He was a vibrant conductor who became the principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, and raised their level of performance. As with another Romanian conductor, Sergiu Celibidache, Silvestri expected to have many hours for rehearsal, and this led to very polished, well crafted performances.
Recordings for which he is particularly well known include Elgar's Alassio (In the South), and Tchaikovsky's fifth symphony.