Photographs depicting famous artists, from George Enescu, Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh to Elisabeth Leonskaja, Gigi Caciuleanu and maestro Cristian Macelaru, can be seen in the exhibition ‘Enescu Festival in AGERPRES Photo Archives,’ open to the public until 21 September in the foyer of the Palace Hall.

‘It was something new, and for me, it is the first project of this kind. (…) I also visited the AGERPRES Archive, and it was incredibly moving to touch and smell those old photographs, some nearly 100 years old, others more recent, yet still black and white. It was a personally nostalgic moment for me because I used to work in a newsroom, with photographers and photojournalists, so I know just how important an image is in illustrating a story. That is how the idea for this exhibition came about. I thought it would be easy, but it really wasn’t,’ said exhibition curator Gilda Lazar.

The works on display, taken by AGERPRES National News Agency photojournalists, retrace the history of the George Enescu International Festival, starting even before its first edition and continuing up to 2023. Music lovers will find both black-and-white and colour images, featuring iconic figures in the history of music, such as George Enescu, George Georgescu, Yehudi Menuhin, Mihai Brediceanu, Constantin Silvestri and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

‘This is a historical exhibition, I would say. I don’t think posters from the time when George Enescu and Dinu Lipatti were performing, posters from 1941, reproductions, have been exhibited in recent times, nor images of George Enescu from 1946, the year he left Romania, his last year in the country before the self-imposed exile in Paris. In one photo, Enescu and Maruca are seen with Petru Groza. In another, Enescu is welcoming his student, Yehudi Menuhin, who would later become the artistic director of the Enescu Festival. Another photo (…) shows Enescu leaving for Moscow, he seems to have made serious efforts to adapt to the new regime before deciding to leave communist Romania. So, there are images from before the festival and from the very first George Enescu Festival in 1958, organised at the initiative of maestro George Georgescu, a close friend of Enescu,’ Gilda Lazar explained.

The exhibition also includes colour images of contemporary artists who have graced the George Enescu International Festival with their presence.

‘There are also recent photographs. There is one photo of maestro Macelaru, there is one photo of Gigi Caciuleanu, one of Elisabeth Leonskaja and one of Misha Katz. There are both newer and coloured photos, but I believe the most fascinating are the old archive photographs, the black-and-white ones that the public won’t have the chance to see again any time soon, since there is a certain display protocol in their case. They can’t just be used at any time or in any way, only in this exhibition,’ she added.

She also mentioned that Ioana Ratiu Raileanu, daughter of conductor George Georgescu, was among the exhibition’s consultants.

‘Mrs Ratiu Raileanu, Mr Mihai Constantinescu, former executive director of the festival, and Mr Vlad Vaidean, regarded as an Enescu expert, helped identify the people and dates in the photos. Some images had no year indicated, and others lacked any explanation. It wasn’t even clear who was in them. So it was a real research effort, carried out by my colleagues Ana Diaconu, who works at the Conservatory, and Lavinia Gheorghe. They did the heavy lifting for this exhibition. I just had the joy of bringing it all together, arranging the images in a certain order and rotating them weekly so that (…) all could be displayed,’ said Lazar.

She revealed that about 70 photographs were selected for display from hundreds.

‘We started with hundreds of photographs. We narrowed it down to about 70. Some couldn’t be shown as standalone pieces due to quality issues in processing, so we created collages. But on Sunday, we’ll be changing the photos again, so I invite you to come see the exhibition once more, as it will essentially be a new display,’ Gilda Lazar said.

The authors of the AGERPRES exhibition are Gilda Lazar and Cristina Tatu (concept), Lavinia Gheorghe and Ana Diaconu (production) and expert consultants Mihai Constantinescu, Ioana Ratiu Raileanu and Vlad Vaidean.

The exhibition ‘Enescu Festival in AGERPRES Archives’ is organised by AGERPRES National News Agency, in partnership with ARTEXIM.

The 27th edition of the George Enescu International Festival is taking place in Bucharest and across the country until 21 September. This year’s theme is ‘Celebrations,’ marking 70 years since the death of the great composer.

AGERPRES National News Agency is a longstanding media partner of the event.