The Romanian composer and violinist George Enescu (1881-1955) was four years old when he started playing the violin; at seven he was admitted to the Vienna Hochschule and at thirteen he moved to Paris, where he followed the teaching of Marsick (violin). Massenet (composition) and Gédalge (counterpoint); he also met many younger musicians such as Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Ravel and Florent Schmitt. Enescu’s composing career began in 1896 and the following years saw his music reaching out to Parisian music-lovers; his first Sonata for violin and piano was premiered in 1898 by the composer and the pianist Alfred Cortot. The composer at the piano and the cellist J. Salmon gave the premiere of the first Sonata for cello and piano in 1899, and one year later Enescu was awarded the “Premier Prix de Violon” by the Paris Conservatoire. The first recital of Enescu’s music in Paris in 1897 also saw the first performance of his “Nocturne and Saltarello”; this youthful work, recorded here for the first time, was long considered lost until it appeared in a private American collection in 1994. The Nocturne already points towards Enescu’s later style, while the Saltarello is based on quite obvious folk elements.
