26th edition of "George Enescu" International Festival to open on Sunday

The 26th edition of the "George Enescu" International Festival opens on Sunday at the Palace Hall in Bucharest.

For 29 days, more than 3,500 guest artists will perform on the stages of the Palace Hall, the Romanian Athenaeum, the Radio Hall, the Auditorium Hall and the Odeon Theatre, in 90 concerts, according to a press release the organisers issued on Friday.

"The theme of this year's edition, 'Generosity through Music,' expresses the fundamental values of composer George Enescu, takes us back to the George Enescu National Prize, initiated in 1913 by the Romanian composer, and describes the new approaches in the field of social involvement, education, training, inclusion and contribution to the community, specific to this impressive artistic event," the press release reads.

This year's official programme includes six series of concerts, each with a different theme, built for the specifics of each venue and its audience.

The "Great Orchestras of the World" series brings 13 international orchestras and three Romanian orchestras to the stage of the Palace Hall, in a musical marathon of 29 concerts in 29 consecutive days.

The concerts at the Romanian Athenaeum give the public the opportunity to listen to the world's best known symphony and chamber orchestras at the Romanian Athenaeum. The series offers the public the opportunity to enjoy spectacular encounters with works by well-known classical and contemporary composers.

The midnight concerts gather 11 proposals for recitals not to be missed, also on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum, this time with a programme that goes from Renaissance and Baroque music to traditional Georgian folklore and improvisation moments.

The "Enescu and Contemporaries" series captures the relationship that the great George Enescu had with other great composers in a series of concerts held on weekend mornings at the Auditorium Hall.

The "Romanian Orchestras" series offers a varied programme, including romantic and modern composers, but also contemporary music. Ten representative ensembles from Bucharest and five other cities in the country will be in the programme.

A new series this year is "Concerts for families and children." An initiative of maestro Cristian Macelaru, the series gathers four thematic concerts, which will take place in a space included for the first time in the festival - the Majestic Hall of the Odeon Theatre.

This year's edition is the first with a new leadership, both artistic and executive. Maestro Cristian Macelaru officially begins his mandate as artistic director of the "Enescu" Festival, and Cristina Uruc, interim Artexim manager, coordinates the executive team.

Among the important orchestras that will participate in this year's edition are the Vienna Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, the National Orchestra of France, the Tonhalle Orchestra of Zurich, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Also, leading international conductors will take the stage during the festival - Cristian Macelaru, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Wilson Hermanto, Paavo Jarvi, Delyana Lazarova, Lawrence Foster, Vladimir Jurowski.

Among the soloists who will accompany the orchestras there are Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gautier Capucon, Yuja Wang, Klaus Makela, Daniel Hope, Olga Peretyatko, Fazil Say, Avi Avital, Kate Lindsey, Cameron Carpenter, Xavier de Maistre, Jose Cura, David Grimal, Daniel Muller-Schott, Benjamin Kruithof, Maria Marica, Alexandra Segal.

More than 60 concerts will be streamed live on the Enescu Festival website. The full list is available at www.festivalenescu.ro

Another important section in this year's programme is the Festival Square which returns after a break of several years, from September 17 to 24, with a series of free concerts in the George Enescu Square.

Also new for this edition is the Enescu Festival Blog, which will contain daily information about the activities of the event, as well as a series of editorials signed by writer Radu Paraschivescu under the title "Festival Diary."

The "George Enescu" International Festival, organised by Artexim, takes place under the High Patronage of the President of Romania.