Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, born, and generally known in English-speaking countries, as Felix Mendelssohn (February 3, 1809 ? November 4, 1847) was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period.
The grandson of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, he was born to a notable Jewish family which later converted to Christianity. He was recognized early as a musical prodigy, but his parents were cautious and did not seek to capitalise on his abilities. Indeed his father was disinclined to allow Felix to follow a musical career until it became clear that he intended to seriously dedicate himself to it.
Early success in Germany was followed by travel throughout Europe; Mendelssohn was particularly well received in England as a composer, conductor and soloist, and his ten visits there, during which many of his major works were premiered, form an important part of his adult career. His essentially conservative musical tastes however set him apart from many of his more adventurous musical contemporaries such as Liszt, Wagner and Berlioz. The Conservatoire he founded at Leipzig became a bastion of this anti-radical outlook.
Mendelssohn's work includes symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano and chamber music. He also had an important role in the revival of interest in the music of J. S. Bach. After a long period of relative denigration due to changing musical tastes and antisemitism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, his creative originality is now being recognized and re-evaluated. He is now among the most popular composers of the Romantic era. (Collapse)...(Read more)
Ioan Dobrinescu Ioan Dobrinescu was born in 1960 and studied the violin at the George Enescu Music High school and then composition at the University of Music in Bucharest, which he graduated in 1986 as head of his class. Among the masters that have marked his artistic path are the late composers and professors Aurel Stroe, Tiberiu Olah, Stefan Niculescu, Alexandru Pascanu, Dan Constantinescu, Anatol Vieru and Constantin Bugeanu.
After a short career in teaching, Ioan Dobrinescu becomes an editor for Actualitatea Muzicala, the magazine of the Romanian Composers and Musicologist Union. From 1991 onward he became editor and later artistic counselor for the Romanian Broadcasting Corporation. He is currently the head of the Evaluation Committee for Musical Recordings.
In tandem with his numerous programs and music shows of all genres, Ioan Dobrinescu has also written as a music critic, presented numerous concerts and written concert programmes.
Even during his studies, Ioan Dobrinescu was bestowed numerous awards for his creations such as the Mihail Jora prize of the Romanian Music Critics Union in 1995 and the Competition for Musical Programmes organized by Radio Brno in the Czech Republic in 1996.
He became a member of UCMR in 1990 and his original works and arrangements have been played in Romania, France, Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Belgium, The Netherlands and the Republic of Moldova.