Sixteen international orchestras will perform at this year’s Enescu Festival in the Great Orchestras of the World series.

The series will bring a total of 29 concerts delivered at Sala Palatului between August 27th and September 24th in a program covering classical and contemporary composers. Three Romanian orchestras are part of the series, alongside the European ones.

The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra will deliver one performance conducted by Cristian Macelaru, also the festival’s artistic director, and with cellist Gautier Capuçon as soloist for one performance and one conducted by Hannu Lintu, where it will present the concert version of Benjamin Britten’s Billy Bud.

The Maggio Musicale Orchestra and Choir will perform a program covering Verdi’s Otello, Enescu’s Prelude to Oedip, and Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony, conducted by Zubin Mehta, the festival’s honorary president.

The London Symphony Orchestra, alongside Sir Simon Rattle, will present a program that includes Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and works by Enescu and Olivier Messiaen.

The Capitole Theatre Orchestra from Toulouse will have one performance conducted by Christian Badea and with violinist Renaud Capuçon, and one conducted by Josep Pons, and featuring Lambert Wilson (narrator), Mathias Vidal (tenor), and Vincent Le Textier (baritone) for a program that includes Hector Berlioz’s rarely performed work Lélio ou le Retour à la Vie, Op. 14b, and the Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14

The Romanian Youth Orchestra will take the stage for a concert conducted by Stefan Asbury and featuring pianist Jan Lisiecki as the soloist. Additionally, the Romanian Youth Orchestra will also participate in the concert of the National Orchestra of France on September 22nd, in a formative side-by-side project conceived by Cristian Măcelaru, which will allow young Romanian musicians to perform alongside established performers.

The Tonhalle Orchestra from Zurich will perform in a first concert under the baton of Paavo Järvi and alongside Romanian cellist Andrei Ioniță. The second concert will also be conducted by Paavo Järvi, and the program features Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor.

The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the baton of Lahav Shani, alongside violinist Gil Shaham for one concern and pianist Alexandre Kantorow for another.

The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra will deliver one performance conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, and alongside violinist Alena Baeva, and another conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, featuring Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes as the soloist.

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the baton of conductor Jakub Hrůša. One concert features pianist Igor Levit on the piano.

The Bavarian State Opera Orchestra will be conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, who served as the artistic director of the festival between 2017 and 2021. One concert features pianist Yefim Bronfman as the soloist, and the other Vilde Frang as the violin soloist.

The National Academy of Santa Cecilia Orchestra from Rome will perform under the baton of conductor Tugan Sokhiev, while the National Radio Orchestra will be conducted by Tan Dun, for a concert featuring harpist Xavier De Maistre as the soloist.

The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Hungary will be conducted by Charles Dutoit for a concert with celebrated pianist Martha Argerich performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3. The second performance will be conducted by Cristian Mandeal and will feature Sheku Kanneh-Mason as the cello soloist.

The French ensemble Le Balcon, together with the National Opera Orchestra of Bucharest, the National Opera Choir, and the Radio Academic Choir, will perform under the baton of Maxime Pascal. The orchestras and choirs will perform Olivier Messiaen’s opera Saint Francis of Assisi, a premiere in Romania.

The National Orchestra of France, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru, will perform alongside Augustin Hadelich as the soloist on violin in one concert and alongside pianist Kirill Gerstein in another.

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, conducted by the young conductor Klaus Mäkelä, the newly appointed musical director of the Amsterdam-based orchestra, will deliver the series’ ending concerts. One concert will feature pianist Yuja Wang, while the other mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston.

The entire program is available on the festival’s website.

(Photo: Alex Damian, courtesy of Enescu Festival)

simona@romania-insider.com