Brief history of the “George Enescu” International

Festival and Competition

The

The George Enescu International Festival and Competition was launched in 1958, as a tribute
to the memory of the great Romanian composer, George Enescu (who had died in 1955).
From its first edition, the Festival positioned itself as a pioneering music event, and over time
it has managed to be acknowledged a well-deserved prestige, becoming one of the most
important events of a kind at international level.

The 1st Edition - 1958

The first edition, which opened on the 4th of September 1958, was the largest international
music event ever hosted by Romania. It was a courageous gesture and an ambitious
demonstration, that the artistique director of the Festival, Ioan Hollender, later recalled as
an initiative impossible at that time in a city like Vienna. The event got an amazing success
for the public and for the media, including at international level. A British journalist recorded
at that time, for the magazine Music and Musicians: "For most of us, music in Romania is
confined to the Romanian Rhapsodies closely linked to Enescu's name - and of course, the
latest musical phenomenas, as Dinu Lipatti and the current successful conductor, Constantin
Silvestri. You must visit a country to really know what is to be seen and heard. And I found
plenty of things there, enough to open my eyes and ears, many of them completely unknown
to us.”

One of the greatest achievements of the "George Enescu" International Festival was the
integration of the winning artists of the International Contest within the next festivals
edition, as solo appearances, along with artists already confirmed. Time has proven that the
most valuable competition winners became resonant names at international level: Ştefan
RUHA, Ştefan şi Valentin GHEORGHIU, Li-Min-QUIANG (China), Nina MIHAILOVNA
BEILINA (U.R.S.S.),Dan GRIGORE, Dan IORDĂCHESCU,Ladislau KONYA, Dorothea
PALADE, Ileana COTRUBAŞ, Claire BERNARD (Franţa), Elisabeta LEONSKAIA (Georgia),
Marina KRILOVICI, IonBUZEA, Radu LUPU, Sanuel ALUMJAN(U.R.S.S.), Viorica
CORTEZ,Ionel PANTEA, Pompei HĂRĂŞTEANU, Silvia MARCOVICI, DimitriALEKSEEV
(U.R.S.S.), Eugenia MOLDOVEANU, Gheorghe CRĂSNARUand more recently, in the last
editions Dan Claudiu VORNICELU, DanielGOIŢI, Dan DEDIU, Alexandru TOMESCU,
Roxana Breban, CeliaCOSTEA, Marius BRENCIU, Diana IONESCU, Nemanya
RADULOVIC(Iugoslavia), Josef BENCI (Slovacia).

The 14th Edition - 1998

The Honorary President of the 1998
edition was Lord Yehudi Menuhin, and
the Artistic Director - conductor
Lawrence Foster. It was the first edition
after the acceptance of the Festival, in
1997, as a full member of the European
Festivals Association. The edition,
celebrating 40 years since the launch of
the initiative, was recognized as the
largest Festival in Europe in 1998, due
to the programme, artists and performances:

51 events attended by more than 2500 artists, of which 47 conductors and soloists

8 concerts of Romanian orchestras

14 concerts with foreign orchestras

3 concerts of foreign chamber orchestras

10 chamber recitals supported by artists and bands from Romania

10 concerts held by foreign artists and chamber bands

Here are some representative personalities and orchestras who attended the XIV edition of
the festival: Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Daniel Barenboim, Barbara Hendriks,Tereza Berganza,
Shlomo Mintz, Leonard Slatkin,Viktoria Mulova, Matti Salminen, Bernd Weikl, Gidon
Kremer, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Salvatore Accardo, Vladimir Spivakov, MishaMaisky,
Myung Whung Chung, Chicago Symphony Orchestra,Orchestre National de France, Santa
Cecilia di Roma, BBC Symphony Orchestra,Radio-Symphony Frankfurt, Orchestra from
Barcelona, Zürich Orchestra side by side with Romanian soloists and artistic orchestras. Over
60,000 music lovers participated at the events. Concerts were broadcasted on the national
radio and television, which recorded for archiving all events included in the festival's
program. During the festival, the "International Artist Managers' Association" held a
seminar, which was attended by leading figures in the field. The organization costs lead up to
approximately 4.2 million USD.

