Monday, March 07, 2005

Sergiu Comissiona

Romanian Conductor Sergiu Comissiona Dies

Sun Mar 6,12:04 PM ET

By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY - Sergiu Comissiona, the Romanian-born conductor known for the spontaneity and flair that he brought to orchestras in more than 25 countries, has died. He was 76.

The New York resident apparently died of a heart attack Saturday in an Oklahoma City hotel room, hours before he was to serve as guest conductor for the city's philharmonic, officials said.

Comissiona held music directorships with some of North America's leading ensembles, including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Houston Symphony and the Vancouver Symphony. He also was music director of the New York City Opera.

Joel Levine, music director of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and a longtime friend of Comissiona's, filled in for him Saturday night and led the orchestra through a powerfully emotional performance, said William Cleary, past president of the Oklahoma Philharmonic Society.

"It was like a concert unlike any I have been to, and I've been going for 40 years," Cleary said. "The orchestra got three standing ovations during the first number, and I've never seen that before."

In Bucharest, Romania, where Comissiona was born and where he was a permanent guest conductor with the George Enescu Philharmonic, the philharmonic's artistic director Nicolae Licaret called Comissiona's death a "very heavy loss."

"He had an exceptional relationship with the orchestra and the choir. He was always diversifying the repertoire for the audiences and bringing lesser-known works," Licaret told The Associated Press.

Comissiona began playing the violin at 5, joined an orchestra when he was 10, and made his debut as a conductor at 17. He became principal conductor of the Romanian State Opera in his early 20s.

After communists took over Romania in 1945, Comissiona emigrated to Israel in the 1950s. He was music director of the Haifa, Israel, Symphony from 1960-66; of the Goteborg, Sweden, Symphony from 1966-77; and chief conductor of the Radio Philharmonic in Hilversum, Holland, starting in 1982.

Comissiona and his wife, the former Robinne Florin, became American citizens at Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor on July 4, 1976.

"I'm an American conductor, despite my accent," he told The Associated Press in a 1987 interview. "I love French music, German, Russian. I'm very young in this respect; I'm not ashamed of loving music. When I'm doing a moment of 'Pagliacci,' I'm ready to jump on the stage to be with them to sing. For me, every note in this opera is still very emotional."

In recent years, he was conductor laureate of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Asian Youth Orchestra.

From childhood, Comissiona wanted to conduct. "From 7 years, I started to go to concerts, collecting autographs and preparing the scores for the concert during the week and, of course, dreaming that the conductor would be sick. Then I would jump on the stage, make my debut and I would be famous.

"It did happen, with the Romanian State Ensemble ? without poisoning the conductor," he said.

In the United States, Comissiona spent 15 years with the Baltimore orchestra, transforming it from a little-known ensemble into a nationally respected orchestra. He led the symphony on its first international tour and was at the helm when it made its first recordings.

"He elevated this orchestra to a level that had never been aspired to, and he created the platform from which to build a world-class orchestra," John Gidwitz, former Baltimore Symphony Orchestra president, told The (Baltimore) Sun.

Comissiona became dizzy Friday evening as he was conducting a rehearsal, said Levine, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic music director. Levine dropped Comissiona off at his hotel: "He said, 'Joel, don't worry. You won't be conducting tomorrow night. Would you turn out the lights please?"

A hotel worker found the conductor dead on Saturday morning.

Comissiona was scheduled to lead a concert with the cellist Yo-Yo Ma (news - web sites) this week in Puerto Rico, said the maestro's niece, Jeanne Schayes.

He is survived by his wife of more than 50 years and a sister, Milly Barbalata.



Associated Press Writer Alison Mutler contributed to this report from Bucharest, Romania.
fjozn at 10:27 PM