Born on 13^th December, 1900, in the village of Ograda, the Ialomita County, musician Ionel Perlea - the one to whom, Arturo Toscanini, the "perfect" conductor bequeathed his baton - loved Mozart's music. Ionel Perlea used to call Mozart, the complete composer, the great composer, due to every page he wrote, and he considered the interpretation of his works as the highest level to which a conductor's skills might be put to test.

Destined for a musician's career, he studied composition, piano and conducting in Munich and Leipzig. On 17^th October, 1919, he made his debut both as a performer and a composer on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. At the age of 26, Ionel Perlea won the 'George Enescu' Composition Prize for his String Quartet Op. 10.

During the interwar period, he worked in Romania, and then, in 1945, we find him at the conductor's stand at the Rome Opera House. The success he had there caused him to be permanently hired as the conductor of the orchestra of the Milan's prestigious lyric theatre La Scala, which finally marked the international recognition of his career. In 1949, he made his debut when conducting Wagner's opera, Tristan and Iseult, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. During his artistic career he conducted numerous opera performances in Vienna, Paris, Buenos Aires, Florence and Chicago and he also conducted prestigious orchestras, especially in the United States.

As an equally great symphony conductor, Ionel Perlea approached the entire classical and romantic repertoire, excelling in the interpretation of symphonic works by Mahler, Strauss, Ravel, Mussorgsky and Dvorak. He did not neglect Romanian music either - George Enescu, Mihail Jora, Paul Constantinescu, ...

The same as with other composers and performers who were outstanding conductors, Ionel Perlea's reputation as a conductor, made ​​the composer's career remain in the shadows. His international conducting career offered him less and less time for composing, achieving in this area much less than his talent could have brought out.

An unfortunate stroke resulted in the paralysis of his right arm, which did not hamper him from learning again the art of conducting - his concerts conducted with his left hand are still memorable. In 1969, Ionel Perlea conducted his last concerts in Bucharest - at the Palace Hall and the Romanian Athenaeum.

On 29^th July, 2014, we celebrated the 44^th year since the death of the great musician - conductor, composer and professor - Ionel Perlea. Radio Romania Music will pay his homage on the Performer of the Day, within the Arpeggio radio show, starting at 10:00.