After his graduation from the Vienna Conservatory, Enescu
continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, attending composition
classes with Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré, while learning counterpoint with
André Gédalge. His fellow students were, among others, Maurice Ravel and Charles
Koechlin.
1898 saw the first performance in Paris of Enescu’s Op.1 Poème Roumain (Romanian Poem) at
the Concerts Colonne achieving a considerable success. Later that year he made his
first public appearance as a conductor, performing that same work at the
Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. It was about this time that Enescu started out
on his outstanding career as violinist, one that would lead to him travelling
through Europe and America.
Enescu graduated from the Conservatoire de Paris in 1899 and
became a member of the examining jury at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1904,
composing several works for use as examination pieces. As one of Europe's most
famous musicians he was instrumental in the founding of the Romanian Opera in
Bucharest and established a series of concerts in order to bring the
international repertoire before the Romanian public.
Despite the turmoil of the First World War, Enescu started
sketches for his opera Oedipe and in 1917
founded a philharmonic orchestra employing both local musicians and refugees. In
1920 he became the first president of the newly founded Society of Romanian
Composers.
It was in 1927 that Enescu began to teach perhaps his most
famous student, Yehudi Menuhin. In 1928 he was giving violin classes at the
École Normale de Musique in Paris as well as at Harvard University in Boston,
USA. In 1929 he was elected corresponding member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts
de l'Institut de France and in 1933 a member of the Romanian Academy. 1936 saw
the first performance of Enescu's opera Oedipe
at the Grand Opéra Paris, conducted by Philippe Gaubert with him, later that
year, being conferred the title of a Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur in
France.
In 1946, Enescu left Romania for a tour of the USA, seen
very much as a protest against the new communist regime. In 1948, Enescu
started delivering courses at the Mannes School of Music in New York. From 1952
until 1954 he gave Master classes in violin interpretation in Bryanstone, USA
and Sienna, Italy. Enescu died in 1955 in his suite at the hotel Atala in Paris
and was buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Enescu’s compositions
include his opera Oedipe, choral
works, songs, chamber works including two string quartets, piano works and
orchestral works including five symphonies, the third of which is featured on a
new release from Ondine www.ondine.net coupled with his Ouverture de Concert, Op.32. Hannu Lintu www.hannulintu.fi conducts the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra www.tampere.fi/filharmonia.html
and Choir www.tfk.fi/choir.htm
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| ODE 1197-2 |
Enescu’s sumptuously scored Symphony No.3, Op.21 was completed in 1918 but revised in 1921. The
opening Moderato, un poco maestoso slowly
works its way up from a quiet start until a sudden break occurs, when a more
animated section commences. Slowly the music subdues as it heads to the second
subject, a rhythmically lilting theme that often becomes quite romantic in
feel. These themes are developed with some remarkable layering of sound. At one
point hints of Mahler appear and, later, there are almost chamber sized
proportions to the orchestral sound. The music eventually becomes more
thoughtful before romantic swoops of strings lead to a more animated section
that soon quietens before the brass enter to end positively.
The Vivace, ma non
troppo brings light textured and quicksilver playing from Hannu Lintu and
the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra with some lovely subtleties in the
orchestral treatment of the theme. For all its lightness of touch and upbeat
tempo there is a troubled nature to the music, with quieter passages that seem
withdrawn and other worldly, with fleeting little motifs drifting by quietly. Around
halfway, a turning point arrives, not so much a climax as a peak, with the
sound of the anvil, drums and other percussion pointing up the anguish of the
section. Brass intone as the music keeps moving forward in rising waves, often with
quite Mahlerian string and woodwind sounds. Eventually the music falls to a
quiet woodwind motif before rising massively to the true climax. As the music
once more quietens, there is a lovely little woodwind passage before the strings
move the music on, until a mysterious little section ends the movement.
String chords, immediately followed by brass, open the Lento, ma non troppo before a melody is
tentatively hinted at across the orchestra. Soon the violins present the
melody, a beautiful one, which is shared around the orchestra. There is an
insistent harp motif before the wordless chorus enters and the orchestra
becomes richer and more romantic. The music quietens as the choir re-appear
briefly before the orchestra becomes more agitated with little outbursts. The
choir re-enter reaching upwards with the music becoming more and more
passionate. Each time the orchestra and choir become more passionate. Eventually
the sound of tinkling bells signals another section for a voluptuous orchestra
and choir surging and swirling forwards. The tinkling bells reappear with
chiming tubular bells as, quietly, an organ joins before the music rises again
with the scented sounds of the orchestra and chorus. The orchestra alone leads
to a languorous, settled coda with just a rumble of timpani, pizzicato strings
and a final chord on deep bass strings.
These are attractive, fascinating works brilliantly played
by Hannu Lintu with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir. There are
moments that could be in danger of becoming schmaltzy in other hands, but Lintu
successfully manages to avoid this.
The recording made in the Tampere Hall, Finland is first
rate and there are informative booklet notes.
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