The 24^th edition of the George Enescu International Festival, which ended this past weekend, gathered over 120,000 spectators in concert halls, according to the number of tickets validated, the organizers of the event announced. Of these, 30% were pass holders.

At the same time, over 26,000 classical music fans watched the live, online broadcasts on the festival’s website. Of these, 75% were from Romania and 25% from abroad.

More than 21,000 people watched the live broadcasts of Trinitas TV, according to the audience data of the TV channel (21,148 spectators per minute).

At the concerts held in the country under the umbrella of the festival, another 5,500 classical music lovers attended.

A total of 20,000 people watched the live broadcasts in Bucharest’s George Enescu Square and the performances of the 245 young artists from music high schools in Bucharest, Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca and Sibiu.

Approximately 100,000 people took part in the festival’s associated programs, which included micro-concerts held in 31 unconventional venues in the city, such as parks, museums and office buildings.

A total of 85% of the concerts were sold out, 60% of them on the day the tickets went on sale, in March of this year.

This year’s edition of the festival had a budget of RON 55 million (EUR 11.5 million), out of which 70.9% came from the Culture Ministry and some 2% from the Bucharest Ciy Hall. Sponsorships covered almost 5% of the event’s budget, while 3-4% was covered by partner companies through partnerships providing services, products or discounts. Ticket sales make up 18.8% of the festival’s budget.

This year, the festival brought to Romania 2,500 artists from over 50 countries. It was the most extensive edition yet, with concerts held in Bucharest, ten cities in the country and six cities in the world.

The big names of classical music who performed at the festival included Diana Damrau, Joyce DiDonato, Sir Bryn Terfel, Rolando Villazon, Mitsuko Uchida, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Julia Fischer, Nobuyuki Tsujii, Nelson Freire, Vadim Repin, Leif Ove Andsnes, Maxim Vengherov, or Ray Chen.

The four main sections of the festival brought several premieres, such as Richard Strauss’s The Woman without a Shadow, Britten’s Peter Grimes, Schoenberg’s Moses and Aron, or Bartók’s Bluebeard's Castle.

Of the over 300 works performed at the festival, spanning from the Baroque to the contemporary, 35 belonged to George Enescu.

(Photo: George Enescu Festival)

editor@romania-insider.com