works. These include Prelude
and Fugue (Toccata), Sonata quasi una fantasia, Op 19, No 2 (1940), Chants Nostalgiques,
Op 27, No 1 (1944), String Quartet, Op 27, No 2 (1944), Sonata for solo harp, Three Pieces
for Strings, Op 4, No 2 (1933), and Romanian Dances from Transylvania, Op 4, No 1 (1930).

BBC Legends – Constantin Silvestri [Donna Diana … Polish Symphony …

Enigma Variations]

Reviewed by: Mike Langhorne

BBC LEGENDS
BBCL 4258-2

Duration
75 minutes

Printer Friendly View To younger collectors, Bucharest-born Constantin Silvestri (1913-69)

will be only a name on the cover of a recording. His premature death at the age of 55 from
cancer robbed British musical life and, in particular, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
of a galvanising musical force. Silvestri had burst into the recording- and concert-scene in the
mid-fifties and soon became known for long and detailed rehearsals and displaying wayward
interpretations that some critics and record producers found difficult to accept. His recordings
for HMV of the last three Tchaikovsky symphonies, made in the late-fifties, were very nearly
withheld from release because members of the EMI listening-panel thought the performances
too extreme. However his skills as an orchestral trainer and his individual approach to scores
soon marked him out as a force to be reckoned with and he made many recordings with
various orchestras for EMI on the HMV label.
Notwithstanding this, and along with some other conductors, his contract with EMI was
terminated in the early-sixties – no doubt due to a downturn in EMI’s fortunes (leading to a
merger of the HMV and Columbia labels). However with the advent of EMI’s response to
Decca’s “Phase 4” series – “Studio 2” – and the excellent results he was achieving in
Bournemouth, Silvestri was re-engaged in 1966 and went on to make a number of highly
acclaimed recordings of popular classics. This success culminated in promotion again to
EMI’s flagship label with his superb versions of Vaughan Williams’s Tallis Fantasia and
Elgar’s In the South. But time ran out and he made no more records with his beloved
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Although Silvestri’s discography is large and wide-ranging, this latest BBC Legends release
(the fourth) of his art adds three works new to it, albeit in mono. The Overture to “Donna
Diana”, an operetta by Rezniček (Silvestri’s Uncle Emil apparently), is the main casualty.
Silvestri’s spanking pace and the cavernous acoustic of Bournemouth’s Town Hall conspire to
reduce the performance to a diffuse approximation. There is a screech of brakes for the final
chords, which does little to improve the overall effect. This little gem can be heard to better
effect elsewhere – certainly in Albert Wolff’s Decca recording now on Testament
The Tchaikovsky and the Elgar are from a concert in the Winter Gardens in 1967. Again the
mono recording, though an improvement on the Rezniček, is hard and unyielding if fairly
clear. The Tchaikovsky is on the fast side in the outer movements (the first one is minus its
opening pizzicato). Not for Silvestri the grandiloquence of Svetlanov (also BBC Legends) or
the Brucknerian weight of Karajan (DG). Indeed, Silvestri even outpaces Dorati (Mercury)
who was not known for dallying. This leads to some scrappiness in the BSO’s ensemble that
the hard recording seems to accentuate. Silvestri’s tempos for the three inner movements are
more traditional but this does not prevent some trademark Silvestri-isms in phrasing and
rubato. Despite poor sound, this is an extremely useful addition to Silvestri’s oeuvre – only a
recording of the First Symphony is now needed to complete his Tchaikovsky cycle (Manfred
Symphony is also on BBC Legends, with Respighi's The Pines of Rome).
Finally, Enigma Variations. Silvestri was a fine Elgarian, not only because of In the South,
but also Symphony No.1 (BBC Legends). His is an affectionate account of Enigma with
warm phrasing and excellent characterisation of the individuals portrayed. It’s good that he
does not sentimentalise ‘Nimrod’ with excessive slowness; Monteux had already shown that
such an approach is quite unnecessary. The faster sections go well and slower ones such as
‘Dorabella’ and ‘***’ are beautifully turned. ‘EDU’ brings things to a close in rumbustious
fashion.
Although they will wish for better sound, Silvestri admirers will of course want this
tantalising release.