The second edition of Sergiu Celibidache International Festival will no longer be organized this year, according to Serge Ioan Celibidache, the organizer of the event and the son of the famous conductor Sergiu Celibidache. He also added that he forbids state institutions in Romania to use his father’s name.

“Scheduled to take place in October 2014, the second edition of this event will no longer take place. The main reason is the indifference of the Romanian state when it comes to honoring the Romanian values,” said Serge Ioan Celibidache in a press release.

The first edition of the festival was organized in the summer of 2012. Following its success, a second edition was scheduled for this year, but “besides generous praises offered punctual and useless promises, nothing happened”.

“We communicated with all the ministers, even with the Prime Minister. It is clear that everything that means culture in Romania is not a priority for the country and even less for those who run it,” said Serge Ioan Celibidache.

He adds that the politicians’ indifference and unfulfilled promises made him forbid the use of his father’s name and image by the state institutions in Romania.

Sergiu Celibidache was a famous Romanian conductor and composer who is best known for his high artistic standards as well as his meticulous rehearsal style. He always conducted from memory and he only made a couple of studio recordings, believing that recordings represented “the negation of music”. Read more about him here.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com