Constantin Silvestri (1913-1969) was a Romanian conductor and composer, known for intense, highly individual performances. He worked in Romania, France and Britain, and became principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Philadelphia with Britten and Tchaikovsky, a compact but valuable glimpse of his international activity.

Silvestri’s conducting was vivid, rhythmic and often unpredictable, with a strong feeling for colour and dramatic profile. He could make familiar music sound freshly unsettled.

His recorded legacy has a devoted following. Silvestri was not a smoothing conductor; he was a flint-striker, making sparks where others polished marble.