The 2023 edition of the George Enescu International Festival promises to be one of the greatest so far, with more than 3,500 guest artists, 150 soloists and 40 conductors, and over 40 orchestras from 16 countries and 11 from Romania attending the event.

The 26th edition of the famous festival will take place next year between August 27 and September 24, in Bucharest and other cities in the country, under the slogan Generosity through Music. Registrations for the season ticket lottery start on November 30, while individual tickets go on sale on February 1 next year, according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture.

Maestro Zubin Mehta is the festival's honorary chairman, while renowned conductor Cristian Măcelaru is the artistic director.

"The slogan of the 2023 edition starts from one of the fundamental values in which the great composer George Enescu believed - generosity. […] Generosity through music is this moment in time that we, the organizers, but also the artists, give to a society desiring culture, avid for music. The existence of the Enescu Festival is justified by a country that gave the world a Brâncusi and an Enescu. The 2023 edition of the George Enescu Festival offers an example of generosity through an educational component. It's time for the example of pedagogue George Enescu to become a reality in the festival that bears his name," Cristian Măcelaru said at the conference held to present the festival's program.

Great names of classical music will return to the festival in 2023, such as conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Manfred Honeck, and Paavo Järvi, pianists Martha Argerich and Yuja Wang, cellist Gautier Capuçon, violinists Renaud Capuçon and Janine Jansen, among others. Some of the artists attending the event for the first time are Alena Baeva, Avi Avital, Aida Garifullina, Igor Levit, Kent Nagano, Hannu Lintu, Philippe Herreweghe, Augustin Hadelich, and Klaus Mäkelä.

Also, several prestigious ensembles will perform for the first time at the Enescu Festival, such as Gewandhaus Leipzig, Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Gothenborg Symphony, Collegium Vocale Gent, Berlin Academy of American Music, and Manchester Camerata.

An absolute premiere within the 26th edition of the festival is the series of educational concerts dedicated to children, made in partnership with the Odeon Theater and the Classic e fantastic Association. Meanwhile, 11 Romanian orchestras will reunite in a new series of concerts: the Season of Romanian Orchestras.

The operas in concert will also bring some of the most refined works for the first time in Romania: Otello by Giuseppe Verdi, performed by the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra and Choir; Billy Budd by Benjamin Britten with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Hannu Lintu; or The Fairy-Queen by Henry Purcell with Les Arts Florissants.

And, of course, George Enescu's music will be present in the 2023 edition in international interpretations. Oedipe returns to the festival program under a direction signed by Stefano Poda, performed by the Bucharest National Opera under the baton of maestro Tiberiu Soare, while Symphony No. 3 in C major will be performed by the National Orchestra of France, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru.

The complete program of the Enescu Festival 2023 is available here.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Bogdan Ioan Buda)