The George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest will unveil its new Steinway piano in a concert on January 21, delivered by Daniel Ciobanu and conducted by Gabriel Bebeşelea. The concert will be held without an audience, and will stream online. 

The piano is the first “significant donation” to the Philharmonic in 26 years, the institution said. The donor wished to remain anonymous. 

The January 21 concert also marks the first time that Gabriel Bebeşelea will lead the orchestra as principal conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic, while pianist Daniel Ciobanu makes his debut as an artist in residence in the 2020-2021 season. 

The program includes the Piano Concerto No. 23 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Symphony No. 49 (La Passione) by Joseph Haydn.

The live concert is streamed online on the website of the George Enescu Philharmonic, its YouTube channel, and Facebook page, starting 19:00.

“Our principal conductor Gabriel Bebeşelea is a remarkable musician-intellectual, and the talented pianist Daniel Ciobanu is our first soloist in residence, a first-time statute for the Bucharest Philharmonic. And a rare premiere: after 26 years, we see a significant donation, the new Steinway piano, which will be unveiled on January 21. […],” Andrei Dimitriu, the director of the George Enescu Philharmonic, said.

Gabriel Bebeşelea is a principal conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic starting with the 2020-2021 season. He is also a music director and principal conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of North Macedonia and principal conductor of the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra of Cluj-Napoca. He previously worked alongside ensembles such as the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia Evgeny Svetlanov.

Pianist Daniel Ciobanu is the first artist in residence of the George Enescu Philharmonic, starting with the 2020-2021 season. Born in 1991, in Piatra-Neamţ, he is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and also studied at the École Normale de Musique Alfred Cortot in Paris, and the Universität der Künste in Berlin. In 2017 he won both Silver Medal and Audience Prize at the Arthur Rubinstein Competition in Tel Aviv. He later performed at Carnegie Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Konzerthaus Berlin, St John’s Smith Square in London, George Enescu Festival in Bucharest, and toured in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Africa, and Brazil.

(Photo: Adobe Stock)

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