An early release of Georges Enesco's recording of Bach's Sonata No. 2

The billboard of the first performance of OEDIPE in 1936 in Paris, France. (Image taken from the documentation accompanying the Electrecord 4 Lp set of the 1964 recording from Rumania.)

Enesco on R-149-50.

Enesco's own performance of his Sonata No. 2 with pianist Céliny Chailley-Richez on R-149-42 (Varèse Sarabande VC 81048)

Enesco, Lipatti and Radulesco on Electrecord.

Sonata No. 2 and String Quartet No. 2 on Monitor

Sonata No. 2 on Electrecord ECD61

French Columbia FC1058

See also:

The page about pianist Céliny Chailley-Richez on The Remington Site

The World Violinists Links

The timeline of Georges Enesco's life at page 61 of Radio France

Discover Enesco on YouTube
What is important in art is to vibrate oneself and make others vibrate.

Rumanian Rhapsody conducted by Sergiu Celibidache

See also the extensive discography of Enesco as conductor.

"Perfection, which is the passion of so many people, does not interest me. What is important in art is to vibrate oneself and make others vibrate." - Georges Enesco.

(My translation of: "La perfection, qui passionne tant de gens, ne m'intéresse pas. Ce qui importe, en art, c'est de vibrer soi-même et de faire vibrer les autres.")

Georges Enesco around 1950 when he had recorded the Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo by Bach for Don Gabor's label in New York. (The well known photograph of Georges Enesco, but this time taken from taken from the listings on the back of an original Remington cover, edited and restored.)

To most people Georges Enesco is known for his two Romanian Rhapsodies (No. 1 composed at the age of 20 and No. 2 one year later in 1902). Older generations and knowledgeable music lovers remember him not just as a composer or a conductor but as the great violinist who concertized in many countries and who educated Arthur Grumiaux, Ivry Gitlis and Christian Ferras, but most of all the name of Yehudi Menuhin is linked to the famous Romanian.
Georges Enesco composed more than just the Romanian Rhapsodies (the arrangement for two pianos of No. 1 was also played by the maestro himself; it is said that Enesco was a gifted pianist and a cellist as well).

He composed 'Romanian Poem' (Poème roumain - Paris, 1897) which was his first opus, and also Suites for orchestra, Symphonies (3), Sonatas for piano, and violin and piano (3), Octuor for Strings, Dixtuor for Wind Instruments, and a Chamber symphony. And he composed an opera: 'Oedip' (Oedipe, Oidipous) on a libretto by Edmond Fleg.

Oedip was premiered on March 13, 1936, and was well received. This 'lyrical tragedy in four acts' can well be labeled as Enesco's most important work as a composer. Far more than his sonatas, his chamber music and compositions for orchestra, Oedipe can be considered as the man's pinnacle of the expression of ideas, of drama, of humanity, despite the fact that Enesco can not be categorized as a protagonist of a specific style or school. For that he was too indiviualistic and his music has a very personal character. Specifically his chamber music often has a gloomy character and is not easily accessable.
The variety in his oeuvre shows that the man was a many faceted artist and that it is difficult to grasp the complexity of the personality of a hard working man who divided his energy between conducting, teaching, performing as a soloist, and composing.

Georges Enesco was born on August 19, 1881 in Liverni-Virnay a small town in the district of Dorhoiû, in the very north of Romania, close to the Russian border. At the age of nine he went to Vienna to study the violin. There his violin teacher was Joseph Hellmesberger Jr. He also studied composition and harmony with Robert Fuchs. As a youngster, only 14 years of age, he went to Paris to study at the 'Conservatoire National' with Jules Massenet, André Gédalge, Gabriel Fauré and Armand Marsieck, and won first prize in 1899.

During World War I he stayed in Romania. Before and after that war he made numerous concert tours in Europe and traveled to the United States. He played Beethoven with Felix Weingartner, conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Orchestra of the New York Philharmonic Society, and appeared together with Béla Bartók.

