As this year’s George Enescu Festival winds down in Romania’s capital, organizers of one of Europe’s most significant classical music events are already training their sights on the next edition. The 27th Enescu, a biennial event, could bring in American orchestras for the first time in years, says Cristina Uruc, one of the central planners. She also wants to expand the horizons of the event to include more modern and contemporary music and opera.
The festival, named after Romania’s most famous composer and begun in 1958, has brought 3,500 artists from 51 orchestras to Bucharest this month, including London’s Symphony Orchestra and Rome’s National Academy of Santa Cecilia Orchestra under such acclaimed conductors as Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, and Vladimir Jurowski. International pianists Yuja Wang and Martha Argerich are renowned musicians who made this an unforgettable festival.
This year’s festival theme, “Generosity through Music,” was chosen in tribute to Enescu’s fundamental values of generosity and excellence. It is expressed in the festival’s program by showcasing some of the world’s top orchestras and performers, along with the best selection of classical, romantic and baroque music. The program was rounded out with opera, family concerts, and a selection of works in world and Romanian premieres.
Among the many highlights of this year’s festival was a performance by Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra at the Romanian Athenaeum, an interpretation of Oedipe at the Romanian National Opera by maestro Stefano Poda, and a performance of Messiaen’s Saint Francis d’Assise by the Orchestre National de France, with Le Balcon and cellist Thomas Oliemans, conducted by Maxime Pascal.
For 2025, the festival’s new artistic director, Cristian Macelaru, wants to keep up high artistic standards and continue to foster close relationships with the world’s most prestigious performers. He is particularly keen to attract American orchestras and artists to the festival and expand the program’s horizons by inviting ensembles from other musical genres to perform.
The festival’s organizers are already looking forward to a new edition of the competition in 2023, with a particular focus on Romanian young talent. The auditions will be held online, and the semifinals and finals will occur at the Romanian Athenaeum. The competition will once again feature world-renowned performers such as violinists Viktoria Mullova and Gidon Kremer, sopranos Olga Peretyatko and Aida Garifullina, and the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra. The finalists will also receive scholarships to study in one of Romania’s leading music universities. More information is available on the competition’s web
