Celibidache! - Tapa blanda

This multi-media package will appeal to those who like to read as well as those who are fond of film. Furthermore, thanks to Facets Multimedia, the film is available on DVD. The book, entitled Celibidache!, consists of essays and interviews with the composer and musical theorist. The film, produced by his son, is entitled Sergiu Celibidache's Garden and examines the many facets of his relationship to music. Perhaps the most fascinating and perplexing aspect of Celibidache's professional career was his lifelong opposition to the recording of his performances. He was, of course, a provocative and controversial maestro-contentious, impassioned and ingenious. Celibidache, a native of Moldavia in Eastern Rumania, studied music in Bucharest and then in a Berlin conservatory under the tutelage of Heinz Tiessen. He conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for the first time in 1945, while still in his 20s, as most of the established conductors were undergoing de-Nazification. Subsequently he conducted in South America, Scandinavia, France, Germany, and other countries, often working with less prestigious orchestras because of his staunch refusal to allow recording of the music he conducted, though this also allowed him to work through his own unorthodox methods. He also did a good deal of teaching. Sergiu Celibidache died in 1996. The film features numerous performances of the Maestro conducting pieces composed by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, the Maestro's beloved Bruckner, and others. Given his longstanding resistance to mechanical reproduction, these performances make the film a unique experience. Celibidache agreed to participate in the film only after constant urging by his son, the director. The film also features numerous sessions of the Maestro instructing young students.

Serge Ioan Celibidachi; Edited by Klaus Gerke; Translated by Tania Calingaert