From 1927 on he choose France as his second home and conducted the Paris Symphony Orchestra and the 'Orchestre de l'association des concerts Colonne' (he also conducted in other European countries, and again in North America where he conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1936-37 season).

Enesco taught both in Romania and in France. His most famous pupil was Yehudi Menuhin.
Enesco: "I would like to say that I molded him, but I would lie, he already was marvelous when I took him on my hands."
The friendship between Enesco and Menuhin resulted in a collaboration which can be witnessed on many (historical shellac) recordings.

J.S. Bach's Concerto for Two Violins and Strings with Yehudi Menuhin and Georges Enesco, with Pierre Monteux conducting, was recorded in the 78 RPM era by His Master's Voice (D.B.1718/19) and also issued on Victor (VM 932) and was later dubbed to Lp (Victor LCT 1020).

Together they played Bach's Concerto for Two Violins with Pierre Monteux conducting, and Menuhin performed Dvorak's Violin Concerto with Enesco conducting the 'Orchestre symphonique de Paris'. With "l'Orchestre des concerts Colonne' they recorded Lalo's Symphony Espagnol. Again with the Paris Symphony Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos. 3 and 7, and Ottokar Novacek's Perpetuum Mobilé were recorded.
With Enesco at the piano Menuhin recorded Paganini's 'Tremolo' (Caprice No. 6).

Georges Enesco and young Yehudi Menuhin.
(Photo taken from an old Dutch encyclopedia.)

During World War II the maestro stayed in Romania.
In 1946 he conducted Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4 in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. This live performance was released on Melodiya M10-49209004. He returned to Paris in that same year.
In 1947 he gave a noteworthy performance of the 3 Sonatas and 3 Partitas for Violin Solo by Johann Sebastian Bach. From 1948 until 1950 he taught at the Mannes Music School in New York and, for a short period, joined the faculty of the University of Illinois.
It was during this stay that - on the instigation of violinist Helen Airoff, also a pupil of his - he recorded Bach's Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo for Don Gabor's Continental label. Although the tape recorder had been introduced as an important recording medium, the Sonatas & Partitas were recorded on acetates.

Céliny Chailley-Richez and Georges Enesco at the time when they did the recordings of the Concertos of Johann Sebastian Bach in the early nineteen fifties. Image courtesy Musica et Memoria/The Chailley Family (Edited by R.A.B.).

On January 21st, 1950, Georges Enesco gave a farewell-concert in New York, performing as a violinist, as a pianist and as a conductor.
He returned to Paris. His health did not allow him to play the violin any longer. He still could conduct from time to time and it was in those years that he recorded the Concertos for Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach for Decca, with Céliny Chailley-Richez as principal pianist:

Decca FAT-173053 - Bach: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 & 5
Decca FAT-173050 - Bach: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 & 7

Decca FAT-173119 - Bach: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 and Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra No. 3 with Françoise Le Gonidec
Decca FAT-173068 - Bach: Concertos for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 & 6
Decca FAT-173530 - Bach: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 8 coupled with Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 with Jean-Pierre Rampal, flute, and Christian Ferras, violin
Decca FAT-173094 - Bach: Concertos for Two Pianos and Orchestra Nos. 1 & 2
Decca FAT-173097 - Bach: Concertos for Three Pianos and Orchestra No. 1 & 2 with Françoise Le Gonidec and Jean-Jacques Painchaud
Decca FAT-143.538 - Bach: Concerto for Four Pianos and Orchestra with Françoise Le Gonidec, Jean-Jacques Painchaud and Hélène Grimaud; a 10" record.
For CD-transfers consult Baroque-Music-club.com

In the last years of his life only with great pain Enesco could play the violin. In 1954 he suffered a stroke. Georges Enesco died on May 4th, 1955 in Paris.

