George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra concert marks Romania Day at Osaka World Expo

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra will deliver on June 26 a concert marking Romania Day at the Osaka World Expo.

Additionally, the Bucharest-based orchestra will present a series of other concerts and recitals, both within the Romanian Pavilion and outside, at Toyonara Hall in Osaka.

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra's concerts will be conducted by Gabriel Bebeșelea and Ciprian Marinescu, with the participation of soloists Liviu Prunaru and Rafael Butaru. The recitals will be performed by chamber ensembles made up of members of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra.

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra's first concert in Japan will take place on June 24 at Toyonaka Hall Osaka. Conductor Ciprian Marinescu, who has been living in Japan since 1998 and is a music director of the Harmonious Chamber Orchestra Osaka, will lead the orchestra for a program that includes Four Seasons in My Hometown by Shun-Ichiro Genda, Concerto no. 1 for violin and orchestra by Max Bruch and Symphony No. 8 by Antonín Dvořák. The soloist will be violinist Liviu Prunaru, a former concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

On June 25, the George Enescu Philharmonic's string ensemble, Athenaeum String Quartet, will perform at the Romanian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka a program that includes Dans Țăranesc by Constantin Dimitrescu, Romanian Folk Dances by Béla Bartók and Hora Staccato by Grigoraș Dinicu.

On June 26, the orchestra, under the baton of conductor Gabriel Bebeșelea, will perform two concerts on the Expo National Day Hall stage. The program includes works by George Enescu, György Ligeti, Ciprian Porumbescu, Grigoraș Dinicu, Theodor Rogalski, Antonín Dvořák, Camille Saint-Saëns, Richard Wagner, Giuseppe Verdi, Georges Bizet. Violinist Rafael Butaru, concertmaster of the George Enescu Philharmonic, will be the soloist of the Ballade for Violin and Orchestra op. 29 by Ciprian Porumbescu.

The Athenaeum Brass Sextet will also perform on June 27 at the Romanian Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka.

(Photo: Pavilionul Romaniei Expo 2025 Osaka on Facebook)