This Romanian conductor headed various orchestras in Stockholm, Stuttgart, Munich and Berlin (he led the great Philharmonic after the war for seven years). He was never interested in making recordings, preferring to devote a vast amount of time to preparation before delivering performances that could be incandescent with inner fire. At his greatest—in Bruckner's symphonies, or Sibelius' Second or Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2—he was unbeatable.