Georges Enesco made various recordings for the Remington label. This collaboration could have helped in the distribution of Remington recordings on the FrenchConcerteum label. On Remington Records Enesco not only plays Bach and conducts own orchestral compositions, but he also plays his own Sonata No. 2 with pianist Céliny Chailley-Richez with whom he also recorded J.S. Bach's Concertos for Clavier and Orchestra for French Decca.

Enesco's Remington recordings:

Enesco: Dixtuor. Winds of the National French Orchestra/Georges Enesco. (coupled with Kodaly's Cello Sonata Op. 4 performed by Richard Matuschka and pianist Otto Schulhof) - Remington R-199-107

Enesco: Octet for Strings. String Ensemble/George Enesco - Remington R-199-52

Enesco: Romanian (Rumanian) Rhapsody No. 1. Orchestre des Concerts Colonne/George Enesco (coupled with Liszt: Les préludes) - Remington R-199-47 (Varèse Sarabande VC 81042 -1978)

Enesco: Romanian (Roumanian) Rhapsody No. 2. Orchestre des Concerts Colonne/George Enesco. (coupled with Smetena: The Moldau) - Remington R-199-52

Enesco: Sonata No. 2 in F minor. Celiny Chailley-Richez, piano - Remington R-149-42 (the name of the pianist wrongly spelled as Chaillez-Riches). This performance was reissued on Varèse Sarabande VC 81048 (The Remington Series, 1978) coupled with Dohnányi's Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 21 (written in 1912 in Berlin), which was recorded in 1952 with violinist Albert Spalding and Ernö Dohnányi at the piano, never released on Remington records.

Schumann: Sonata No. 2 in D minor Op. 121. Celiny Chailley-Richez, pianist - Remington R-149-50.

Enesco: Rumanian Rhapsody Nos. 1 and 2. Orchestre des Concerts Colonne/George Enesco (coupled with Villa Lobos conducting the RIAS Symphony Orchestra in his Choros No. 6) - Remington R-199-207.

Bach: Sonata No. 2 in B minor for Violin Solo - Georges Enesco - . Remington PL-1-149. In the early nineteen fifties Bach's Sonata No. 2 appeared in various disguises: in a yellow and red cover, a gray and red cover, and as a single record in a box. The complete set of the Sonatas and Partitas were also released in a box, but on three records. Needless to say that this box is much sought after.

The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo recorded in 1948/1949 in New York were originally released by Don Gabor on his Continental label - Continental CLP 104/5/6.

Images of the box and the label of the third record courtesy Chuck Miller, writer and columnist (Goldmine and "Warman's American Records 1950-2000").

From Japan there is the look alike reissue of the3 Lp Box with the same reference numbers CLP 104/105/106. The red velvet covered box is smaller in width and the labels are differently styled. The sound is clean, but the sound of valve amplifiers is missing and the violin lacks somewhat of the analogous sound character of the old recordings. The records are of the 180 gr. quality. (Note: It is possible that a set is encountered of which the vinyl is rather vulnerable because of the chosen type. As with so many modern reissues the vinyl is of a different recipe and in some instances the "new" vinyl may not have been heated enough, through and through, because of the mass of vinyl which has to be pressed between the plates. One wonders why not the same type of vinyl was chosen as used by Philips, Decca, Deutsche Grammophon or Nippon Columbia in the nineteen seventies and eighties.)

The 3 Lp set of Olympic Records (8117/3) from 1974 also contain the complete performances of Bach's Three Sonatas and Three Partitas but after the transfer to tape they were electronically re-recorded to simulate stereo which was the fashion in the beginning of the stereo era of the Lp when companies were afraid that the public would not buy mono recordings any longer. Despite this electronic manipulation, the engineers, who literally spent hundreds of hours, did a remarkable job. They did not loose too much of the character of the violin as so often is the case nowadays when very old and historic analog recordings are transferred into the digital domain and cleaned up too drastically. For the Olympic/Everest reissue the acetates were used as is apparent from the rumble and the slightly discernible surface noise which was filtered out to the maximum. The liner notes rightfully say: "This recording was made before the advent of modern tape technology."
These transfers were released in Japan by Nippon Columbia as a 3 Lp set with reference DXM-128-30-AX. The accompanying book was in Japanese only.

