1957, George Georgescu and The George Enescu Philarmonic Orchestra - Ioana Georgescu Răileanu Collection
Founded in 1868, the George Enescu Philharmonic is one of the oldest permanent orchestras in Europe and the world.
Its conductors have been a series of renowned musicians, including Eduard Wachmann, George Enescu, George Georgescu, Constantin Silvestri, Sergiu Celibidache, Cristian Mandeal, Horia Andreescu, and Christian Badea, who have ensured continuing excellence in the Romanian art of conducting.
In its interwar glory years, there was not a major international conductor or soloist who did not grace the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum. Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ravel, Arthur Rubinstein, Richard Strauss, Herbert von Karajan, and Pablo Casals are just a few of the illustrious names in question. The Orchestra’s professional standard has always been at the level of European culture as a whole, in which the Philharmonic has always felt at home. Today, the same as in the past, musicians from all over the world are regularly invited to take part in the Athenaeum’s seasons alongside the Philharmonic, in concerts that more often than not are sold out.
The colors and magnificent history depicted in the fresco of the Romanian Athenaeum’s main concert auditorium, a symbol of Bucharest, are echoed in the rich palette of musical timbres onstage, which are flexible in their expressiveness and create a dazzling, fluid whole. Each of the Philharmonic’s appearances is spectacular: in the ideal acoustics of the Athenaeum’s Grand Auditorium, the colors and dynamics are always fresh and captivating. Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler, and Enescu, all of them great symphonists, find in the performances of the Philharmonic a solid and durable stylistic standard and are at home in an acoustic space that is both iconic and welcoming.
1957, 70 year anniversary concert, George Georgescu, David and Igor Oistrach - Ioana Georgescu Răileanu Collection
The Athenaeum’s temple-like aura does not stop concertgoers from sitting on the stairs if the auditorium is packed to listen to well-beloved works or unexpected musical moments. The Philharmonic comes across as an orchestra that is at ease, mature, well-balanced, full of imagination and possessed of a musical spirit that is both professional and full of energy, and as one in which individual members are free to take the spotlight. The audience leaves the concert hall with the impression that every memorable solo passage is a miniature replica of the unity of the orchestra as a whole.
Besides Cristian Mandeal, director general of the Philharmonic from 1991 to 2009, the George Enescu Philharmonic has over the years benefitted from the talents of some other major conductors. Horia Andreescu, one of the most important Romanian conductors internationally, was an associate conductor for many years. After his visit to Romania in 1990, Sergiu Celibidache became the lifetime honorary director of the Philharmonic.
Once the borders of Romania reopened after the communist period, the Philharmonic was able to re-join the international orchestral circuit: conductors Sergiu Comissiona, Lawrence Foster, Heinrich Schiff, Seiji Ozawa, Christian Badea, Cristian Măcelaru, Thomas Sanderling, Leonard Slatkin, Gabriel Bebeșelea, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Jin Wang, Camil Marinescu, and Charles Dutoit, and soloists Elisabeth Leonskaja, Nelson Goerner, Katia Buniatishvili, Mischa Maisky, Renaud Capuçon are just a few of the names who restored the concert hall of the Romanian Athenaeum to its former glory.
The Orchestra’s rich activity is as naturally on display in the recording studio as it is in the concert hall. Besides its over three hundred annual concerts at the Athenaeum, the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra has recorded dozens of LPs and CDs and conducts numerous tours of Europe, Asia, and the Far East.
Sergiu Celibidache conducting The München Philharmonic Orchestra, The Romanian Athenaeum, 1990 ©Armand Rosenthal/Agerpres
2024, Lawrence Foster and The George Enescu Philarmonic Orchestra
