Approximately 2,500 foreign artists and 500 Romanian artists are expected at the 2015 edition of the George Enescu Festival, the most important international cultural event organised in Romania and also the strongest promoter of the creation and values of the great 20th century composer Enescu. At the festival, 22 works by Enescu will be performed by the world’s most important orchestras.
The 22nd edition of the George Enescu Festival, which will be hosted by Bucharest City between August 30 – September 20, will see performing some of the most prestigious world orchestras, but also the Romanian Radio Orchestras and Choirs.
The Romanian Radio Children’s Choir, conducted by Voicu Popescu, is the first of the Romanian Radio ensembles to perform within the Festival, at the very opening of the event, on August 30, at the Palace Hall, when it will join the Romanian Youth Orchestra to perform together the famous Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.
Live on Artelor Avenue
Ten concerts of the George Enescu International Music Festival in “The World’s Biggest Orchestras” series to be mounted on the stages of the Palace Hall in Bucharest will be streamed live each weekend, August 30 – September 20, in Regiunilor Square, on Unirii Avenue, the Arts House Cultural Centre reported on Tuesday.
The event, organised by the Arts House Cultural Centre and the Bucharest District 3 City Hall, starts on August 30 at 19:30hrs, local, with the performance of Enescu’s Rhapsody No. 1 in A major; Jan Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, by the Romanian Youth Orchestra under the baton of director Kristjan Jarvi.
For the three weeks of the event, Artelor Avenue will be animated by documentary screenings, specialist book stands and two exhibition: one on the life of George Enescu and the other on the history of the George Enescu Festival, both mounted in partnership with the George Enescu Festival and the George Enescu National Museum.
The “George Enescu Festival on Artelor Avenue,” staged by stage director Alice Barb, is part of a larger programme called “Creative Bucharest.”
Conductor Jarvi: Enescu is Romania’s equivalent of Norway’s Grieg
Orchestra conductor Kristjan Jarvi says composer George Enescu is Romania’s equivalent of Norway’s composer Edvard Grieg and the George Enescu Music Festival is Romania’s current best ambassador.
Attending a meeting on Saturday at Palace Hall in Bucharest for the opening of the 2015 edition of the George Enescu Festival, Jarvi said George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No 1 he will conduct at the festival bears the soul, landscape and spirit of Romania.
“The time has come for Enescu to join the repertoire of the world’s biggest orchestras,” he added.
Violinist Sarah Chang and countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic voiced satisfaction over returning to Bucharest and to the beautiful country that Romania is to perform with the National Youth Orchestra, while orchestra conductor Tiberiu Soare praised the spirit of Enescu’s music that changes people, saying that “after a contact with his music, you cannot be the same as before.”
“I still believe in the basic mission of the Enescu Festival, which is to popularise Enescu’s music in Romania and the world,” said Soare.
Deputy Secretary General of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) Cristina Liberis said that ICR, through its 18 representation offices abroad, shows the world what Romania is, while also promoting Enescu’s creation and all that means Romanian festivals.
“The Enescu Festival continues to be included in ICR’s strategy for the next three years. The affirmation of an organisation such as the Romanian Cultural Institute and implicitly of a country cannot be done without a medium-term strategy, without promotion in international cultural media,” said Liberis, according to Agerpres.
Also attending the meeting were representatives of the partners and sponsors of the Enescu Festival, including Sorina Goia, Radio Romania, Marius Constantinescu, TVR, Raiffeisen Bank President and CEO Steven van Groningen, who said he wants to contribute to Romania getting reconnected to the European and world’s cultural life, along with Radu Cosarca and ENEL Romania, with the discussions moderated by Oana Marinescu, the event’s communication manager.
As much as 70 percent Government- subsidised, the 22nd edition of the George Enescu International Music Festival (August 30 – September 20) opens on Sunday evening with a performance of George Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 by the Romanian Youth Orchestra made up of the most talented young musicians of the country.
Conducing will be Kristjan Jarvi, known to the public for a transcultural repertoire, joined by violinist Sarah Chang, to perform Jean Sibelius’s Concerto No 2 for Violin. The show will end with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana featuring Max Emanuel Cencic, one of the world’s currently most praised countertenors.
Mayor Oprescu on George Enescu Festival: It turns Bucharest into a capital of music
Bucharest City General Mayor Sorin Oprescu believes the George Enescu Festival in the city is turning the city into a capital of music.
“In my opinion, the festival is turning Bucharest City into a European capital of music for three weeks. That cannot but engage the local administration,” Oprescu told a meeting on Saturday at Palace Hall in Bucharest for the opening of the 2015 George Enescu Festival.
He added that they tried to experiment with organised street social forms.
“We have tried to experiment with organised street social forms because symphonic music is not liked by the musically trained only, but also by other people. We had a revelation in 2008, when I joined my colleagues in organising a symphonic music concert before the National Bank of Romania,” said Oprescu.
He said a team exists at the Bucharest General Mayoralty that has overcome vanities to provide an opportunity to foreign guests to express themselves at a European event such as the Enescu Festival.
PM Ponta: George Enescu Festival, a reason for Bucharest and Romania’s pride
Prime Minister Victor Ponta says the George Enescu Festival to be hosted by Bucharest City starting August 30 is a reason for Bucharest and Romania’s pride, congratulating organisers and the festival’s supporters in time.
“The George Enescu Festival – A reason indeed for Bucharest and Romania’s pride!!! Congrats to organisers and the constant supporters of this idea!” Ponta says in a Facebook post in Romanian.
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