George Enescu International Festival Executive Director Mihai Constantinescu highlighted on Friday that all the moments for the public at this edition are very beautiful, very interesting and include everything a festival of this size should include.

"There are concerts of the great orchestras that visit us this year, starting with the six British orchestras, two German, two French, two Dutch, two Italian, other orchestras that come for the first time in the festival - the one from Croatia, another one from Greece. There are artists who took part in the last editions of the festival so far (...) there are also new names that appear in our playbill, and they are very important names. In addition to all the international names that you can see in our playbill, you will also see a lot of Romanian artists. They are the cream of the crop, if I may say so, they are the best orchestras in the country, not only from Bucharest, not only the Philharmonic and the Radio, which we have become accustomed to in recent years, " Constantinescu told a news conference at Sala Palatului.

Thus, orchestras from Timisoara, Iasi, Cluj, Bacau, Sibiu also participate, and concerts will take place elsewhere in the country as well, such as in Satu Mare, Brasov, Pitesti.

He said that the negative part of this year's edition of the George Enescu Festival is the cancellation of the series of night concerts, because of COVID-19 reasons.

"Even if we lose those extraordinary moments of the spectators moving from Sala Palatului to the Athenaeum at night, through the Festival Square, they are moments that we will surely live in the years to come, at other editions, and this time we thought it would better to take care of our audience and our artists, and that will hopefully be appreciated by both the public and the artists," said the festival's executive director.

Minister of Culture Bogdan Gheorghiu said that the 25th edition of the George Enescu Competitive Festival brings the public one step closer "to the society we were used to and are now deprived of."

"The troubling times we would go through would always call into question the possibility of many important events, but I think the most important event we have all thought about is the George Enescu International Festival. The 25th edition of the George Enescu International Festival brings us one step closer to the society we were used to and are now deprived of, a society of packed performance and concert halls, a society of regaining the confidence to be together to celebrate quality. The recent reality has made us appreciate much more everything around us, enjoy every sound, feel the Romanian longing for traditions and customs that define our national identity. The music of the great Romanian George Enescu has always pleased us, and the festival reminds us of the importance of respite; no harmonious society exists in the absence of listening as learning is deficient in its absence and evolution hard," said the culture minister.

Presidential adviser on Culture Sergiu Nistor awarded to the organisers of the festival the High Patronage of the President of Romania.

"This high patronage diploma gives the expression of the appreciation that this festival enjoys from the president, in turn showing the appreciation that this event enjoys among the Romanian public and in international cultural conversations, in which the festival is probably the most important Romanian event. This year, which is special in many respects, we return to George Enescu's life, marking the 140th of his birth anniversary, which is also one of the arguments for the high patronage of the President and not only of the President of Romania; these 140 years are also marked by the political dialogue at the highest level between Romania and France," said Nistor.

Also attending the news conference, Bucharest General Mayor Nicusor Dan said that the Bucharest City Hall had just a small contribution to the development of the festival, but that helps support some artists who will perform in Bucharest.

"It is a landmark cultural event for Romanian culture and I am very proud that this event takes place in Bucharest. Bucharest City Hall has been the partner of this event since 2003. This year we contributed an amount that we would have liked to be bigger, but such are the times we live in, an amount that contributes to the support of some artists who will perform here; also in terms of logistics we have helped and we will help with everything that is needed," said Dan.

The 25th edition of the George Enescu Festival starting on August 28 will include the largest number of Enescu works performed (37) and the most complex selection of the works of the great composer in the history of the event.

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in the Opening Gala of the festival under the baton of conductor Paavo Jarvi, featuring Sarah Nemtanu as the orchestral concertmaster. Among the opening performances will be George Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody in D Major Op. 11 No. 2; Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor Op. 47; Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphony no. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27. AGERPRES (RO - author: Petronius Craiu, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Adina Panaitescu)