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Rozhdestvensky: Enescu – Symphony no.2, Romanian Rhapsody no.2 (FLAC)

Rozhdestvensky: Enescu - Symphony no.2, Romanian Rhapsody no.2 (FLAC)
Rozhdestvensky: Enescu - Symphony no.2, Romanian Rhapsody no.2 (FLAC)

Performer: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Composer: George Enescu
Audio CD
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (image+cue)
Label: Chandos
Size: 280 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

# Roumanian Rhapsody No. 2, for orchestra in D major, Op. 11/2
Composed by George Enescu
with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky

# Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 17
Composed by George Enescu
with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky

Directed well by Rozhdestvensky, but the Rhapsody is actually the major work here

I usually prefer fully fleshed-out symphonies to smaller “miniatures” like orchestral rhapsodies, which could explain why this has languished in my collection for so long. The highlight here is definitely the full-blooded, romantic, at times powerful music of Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 2, which I previously overlooked in my concentration on the “major” work here, the symphony. The symphony has its moments, but the liner notes observe that symphonic writing had already for many years taken a back seat in Enescu’s life to performing, and in addition, it was written during a particularly troubled period of his life. The result seems to reflect that; the work is less focused and less well-organized than the Rhapsody, and seems a bit meandering despite containing many individual moments of beauty and finesse. The entire performance does seem well managed by Rozhdestvensky, a conductor I generally like a lot, and it’s in very good sound, but this might be recommendable mostly for serious collectors of Enescu or late-Romantic music rather than the general listener.

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