Mats Norrman wrote:

>I have a recording of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" with Satu Mare
>Philarmonic Orchestra/Paul Popescu.  Could anyone provide a little info on
>this orchestra, as I have never heard about it elleswhere? I would guess it
>is in perhaps Hungary, but more I don't know.  The recording is from 1979
>btw.

No, Satu Mare is in northwestern Romania (in Transylvania actually).  Its
Hungarian name is Szatmarnemeti.

You may want to visit their website (if you manage to connect to it):

   http://www.cimec.ro/Muzica/Inst/fsatumare.htm

Surely it quotes some LP records.  Unfortunately, I cannot remember any
title now...  OTOH, Paul Popescu conducts the Romanian RTV Orchestra in
one of the most original Romanian symphonies, Bentoiu's astonishing 5th
(1979).  It can be heard on an Olympia CD, OCD 416, "Romanian Contemporary
Music".  In short, it presents the listener with a trip across centuries
of music- making, from monody and heterophony to atonal techniques.  It
is by no means a dull pedagogical work, but an intensely subjective one,
overwhelmingly powerful at times, and gives a very clear insight about what
makes modern Romanian music so special, deeply rooted in its own tradition
and yet full of possibilities.

Best wishes,

Thanh-Tam Le
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