CultMin Turcan, at Enescu International Festival end: It has been a special musical journey
The "George Enescu" International Festival ended on Sunday evening at the Palace Hall in Bucharest with the concert of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by Klaus Makela, told Agerpres.
The famous ensemble performed for the second time on the stage of the Palace Hall, within the Great Orchestras of the World Series of this edition, alongside the Academic Radio Choir prepared by Ciprian Tutu and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston.
The programme included George Enescu's Concert Overture on Romanian Folk Themes Op. 32 and Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor, the presentation of the Austrian composer's most extensive work, considered the longest symphony in the standard repertoire, ending the 26th edition of the Bucharest festival with a standing ovation.
Romanian Minister of Culture Raluca Turcan described the Enescu Festival as "a special musical incursion."
"And that's because, beyond the large number of participants, of performers, we also had extremely complex and challenging compositions. And this is why I hope that the public found themselves in the multitude of musical genres and events that the festival offered," Turcan told AGERPRES.
Raluca Turcan said she was honoured to present a decoration to her childhood idol, maestro Zubin Mehta.
"For me, maestro Zubin Mehta has been an idol since childhood and the honour was complete when I was able to present him with the "For Merit" National Order in the rank of Commander on behalf of the President of Romania," said the Minister of Culture.
The Artistic Director of the "George Enescu" Festival, Maestro Cristian Macelaru, voiced his satisfaction that the event was able to offer not only the Romanian public, but also audiences from all over the world the opportunity to hear "superb music."
The famous conductor said that Enescu's music was "seen" and "felt" in the festival. "Enescu was seen, but Enescu was also felt in the festival very well and I think all the people who attended the festival felt his presence in everything he did," said Macelaru.
For 29 days, according to the organisers, more than 3,500 guest artists performed on the stages of the Palace Hall, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Radio Hall, the Auditorium hall and the Odeon Theatre, in 90 concerts.
This year's official programme included six series of concerts, the "Great Orchestras of the World" series bringing international and Romanian orchestras to the stage of the Palace Hall, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of France, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian State Opera Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia National Academy of Rome, the Romanian Youth Orchestra, the National Radio Orchestra, or the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra.
Internationally renowned conductors have taken the stage during the festival, from Cristian Macelaru, Zubin Mehta, or Sir Simon Rattle, to Paavo Jarvi, Delyana Lazarova, Lawrence Foster, or Vladimir Jurowski. Among the soloists were Martha Argerich, Renaud and Gautier Capucon, Jose Cura, Katia and Marielle Labeque, Alexandra Dariescu, Stefan Cazacu, Raluca Stirbat, Igor Levit, Yuja Wang, or Avi Avital.
The concerts at the Romanian Athenaeum gave the public the opportunity to listen to the world's best known symphony and chamber orchestras, giving them the opportunity to enjoy spectacular encounters with works by renowned classical and contemporary composers. Also on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum, the midnight concerts took place with unforgettable recitals, at this edition of the festival the organisers proposed a programme that went from Renaissance and Baroque music to traditional Georgian folklore and moments of improvisation.
Other series that delighted music lovers were "Enescu and contemporaries," "Romanian orchestras," the new series of "Concerts for families and children," - an initiative of the maestro Cristian Macelaru, held in a space included for the first time in the festival - the Majestic Hall of the Odeon Theatre, but also the Festival Square, reintroduced among the venues after a break of several editions.
As in other editions of the festival, many other concert series were held in well-known concert halls around Romania.
A project financed by the Romanian Government through the Ministry of Culture, under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, the 26th edition of the "George Enescu" International Festival was organized by ARTEXIM.
AGERPRES Romanian National News Agency was among the main media partners of the event.
Comentează