Enescu

In addition to being a world-class violinist, pianist, conductor, and teacher, George Enescu was a well-renowned composer. In fact, his most celebrated violin pupil, Yehudi Menuhin, made the prediction that Enescu’s compositions would become ‘one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century’, and, indeed, in recent years Enescu’s works have become more widely performed.

Scored for flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano, the Chamber Symphony, for 12 instruments in E major, Op. 33 is Enescu's last work and was, in fact, incomplete when he suffered a severe stroke in July 1954. The finishing touches were therefore put to the score by his close friend Marcel Mihalovici. Despite this last minute external influence, the Chamber Symphony is one of the most deeply personal and introspective of Enescu's works. Instead of using the interplay of solo instruments in ensemble to portray a pastoral, natural world, as he did in the 1906 Dixtuor, the composer …..

Tim Mahon @ AllMusic.com

Ondine is pleased to announce the second CD in their Enescu cycle. The first release featuring Symphony No. 2 and the Chamber Symphony Op. 33 was highly praised by critics and nominated for the Gramophone Awards 2013. Enescu is Romania’s most notable composer – and one of the most neglected composers of the 20th century. This release demonstrates a master of orchestral colour and impressive imagination.

The Enescu Project began life in the concert hall and has now been faithfully recorded to create this album. The programme is devoted to the music of the great Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu, and to that of his contemporaries and friends, creating a sense of the context in which Enescu was composing. Enescu studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Massenet and Fauré; rubbed shoulders and shared a stage with Bartók and Ravel; was the dedicatee of a sonata by Ysaÿe; and Debussy attended the premiere of Enescu’s First Symphony. Music by these composers, for different instrumental combinations, leads us to the focus of the album: Enescu’s beautiful Octet for strings, a work composed when he was only 19 and which had a profound impact on violinist Nicolas Dautricourt when he first heard it. Dautricourt is joined for this recording by a gathering of exceptional string players, and the album booklet includes a QR code that takes listeners to the spoken texts included in the original concert version of this fascinating project.

Ondine is pleased to announce the first release of an Enescu cycle with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of its artistic director Hannu Lintu. George Enescu is Romania’s most important composer – and one of the most neglected composers of the 20th century.