Enescu Festival: 27 events supported by 16 orchestras from around the world

The artistic director of the George Enescu International Festival, maestro Cristian Măcelaru, proposes for the concert series at the Palace Hall 27 events supported by 16 prestigious orchestras from Romania and around the world, in an edition that will mark 70 years since the passing of the great Romanian composer and musician. The XXVIIth edition of the "George Enescu' International Festival will take place between August 24 and September 21. In Bucharest, some of the most important orchestral ensembles in the world will be able to be heard - the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia National Academy, the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Dresden State Chapel, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the WDR Symphony Orchestra of Cologne - alongside the prestigious orchestras in Bucharest - the "George Enescu' Philharmonic Orchestra, the Romanian Youth Orchestra, the National Radio Orchestra - but also the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra or the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, led by some of the most important conductors of the moment: Cristian Măcelaru, Paavo Jarvi, Vasily Petrenko, Klaus Makela, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Petr Popelka, Manfred Honeck, Christian Reif, Ivan Fischer, Alain Altinoglu, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Giancarlo Guerrero and conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson. Pianists Martha Argerich and Alexandra Dariescu, pianists Kirill Gerstein, Rudolf Buchbinder, Alexandre Kantorow, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Simon Trpceski, Bruce Liu, violinists Anne-Sophie Mutter, Alexandra Conunova, Renaud Capucon, Nemanja Radulovic, Julian Rachlin, cellists Alisa Weilerstein, Gautier Capucon, Kian Soltani, Andrei Ioniţă, winner of the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2015, Yo Kitamura, winner of the Cello Section of the 2024 George Enescu International Competition, sopranos Magdalena Kožena, Rachel Willis-Sorensen, Jennifer Holloway, baritone Iain Paterson, bass Andreas Bauer Kanabas are the international artists who will perform in the Great Hall of the Palace.

Along with numerous Enesci works, the program will also feature famous works composed by Mahler, Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Mozart, Ravel, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Sibelius, Bruckner, Dvorak, Schumann, Liszt, Grieg, Debussy, Richard Strauss, Bartok, as well as works presented in their first audition.

Contemporary dance returns to the festival program: the famous Eva Duda dance company from Hungary will present, together with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Ivan Fischer, two famous works by Bela Bartok: the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin Sz. 73 and the opera The Castle of Prince Bluebeard Sz. 48, on September 17, at 8:00 PM.

Special moments will also be marked by concerts held by the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra on August 25 and 26. The orchestra members are Ukrainian musicians from all over the world, who have joined the effort to symbolically support this country, and the project is the result of collaboration between the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Polish National Opera and the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine. The multimedia projections will accompany five events this year: the opening concert of the Enescu Festival, on August 24, the concert operas Salome op. 54 by Richard Strauss (on September 1) and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk op. 29 (on September 14), the concert held by the Budapest Festival Opera, conducted by Ivan Fischer, together with the Eva Duda Dance Company from Hungary (on September 17) and the second concert of the Orchestre National de France, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru (on September 19) and will be signed by Carmen Lidia Vidu, Nona Ciobanu and Peter Kosir.