The idea of this anthology has been haunting me for a long time. Respect, fear, admiration, even fascination made me postpone incessantly such an attractive project. What would be the framework? How would so many strong personalities, volcanic tempers cohabit between the covers of such a book? I found the solution thanks to our colleague and (I dare say) friend, the patriarch of Romanian musicology, Mr. Viorel Cosma. The treasure owned by this great musicologist gave me courage. Consequently, here is the issue dedicated to seven great conductors of Romanian origin. Of course, the Romanian school offered many more personalities in this field, some of them fascinating, who impressed audiences from all over the world. Being a conductor calls for talent, culture, hard work, vocation, personality, inspiration, and above all a great deal of good luck. At the same time, a conductor needs the social, human framework within which he may practice – or unleash! – his tumultuous profession.It is an illusion to believe that one single book may encompass the musical destinies of these great conductors; the documents – reviews, correspondence, repertoires, interviews, iconography – are only meant to give hints. Even so, the vibration of the conductor's art will enthrall. Extending our humble apologies to the Romanian maestros of the baton who have not been included in this issue, we are introducing seven magnificent masters of the 20th-century podium: Sergiu Celibidache, Ionel Perlea, George Georgescu, Constantin Silvestri, Egizio Massini, and our contemporaries Cristian Mandeal and Horia Andreescu. We hope that the open, boundless dialogue enabled by music will be our ally in rounding off their image, acting as a catalyst in the spiritual interchange; naturally, a CD including every conductor's favorite (or representative) piece of music would have done them justice; hopefully it will arrive with a new edition. Until then, we wish our music-loving readers a nice trip around the Romanian conductors' successes.
by Aurora Fabritius
