George Enescu Festival 2011: Orchestras, Opera and Ballet

The 20th edition of a great classical music event, George Enescu Festival 2011, has attracted thousands of visitors and artists from all over the world.

George Enescu Festival started on September 1 and ends on September 25. During this period lots of cultural events have taken place.

Great Orchestra of the World series has gathered world famous orchestras, Residentie Orkest/ The Hague Philharmonic with Christian Badea, Dan Grigore (piano), London Symphony Orchestra with Horia Andreescu, and Nicola Benedetti (violin), London Symphony Orchestra with Nikolai Znaider and Saleem Abboud Ashkar (piano), Choir and Orchestra of the “George Enescu” Philharmonic with Genaddy Rozhdestvensky and Iosif Ion Prunner, The Mariinsky Theathre Symphony Orchestra with Valery Gergiev and Alexander Toradze (piano), or with “Academic Choir” of the Romanian National Society, conducted by Dan Mihai Goia, Staatskapelle Berlin with Daniel Barenboim, National Radio Orchestra with James Gaffigan, Peter Donohoe (piano), Cynthia Millar (ondes Martenot), Wiener Philharmoniker with Franz Welser-Möst, Fanny Clamagirand (violin), Antoine Tamestit (viola), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko, Midori, Alexei Volodin, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta, Vadim Repin (violin), Yefim Bronfman (piano).

George Enescu Festival 2011 has brought Orchestra Dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with conductor Antonio Pappano and piano soloist Hélène Grimaud on September 21.

They interpret Concerto no. 1 for piano and orchestra (Brahms) and Symphony no. 6 “Patetica” (Tchaikovsky).

Hélène Grimaud performs at George Enescu Festival 2011 (photo Jean-Marie Périer)

Hélène Grimaud, 42, is a  French pianist. She has shared the stage with a lot of famous orchestras. She loves classical music and wolves. Hélène Grimaud helped found in 1999 Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York, wrote a book “Wild Harmonies: A Life of Music and Wolves” and made a documentary “Living with Wolves”. She underwent surgery for stomach cancer in 2010 with a long recovery. Hélène Grimaud has recorded since she was a teenager. “There is something so intense when the red light goes on. There is an erotic power to the microphone.” She said.

Orchestra Dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia was founded in 1908. It was the first Italian orchestra to dedicate exclusively to symphonic repertoire. It has performed over 15,000 concerts, and was conducted by Debussy, Strauss, Stravinsky, Toscanini.

On September 22, Orchestra Dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia performs with piano soloist Denis Matsuev. They interpret Chamber Symphony (George Enescu), Concerto no. 2 for piano and orchestra (Rachmaninov), Sheherezade (Rimsky-Korsakov).

Denis Matsuev, 36 Russian pianist, won the first prize of the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow (1998). He was the first pianist to perform a jazz concert at Moscow Conservatory.

Denis Matsuev interprets Chamber Symphony by George Enescu at George Enescu Festival 2011.

Romanian Youth Orchestra with Christian Mandeal and violin soloist David Garrett perform on September 23 Rhapsody no.1 (George Enescu), Concerto for violin and orchestra (Beethoven), Firebird (Stravinsky), La Valse (Ravel).

Orchestre National de France with Daniele Gatti interpret Symphony no. 9 (Mahler) on September 24 and on September 25 with cello soloist Han-Na Chang, French orchestra perform Dukas’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, for orchestra (1897), Concertante Symphony for cello and orchestra (George Enescu), Ibéria (Debussy) and Boléro (Ravel).

Bucharest National Opera has began its fall season with a premiere: Oedipe opera, Orchestra and Choir of the Bucharest National Opera (with Tiberiu Soare) on September 15, part of the George Enescu festival.

Oedipe by George Enescu at Bucharest National Opera

George Enescu composed Oedipe, a lyrical tragedy, between 1921 and 1931 and its worldwide premiere was in 1936 in Paris. In Romania, it premiered in 1958, at the first edition of the George Enescu festival.

Lohengrin (Richard Wagner), El Banch / El Ballet Nacional Chileno (Bach), Magifique (Tchaikovsky), Romeo and Juliet (Berlioz) have been performed at Bucharest National Opera or at “Ion Luca Caragiale” National Theatre as part of “Opera and Ballet” series of George Enescu Festival.

Evgheni Oneghin is scheduled for September 21 and 23. A ballet gala featuring David Makhateli (first soloist at the Royal Opera House) and Razvan Mazilu takes place on September 22. Ballet Night with Ballet Company of the Bucharest National Opera follows on September 24. Ballet Night features Valse Fantaisie (Glinka), Serenade (Tchaikovsky), Falling Angels (Steve Reich) and an evening with the best known pieces of operetta can be attended on September 25.

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