The George Enescu International Music Festival will bring to Timisoara, a European Capital of Culture (ECC) 2023, September 3- 20, great ensembles of the world (the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Fine Arts Quartet, Camerata Bern, the Manchester Camerata and the Romanian Chamber Orchestra) who will join the Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra in six exceptional concerts conducted by Matthias Pintscher, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Martijn Dendievel, Vlad Vizireanu and Gabriel Bebeselea.
“The George Enescu International Festival is in Timisoara this year with a series of concerts that the local public and numerous tourists, attracted by the TM 2023 events, will have the opportunity to enjoy at the Capitol Hall of the Banatul Philharmonic House. The famous Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Fine Arts Quartet, the Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra, the Romanian Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Bern featuring Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and the Manchester Camerata directed by Vlad Vizireanu, will mount the main stages in Bucharest, and in September they will also perform in Timisoara, ” Cristina Uruc, director of Artexim, said on Thursday.
According to her, the collaboration between the two major events of the year is welcome as it consolidates Romania’s place on the cultural map of the world.
“It is an honour to bring the George Enescu International Festival to Timisoara, with the most prestigious ensembles in the world. It is a special year for Timisoara and for the whole country, it is the year in which we all contribute to provide the highest quality artistic and cultural experiences and we enjoy together all the opportunities created by the TM 2023 title,” according to project manager Dana Turcan.
The opening act will feature the Ensemble Intercontemporain, on September 3. The ensemble consists of 30 professional musicians specialising in contemporary and experimental music, directed by Matthias Pintscher. The concert repertoire includes works by the most important composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, such as Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gyorgy Ligeti, Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis and Gerard Grisey.
The second concert will be mounted by the Fine Arts Quartet on September 4. The American string quartet has an impressive history and a strong reputation in the world of classical music. Founded in 1946 in Chicago, it has collaborated with some of the greatest musicians of the 20th century, including Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin and Ralph Votapek.
The Romanian Chamber Orchestra will bring to the public an emotional concert for families, entitled “Pinocchio… with ‘strings’ attached”. Along with famous works written by W. A. Mozart or B. Bartok, M. Gandolfi’s work (“The Adventures of Pinocchio in Funland”) will be performed as a national premiere. The concert on September 6 will be conducted by maestro Gabriel Bebeselea.
On September 7, the public is invited to an extraordinary symphonic concert by the Timisoara Banat Philharmonic Orchestra together with the famous Arcadia Quartet. Works by A. Pop, J. Adams, M. Weinberg and D. Shostakovich will be performed, under the baton of maestro Martin Dendievel.
On September 14, Camerata Bern will continue the series of concerts within the festival. Founded in 1962, in Switzerland, the orchestra combines innovation and artistic quality at the highest possible level, enjoying worldwide acclaim. Patricia Kopatchinskaja has been the artistic director of the ensemble since 2018. Camerata Bern has a vast repertoire, from baroque to contemporary music.
The last day of the George Enescu International Festival in Timisoara, September 20, offers a unique concert by the Manchester Camerata, which the British media call ” Probably Britain’s most adventurous orchestra.”
The George Enescu International Competitive Festival is the largest classical music festival in Romania and one of the most important festivals of its kind in Europe. The first edition of the festival was held in 1958.
