VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 18, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Compellingly written by Cecilia Burcescu (with a Coda by Murry Sidlin), Maestro Sergiu Comissiona's authorized biography, A Romanian Rhapsody, reveals facts about his happy childhood in a Jewish petit bourgeois family in Bucharest (then "the little Paris of Eastern Europe"), his adolescence under the Nazi specter, and his youth in repressive communist times behind the Iron Curtain. His life changes as he leaves behind the closed horizons of communist Romania for the broad ones of the Western world when he immigrates to Israel, later settling in England, then Sweden, and, finally, the United States. The book follows chronologically and analytically his career path, from an ensemble violinist to an internationally-renowned conductor, based on his own accounts, extended research, and revealing testimonials. The Maestro's rationale for having his biography written was, in his own words, "for the Westerners to understand my deep attachment to my Romanian roots, for the Romanians to know about my struggle for artistic affirmation in the Western world, and mostly for young conductors to realize that through passion, patience and persistence -- and by not committing suicide after the first failure -- the dedicated commitment to the profession bears fruit."
Know more about this "unstoppable Romanian rhapsodist" and the challenges of his eventful life and illustrious career. For more information, log on to www.Xlibris.com.
About the Author
Cecilia Burcescu has translated poetry (Letters of John Keats, Ed. Univers: Bucharest, Romania) confronting the difficulty of transferring poems from a Germanic into a Romance language, while striving to be a translator, not a "traitor" (thus counteracting the Latin saying: "Tradutore, traditore.") She has published poetry in several American anthologies (Who's Who in Poetry, The Best Poems and Poets of 2003, and others). Yet, once approached by Maestro Sergiu Comissiona with the request to write his biography, she has turned from poetry to prose, accepting the challenge of honoring the trust and privilege of his choice. She and her subject share a Romanian upbringing and the challenges of immigration as adults. Cecilia Burcescu -- a Romanian by birth, a Canadian by choice -- teaches university level literature in Vancouver, British Columbia.
A Romanian Rhapsody: The Life of Conductor Sergiu Comissiona
by Cecilia Burcescu, with a Coda by Murry Sidlin
Publication Date: December 23, 2008
Trade Paperback; $23.99; 579 pages; 978-1-4363-1173-1
Cloth Hardback; $34.99; 579 pages; 978-1-4363-1174-8
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7479. Tear sheets may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Marketing Services. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x.7876.