The Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt), conducted by Alain Altinoglu, will perform this evening at the Palace Hall as part of the George Enescu International Music Festival. The soloist of the evening will be violinist Julian Rachlin.

The playbill includes Violin Concerto in D minor Op. 47 by Jean Sibelius and Symphony No. 8 in C minor Op. 65 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

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The Frankfurt Radio Symphony (hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt), founded in 1929 as one of the first radio symphony orchestras in Germany, can look back on a 95-year history and today successfully masters the challenges of a modern top-ranking orchestra.

Famed for its outstanding wind section, its powerful strings and its dynamic playing culture, the orchestra of the Hessischer Rundfunk (German Public Radio of Hesse) together with its Music Director Alain Altinoglu is associated with musical excellence but also with an interesting and varied repertoire.

A regular guest at the world's leading opera houses, Alain Altinoglu appears at Metropolitan Opera New York, Royal Opera House London Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper München, and all three opera houses in Paris. He has also appeared at the festivals in Bayreuth, Salzburg, Orange, and Aix-en-Provence.

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Music director of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the Herbstgold Festival, Eisenstadt, principal conductor of the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Julian Rachlin 'is the real thing, a virtuoso with heart and a champion's bearing ,' wrote The Los Angeles Times, an appreciation that underlines why Julian Rachlin is considered one of the most renowned artistic personalities of our time.

In his over thirty-year career, Rachlin's multifaceted interests have taken him across the globe as a conductor, soloist, recording artist, chamber musician, teacher, and artistic director.

As a violinist, he has shared the stage with virtually every major orchestra and conductor.

He plays the 1704 'ex Liebig' Stradivari and a 1785 Lorenzo Storioni viola, on loan to him courtesy of the Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung. His strings are kindly sponsored by Thomastik-Infeld. Julian Rachlin's critically acclaimed recordings can be heard on Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, and Warner Classics.


* At 17:00hrs, the Moldavia Philharmonic Orchestra of Iasi will perform at the Romanian Athenaeum, conducted by Jiri Rozen, featuring acclaimed viola player Razvan Popovici as soloist.

The playbill includes works by George Enescu - Concertstuck for viola and piano (arrangement for orchestra by Mihail Secichin); Symphony No. 2 in A major Op. 17, and by Stan Golestan - Arioso and Allegro de concert (orchestration by Flaviu Mogosan).

The event is co-organised by Artexim and the Moldavia Philharmonic Orchestra of Iasi.

The 27th edition of the George Enescu International Music Festival takes place in Bucharest and around the country throughout September 21. This year, the theme of the event is the anniversaries - 'Celebrations' - amidst the 70th death anniversary of Enescu.

The AGERPRES National News Agency is a traditional media partner of the event. AGERPRES (RO - editing by: Daniel Popescu; EN - editing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)