The 27th edition of the George Enescu International Festival begins on Sunday in Bucharest, being centered around the theme of 'Celebrations' - in honor of this year's 70th anniversary of the great composer's death and other major timeline landmarks.

In a press conference preceding the event, the artistic director of the festival, conductor Cristian Macelaru, emphasized that this cultural event is emblematic of an entire country, and expressed his desire for accessibility of classical music to become normal in modern-day Romania.

'It is a festival of anniversaries, of 'celebrations': 70 years since the passing into eternity of the monumental composer, great maestro George Enescu. (...) Other major composers and performers who have milestone anniversaries are also featured at the festival - 50 years since the death of Shostakovich, 90 years since the birth of Arvo Part - an extraordinary composer who is still living, 100 years since the birth of Pierre Boulez and 150 years since the birth of Maurice Ravel, who was a close colleague of Enescu. Also, 45 years since the founding of the Bremen Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, 100 years of activity for the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, 80 years since the founding of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and 70 years since the founding of the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra in Cluj. All these celebratory moments are part of the festival's concept of highlighting these organizations, these artists, composers, who have contributed to global cultural life,' Cristian Macelaru told the press conference.

He expressed his hope that a wide audience would come to the concerts and events of the festival.

'The Enescu Festival is emblematic of an entire country, and I believe that the entire country must and will benefit from it and the presence of these artists. We hope to attract wide audiences to absolutely all the concerts. I wish that the accessibility of classical music becomes a normality in today's Romania. It is important to tell the story of the festival over and over again - why it exists, why it was created, what it brings into our lives and what we are left with in our hearts when the curtain falls on it,' Macelaru added.

Present at the press conference, Bucharest acting Mayor Stelian Bujduveanu said that the Enescu Festival represents 'a calling card' for the capital city.

'I believe that the municipality of Bucharest experiences a lot of backlog in terms of culture, but this has not stopped us, throughout the major difficulties we have endured on the budgetary and administrative side, from focusing on culture. This year alone, we have allocated over RON 600 million to culture in the municipality of Bucharest, a tremendous amount for the bleak period we are going through. And we will not stop here, we will address all those backlog issues because we are perfectly aware that without culture we are not a nation. (...) Not only does this event put Bucharest on the map, but it also puts Romania on the international map of culture,' declared the acting mayor of the capital city.

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The 27th edition of the George Enescu International Festival debuts on Sunday, at the Palace Hall in Bucharest.

Over 100 concerts by more than 4,000 guest artists are scheduled over the four weeks during which Bucharest becomes the world capital of classical music, between August 24 and September 21.

Over 45 performances of George Enescu's works will be presented both in Bucharest and throughout the country: from symphonic masterpieces (Symphonies, Vox Maris, Pastorale-Fantaisie, Rhapsodies) to chamber compositions (Childhood Impressions, The Dixtuor, Quartets, Sonatas for Cello and Piano), from early pieces (Romanian Poem) to posthumously completed creations (Isis, Caprice Roumain). At the symbolic center of this anniversary stands the monumental opera Oedipe, staged at the Bucharest National Opera House in a production signed by director Stefano Poda, with Ionut Pascu in the lead role, Ruxandra Donose as Jocasta and Ramona Zaharia as the Sphinx.

A distinct segment of the edition is dedicated to opera and ballet, with rare titles in concert versions or in spectacular stage visions. Among these are the impressive concert opera Fin de partie by Gyorgy Kurtag, inspired by Samuel Beckett's namesake play, and L'Heure Espagnole by Maurice Ravel, presented by the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana under the direction of Tompa Gabor, at the Bucharest National Opera.

Richard Strauss's Salome opens the lyric series on September 1, at the Palace Hall, in a concert version with multimedia elements created by directors Nona Ciobanu and Peter Kosir. On September 14, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Dmitri Shostakovich will come to stage for the first time in Romania, in a production directed by Giancarlo Guerrero, with multimedia projections designed by Carmen Lidia Vidu.

The 2025 edition features an impressive series of works in a first ever or national premiere: Concerto for Orchestra by Dan Dediu, Some Variations by Aurelian Bacan, Winter Sonata by Donghoon Shin, as well as rediscovered pieces from the Italian and Neapolitan Baroque.

Another novelty is the string of concerts 'Enescu in Control', which will take place every Wednesday evening in Bucharest's well-known Control Club, with performances by the Janoska Ensemble (August 27), pianist Francesco Tristano (September 3), the Radio Big Band (September 10), and the Bucharest Percussion Ensemble (September 17). AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Petronius Craiu; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)