Jonel Perlea
A conductor/composer much beset by a series of catastrophes, Jonel Perlea nonetheless ranks high among his contemporaries for the fervor and meticulous attention to sound and form he brought to his interpretations. Interned by the Nazis during WWII and later the victim of a stroke, he prevailed, teaching and conducting with a modified technique employing the left hand only. Recorded evidence causes one to wonder about Perlea's abbreviated time with the Metropolitan Opera, but stories of backstage jealousies suggest the answer.
Perlea was born to wealthy parents. From age seven, he set his mind on a professional career in music and by nine had written his first composition. Young Jonel undertook studies in composition with Anton Beer Wallbrunn and subsequently traveled to Vienna for further training. Later, Perlea attended the Leipzig Conservatory to participate in a master class in composition led by Max Reger and Otto Lohse's course in conducting.
Perlea was invited to Bucharest to conduct the premiere of an orchestral work he had written and found himself intrigued by the possibility of a conducting career. His official debut as a conductor came in Leipzig where he led an opera house performance of the ballet Puppenfee and quickly thereafter, the opera Hänsel und Gretel. Following several other German engagements and a year's service in the Romanian army, Perlea was made first principal conductor at the Bucharest Opera in 1926 and later, the company's music director and director of the city's conservatory. Throughout the ensuing years, Perlea's reputation grew through guest appearances at Europe's leading opera institutions and with its finest orchestras.
On their way from Bucharest to Paris in August 1944, Perlea and his wife were detained by Nazi officials in Vienna because they lacked the necessary visas. For the next year, they were placed in concentration camps, initially in Silesia, later in Kärten. Upon liberation by British troops, Perlea was sent to Italy for repatriation; subsequently he chose to attempt the rebuilding of his career there. A substitute engagement with Rome's Santa Cecilia Orchestra was so well-received that he was given a second concert, this time with his name on the playbills. Another success led to an engagement at La Scala where his Tristan und Isolde was acclaimed. Perlea remained a principal conductor at Milan until 1949, also leading performances regularly at Naples.
After his American debut with the San Francisco Symphony in 1949, Perlea came to the Metropolitan Opera where his December 1 debut in Tristan drew high praise. The refined and clearly defined orchestral textures bespoke an exceptional gift for leadership; he supported his singers rather than dominating them. Similar high enthusiasm greeted his Rigoletto and Carmen, but a failure to agree on repertory (the official story) led incoming manager Rudolf Bing to offer Perlea only one production for the following year.
Perlea returned to Italy to continue conducting there, finding ongoing favor with critics and audiences alike and leading several important opera recordings. Now a naturalized U.S. citizen, he was appointed music director of the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra in 1955 and taught at the Manhattan School of Music. A heart attack in 1957 presaged a stroke that left him disabled but not defeated. He continued to direct with his left arm only and in 1967, led a production of Tosca for the American National Opera hailed as extraordinary for its authority and intensity.
© TiVo
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Mozart: La Flûte enchantée, Les Noces de Figaro & Le Directeur de théâtre, ouvertures (Mono Version)
Jonel Perlea, Wiener Pro Musica Orchester
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Pages orchestrales extraites de La Walkyrie & Siegfried (Mono Version)
Württembergische Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lyadov & Balakirev: Pièces orchestrales (Mono Version)
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Boccherini & Tartini: Concertos pour violoncelle et orchestre (Mono Version)
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea, Joseph Schuster
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Classical Novaes
Guiomar Novaes, Bamberger Symphoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea, Hans Swarowsky
Classical - Released by Vox Legends on 1 Jan 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Ouverture-fantaisie "Roméo et Juliette" & Capriccio italien, Op. 45 (Mono Version)
Wiener Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Aida, Highlights (Mono Version)
Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Jonel Perlea, Jussi Björling, Zinka Milanov
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Festival de ballets (Mono Version)
Filarmonica Triestina, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Ouvertures (Mono Version)
Pro Musica Orchester Wien, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana: La Moldau - Borodin: Danses polovtsiennes (Mono Version)
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart & Rossini: Ouvertures (Mono Version)
Pro Musica Orchester Wien, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Une nuit sur le mont Chauve (Mono Version)
Jonel Perlea, Bamberger Symphoniker
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Suite de Casse-noisette, extraits (Mono Version)
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Glinka: Ouverture de Rouslan et Ludmila & Kamarinskaïa (Mono version)
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 7 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Suite de Casse-noisette (Mono Version)
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jonel Perlea
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franck: Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra, FWV 46 (Mono Version)
Monique De La Bruchollerie, Jonel Perlea, Orchestre Colonne
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1959
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Capriccio italien, Op. 45 (Mono Version)
Jonel Perlea, Wiener Pro Musica Orchester
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: 3 Slavonic Dances (Mono Version)
Jonel Perlea, Bamberger Symphoniker
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Borodin: Danses Polovtsiennes, extraites du Prince Igor (Mono Version)
Jonel Perlea, Bamberger Symphoniker
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana: La Moldau (Mono Version)
Jonel Perlea, Bamberger Symphoniker
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo