Orchestra: 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: 289 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
# Symphony No. 3 for piano, chorus & orchestra in C major, Op. 21
Composed by George Enescu
Performed by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky
# Roumanian Rhapsody No. 1, for orchestra in A major, Op. 11/1
Composed by George Enescu
Performed by BBC Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky
His greatest hit, plus the piece that OUGHT to be
Romanian Rhapsody #1 has been recorded many times, and it’s as much fun as you can have with an 80-piece orchestra. Probably Enescu’s greatest hit, it’s self-recommending and nicely done here. But oh my… where DID this haunting Symphony #3 come from? I literally had never heard it in 40 years of listening. This 1918 score defies categorization, having good points of varied composers in one gorgeous melange: the nobility of Bruckner with the perfume of Debussy in the first movement; sinister Martinu-like burblings with the orchestral muscle of Strauss in the second; and a sedate, divine final movement with added pipe organ and wordless choir like Holst’s “Planets.” The sound engineering is particularly impressive in this movement. Some reviewers feel the conducting by Rozhdestvensky is a bit limp, but my copy of this recording hasn’t come out of the CD player for three days now. Enjoy this!