George Georgescu - Recordings

Recordings

Like his countryman Sergiu Celibidache, Georgescu found the process of making phonograph records uncongenial. The tedium of interruptions, retakes, trials to accommodate the setup of equipment, and the like were at odds with his temperament, which found greatest expressiveness when given free rein in the presence of an audience; moreover, he was concerned about the need for perfection when performances were fixed in a permanent medium. Unlike Celibidache, however, Georgescu did not benefit from extensive release of concert tapings; indeed many of his postwar broadcast tapes were erased. Thus, little of his art has been preserved in recordings.

Georgescu was represented during the 78 RPM era, when, for instance, he recorded Enescu's Poema Romana for HMV (AN 301, 12"). Unfortunately, death preempted plans, mediated by Toscanini's daughter Wally, for Georgescu to make records in 1963 and 1964 for RCA Victor. Therefore, the centerpiece of his recorded legacy is a complete stereo cycle of Beethoven symphonies with the George Enescu Philharmonic recorded by Electrecord in 1960, with later LP issues as Intercord 976 and Lingen Köln 1124; a compact disc release on Lys 485-490 apparently was dubbed from the Electrecord LPs. Though some collectors believe that the Lingen Koln issue is a separately recorded set done on tour, and not a re-issue of the Electrecord series, as they do not sound like the same performances, even allowing for transfer variability. Also of importance, given his closeness to the composer, is the recording of Enescu's First Symphony; after a performance of this work under Georgescu's direction in 1925, Enescu wrote Georgescu a letter marking the occasion as only the third or fourth time in his career that he had been understood. Otherwise, at least in the English-speaking world, Georgescu's name appears on CD primarily in connection with other, better-remembered musicians, as in his direction of the USSR State Orchestra partnering Sviatoslav Richter in a performance of Schumann's Piano Concerto in A Minor.