George Enescu Festival concert series - Romanian Youth Orchestra on September 6 and 7 at Sala Palatului

The Romanian Youth Orchestra will take the stage at the Sala Palatului (Palace Hall) alongside the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO), conducted by Manfred Honeck, on September 6 and 7 at 19:30, as part of the concert series of the "George Enescu" International Festival.

According to a release of the Romanian Youth National Art Center sent to AGERPRES on Tuesday, the concert on September 6 will feature violinist Renaud Capucon as soloist and will include E.W. Korngold's Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra, Op. 35 and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64.

For the September 7 performance, the soloist will be Yo Kitamura and the program includes George Enescu's Symphonie Concertante in B minor for cello and orchestra, Op. 8 and Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, WAB 109.

Under the baton of Christian Reif, the Romanian Youth Orchestra will return in full formation to the festival on September 16 at 20:00hrs, this time joined by the "George Enescu" Philharmonic Choir. The evening's program includes Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16, with soloist Simon Trpceski and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor for soloists, choir and orchestra, Op. 125, featuring soloists Ailyn Perez (soprano), Judit Kutasi (mezzo-soprano), Maximilian Schmitt (tenor), and Soloman Howard (bass).

"We performed for the first time with the Romanian Youth Orchestra at the 'George Enescu' International Festival in Bucharest back in 2011, as part of a series where our inclusion still seems astonishing to me today for a youth orchestra: the Great Orchestras of the World series. The courage Mihai Constantinescu (Ioan Holender was also artistic director then) had at the time, I must admit, to include a youth orchestra in such a prestigious series, was a tremendous boost for us. And the orchestra played admirably," founder of the Romanian Youth Orchestra Marin Cazacu stated, as quoted in the press release.

The Romanian Youth Orchestra was founded in 2008 at the initiative of cellist Marin Cazacu and is the first and best-known symphonic ensemble of Romania's National Youth Orchestras.

Sinfonietta Orchestra - the second orchestral ensemble established within the National Youth Orchestras of Romania project - will perform in the "Concerts for Families and Children" series on August 31 at 11:00hrs, at the Odeon Theatre, Majestic Hall, conducted by Mihnea Ignat, with a performance including Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34 and The Story of Enescu (a selection of works by George Enescu arranged by conductor Cristian Macelaru).

The "George Enescu" International Festival is one of the world's most prestigious classical music events, held since 1958. Its 27th edition takes place between August 24 and September 21 and will mark 70 years since the death of the great Romanian composer and musician George Enescu. This year's theme "Anniversaries/Celebrations" includes more than 100 concerts performed by over 4,000 of the world's most renowned artists, highlighting both Enescu's artistic legacy and his profound impact on classical music worldwide.