Bucharest events: Immersive production focuses on George Enescu's Romanian Poem

The immersive video project George Enescu – Poema Română: Immersive Experience will be presented on August 19 at the Museum of Immersive New Art (MINA) in Bucharest.

The project is part of a series of productions that Artexim, the organizer of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, has planned to mark the 143th anniversary of the Romanian composer’s birth.

Four successive screenings have been scheduled - at 5:00 PM, 5:35 PM, 6:10 PM, and 6:45 PM. Admission is free, based on a ticket reservation at Eventim.ro.

Enescu (1881-1955) was 16 and a half years old in 1897, when he composed Poema Română, his first work to which he assigned an opus number.

Poema Română op. 1 ends with an orchestral version of the Royal Anthem composed by Eduard Hübsch, which became the national anthem for almost seven decades from the moment it was first officially played in 1884. From 1947, with the establishment of Communism, until the 1989 Revolution, Poema Română could no longer be performed. It was reintroduced into the repertoire by conductor Horia Andreescu, 31 years ago, at the Romanian Athenaeum, the organizers of the project explain.

The immersive video project was created by Les Ateliers Nomad.

The 27th edition of the George Enescu International Festival is set to take place between August 24 and September 21, 2025. The festival will cover, in addition to its six traditional concert series, this new series dedicated to artistic interdisciplinary, the organizers have said.

This year, Bucharest hosts the George Enescu International Competition. Held between August 31 and September 27, it covers sections on cello, violin, piano, and composition. Lithuanian cellist David Geringas, violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky, cellist Valentin Răduțiu, and pianist Lukas Geniušas are among the musicians scheduled to perform at the event.

(Illustration: the organizers)