Nippon Columbia DXM-128-30-AX.	Olympic Records OL-8117/3 (distributed by Eeverest): Bach Sonatas and Partitas in electronic stereo.

The Sonatas and Partitas for Violin Solo also have been released on CD by Philips in Japan. And these performances have also been released on a 2-CD set labeled Continental CCD104-105.

The Continental recordings were made when George Enesco was of age and suffered from arthritis. When evaluating a batch of Remington Records Music-Critic Cecil Smith commented on the Enesco performance: "George Enesco's playing of Bach's E minor Sonata for unaccompanied violin, offers, like Enesco's appearances in public, painful proof that even a fine musician cannot play an instrument effectively without adequate technique."
Many a music-lover does certainly listen in a different manner to Enesco's legacy on Continental and the Remington reissues then critic Cecil Smith did. Enesco certainly did play the Sonatas and Partitas in a technically precise way, but surely always with the same intensity which transcendents the listener. Naturally collectors do cherish these performances and other original and rare recordings of Georges Enesco as a violinist. He made many recordings of works by various composers: Ambrosio, Bach, Beethoven, Chausson, Corelli, Haendel, Kreisler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Pugnani, Ravel, Schumann and also Wagner. And he recorded works of his own.
Despite Enesco's failing health, his performances on the Gabor recordings bring the music close to the listener. And the listener can go to the heart of the score. Enesco's timing and phrasing are exceptional and above all very natural. And even Enesco's technique still has a remarkable ease and is never an obstacle for the full enjoyment of these works. (See also George Mircea's review of the 2 CD set of the Sonatas and Partitas on J.S. Bach Home Page.)

  When checking the 1942 and 1948 editions of The Gramophone Shop Encyclopedia of Recorded Music it is amazing that there is no recording of a Sonata and/or Partita listed with Georges Enesco performing. And Irving Koloding does not mention the Continental recordings in his "New Guide to Recorded Music" (New York, 1950). These performances on whatever medium available (and affordable!) are the sole recordings of these works played by Enesco. The CD issue of the Sonatas and Partitas BWV 1001-1003 (originally produced by Don Gabor and released on his Continental label), were reviewed by Pierre-E. Barbier in the French montly Diapason of October 1989. He wrote:

But there are other recordings of the master. From about 1963 is Monitor 2049 with Georges Enesco playing his Second Sonata accompanied by Dinu Lipatti (originally recorded on 78 RPM shellac discs, very well transferred to Lp) together with Enesco's String Quartet No. 2 performed by the Rumanian Radio String Quartet (in a more modern recording technique). It is an original Electrecord recording from Rumania.
That same recording of the Second Sonata for Violin and Piano with Enesco and Lipatti was originally released on Electrecord ECD 61 in 1958.
On Electrecord FCD-95, a 10" Lp from Roumania, Georges Enesco and Dinu Lipatti perform Enesco's Sonata No. 3, coupled with 'Pièce de concert pour alto et piano' played by Alexandru Radvlesco (alto) and Georges Enesco at the piano (dubbings from 78 RPM recordings).
There is a rare recording of Enesco and Chailley-Richez performing Beethoven's Sonata for Piano and Violin Nr. 9, 'Kreutzer', made in 1952 and released in France on Columbia FC1058 in 1957.

R.A.B. August 17, 2002

Famous pianist Lory Wallfisch, who formed a duo with her late husband, violinist/violist Ernst Wallfisch, is President of the "George Enescu Society of the United States, Inc." She is also "Iva Dee Hiatt Professor emeritus of Music", an honorary title of the Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
The year 2005 marked the 50th anniversary of the death of George Enesco. On the occasion Mrs. Lory Wallfisch wrote to me:

Text written by Rudolf A. Bruil.