Sergiu Comissiona

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Sergiu Comissiona

Sergiu Comissiona (born June 16, 1928 in Bucharest , † March 5, 2005 in Oklahoma City ) was a Romanian- Israeli -American conductor and classical violinist.

biography

youth

Comissiona, born into a Jewish family, began playing the violin at the age of five. He studied violin and conducting with Constantin Silvestri and Eduard Lindenberg at the National Music University in Bucharest . At the age of 17 he made his debut in 1946 as a conductor with Gounod's Faust and became a violinist in the Romanian State Ensemble , which he then directed from 1950 to 1955 as music director. At the age of 27 he became chief conductor at the Romanian National Opera , which he directed until his escape from communist Romania to Israel in 1959.

Career

In Israel he directed the Ramat Gan Chamber Orchestra from 1960 to 1967 and at the same time also conducted the Haifa Symphony Orchestra from 1959 to 1966. After that, he moved to Sweden to join the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra , where he held the position of music director from 1966 to 1973, also to the Ulster Orchestra , which he directed from 1967 to 1969, as well as to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1984, which he developed from a locally known orchestra to an internationally recognized orchestra. This position in turn overlapped with his work as chief conductor at the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in Hilversum in the Netherlands in 1982. He also conducted the Houston Symphony , the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and was music director at the New York City Opera . In 1990 he moved to Spain, where he worked for eight years at the Orquesta Sinfónica de RTVE in Madrid as music director and, with interruptions, held the same position at the annual six-week session of the Asian Youth Orchestra from 1991 to 2004. In addition, from 1997 until his death he was first guest conductor of the USC Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California .

The music of the spheres by Rued Langgaard , conducted by Comissiona in 1968 , which had not been performed for 46 years, brought about a rediscovery of Rued Langgaard's compositions.

The first recordings of a number of modern compositions, including the symphonies of Allan Pettersson , who had dedicated his 9th Symphony Comissiona, as well as some works by Michael Jeffrey Shapiro and Elie Siegmeister, go back to the initiative of the Comissiona. He also conducted Siegmeister's An Entertainment for Violin, Piano, and Orchestra with the soloists Ann Saslav (piano) and Isidor Saslav (violin) on July 2, 1976 at the Merriwether Post Pavilion (Amphitheater) in Columbia , Maryland .

Private

Comissiona and his wife received US citizenship on the occasion of the bicentenary of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1976 at Fort McHenry on the port of Baltimore . He died of a heart attack in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , shortly before a gig.

Honors

Comissiona won the International Competition for Young Conductors in Besançon as early as 1956 with a Première Mention . He later became Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France , honorary doctorate from the New England Conservatory in Boston , Massachusetts , honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and founder of the national competition for young conductors at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Charles Barber, José A. Bowen:  Comissiona, Sergiu. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  2. ^ Aryeh Oron: Ramat-Gan Chamber Orchestra. Bach Cantata's website, February 2016, accessed February 5, 2017 .
  3. ^ David Byers: Ulster Orchestra. Orchestras in Northern Ireland. In: byersmusic.com. January 30, 2020 .;
  4. ↑ Viinholt Nielsen, Bendt: Sfærernes Music (Music of the Spheres) . langgaard.dk.
  5. ↑ Merriwether Post Pavilion. Web site, accessed February 9, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Ann Saslav. Center for New Zealand Music, accessed February 9, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Isisor Saslav. VIOLINIST.COM, accessed February 9, 2017 .
  8. ↑ List of winners at: Festival international de musique
personal data
SURNAME Comissiona, Sergiu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Romanian-Israeli-American conductor
DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Bucharest
DATE OF DEATH March 5, 2005
Place of death Oklahoma City