Enescu Festival brings top orchestras to Bucharest

Sixteen international orchestras will perform at this year’s Enescu Festival in the Great Orchestras of the World series.

The series will bring a total of 29 concerts delivered at Sala Palatului between August 27th and September 24th in a program covering classical and contemporary composers. Three Romanian orchestras are part of the series, alongside the European ones.

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra will deliver one performance conducted by Cristian Macelaru, also the festival’s artistic director, and with cellist Gautier Capuçon as soloist for one performance and one conducted by Hannu Lintu, where it will present the concert version of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Bud.

The Maggio Musicale Orchestra and Choir will perform a program covering Verdi’s Otello, Enescu’s Prelude to Oedip, and Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony, conducted by Zubin Mehta, the festival’s honorary president.

The London Symphony Orchestra, alongside Sir Simon Rattle, will present a program that includes Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and works by Enescu and Olivier Messiaen.

The Capitole Theatre Orchestra from Toulouse will have one performance conducted by Christian Badea and with violinist Renaud Capuçon, and one conducted by Josep Pons, and featuring Lambert Wilson (narrator), Mathias Vidal (tenor), and Vincent Le Textier (baritone) for a program that includes Hector Berlioz’s rarely performed work Lélio ou le Retour à la Vie, Op. 14b, and the Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

The Romanian Youth Orchestra will take the stage for a concert conducted by Stefan Asbury and featuring pianist Jan Lisiecki as the soloist. Additionally, the Romanian Youth Orchestra will also participate in the concert of the National Orchestra of France on September 22nd, in a formative side-by-side project conceived by Cristian Măcelaru, which will allow young Romanian musicians to perform alongside established performers.

The Tonhalle Orchestra from Zurich will perform in a first concert under the baton of Paavo Järvi and alongside Romanian cellist Andrei Ioniță. The second concert will also be conducted by Paavo Järvi, and the program features Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the baton of Lahav Shani, alongside violinist Gil Shaham for one concern and pianist Alexandre Kantorow for another.

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra will deliver one performance conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, and alongside violinist Alena Baeva, and another conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, featuring Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes as the soloist.