The 17th Edition - 2005

The 17th edition of the George
Enescu Festival took place in the
context of the commemoration of 50
years from the death of the great
Romanian composer. All the
celebrations for the International
George Enescu Year, were combined
as an elaborate program developed
by the Ministry of Culture, which
included all events and actions that
took place at a national and
international level.

The objectives of the 2005 edition of the "George Enescu" International Competition and
Festival:

- presentation and promotion of Enescu's works by great artists and great ensembles around
the world

- presenting and promoting arts and interpretative values of contemporary Romanian music

- providing a prestigious platform for launching valuable singers among the younger
generation and promoting the winners of the previous festival editions.

- promotion of classical music events and related activities, to stimulate the interest of the
widest segments of the population and especially young people, in this field of art.

The program content, the repertoire, the main artistic collectives and guests for the 2005
"George Enescu" International Competition and Festival was established by the Honorary
President and Artistic Director of the festival, Mr. Ioan Holender based on assessments made
by specialists, critics, public and professional and the high artistic level assumed by the
previous editions.

The 18th Edition - 2007

The 18th edition of the George Enescu International Contest and Festival took place between
1st-27th of September and represented a huge step forward to the well disserved
international recognition. The international press published headlines like "The mighty
Salzburg festival now has a rival. Erica Jeal joins 3000 musicians heading for Bucharest" or
"Haunting tunes in Fantasyland". The participation of over than 30 foreign journalists and
media partnership with CNN, Euronews, Mezzo RFI reconfirmed and amplified the
international importance of the
festival.

The program included

- 35 works by Enescu of which 19

opuses and 16 works without opuses

- 145 works from the international

repertoire

- 95 contemporary Romanian works

- 9 symphony orchestras from abroad

- 8 chamber orchestras from Romania

- 2 opera collectives

- 2 trios

- 2 quartets

- 1 quintet

- 8 choirs

Festival participants were provided with:

over 4,500 accommodation nights in total

18 charter flights

over 400 scheduled foreign flights

20 trucks for technical equipment and musical instruments

Some of the most important artistic personalities attended the festival, such as: Orchestre de
Paris, Christoph Eschenbach, Steven Isserlis, Pinchas Zukerman, Oslo Philharmonic Jukka -
PekkaSaraste, Boris Berezovsky, Simphonica Toscanini, George Enescu Philharmonic and
Choir, Martha Argerich, Michel Plasson, NelsonFreire, Dresdner Philharmoniker, Europa
Galante, Fabio Biondi, JordiSavall, Muray Perahia, Leonidas Kavak, Valery Gergiev, Mandeal
HoriaAndreescu, Dan Gregory, Ballet "Maurice Béjart", the Bucharest National Opera, Jose
Cura and many others. The edition recorded the highest participation from the public and the
highest selling amount of tickets.

The 20th Edition – 2011

The main objectives of this edition of the George Enescu International Festival and
Competition were:

- presentation and promotion of Enescu's works by great artists and artistic ensembles
around the world;

- presentation and promotion of artistic and interpretative values of contemporary Romanian

music;

- providing a prestigious platform for launching value interpreters from among the younger
generation and promoting the winners of previous editions;

- promotion of classical music related events that will eventually stimulate the interest of
groups especially young people in this field of art.
Among participating groups: Wiener Philharmoniker / Franz Welser Möst, Israel
Philharmonic Orchestra / Zubin Mehta, Yefim Bronfman, Vadim Repin, Staatskapelle
Berlin / Daniel Barenboim Orchestra Accademia Nazionale di "Santa Cecilia" of Rome /
Antonio Pappano, Orchestre National de France / Daniele Gatti, London Symphony
Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra / Valery Gergiev, Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra,
Resident Orkestr / Christian Badea, Hungarian National Philharmonic / Zoltan Kocsis, Boris
Berezovsky, Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra / Lawrence Foster, Saint Martin in the Fields /
Murray Perahia, Yundi, Isabelle Faust, Christian Zacharias, Sisters Labeque, Gidon Kremer,
Helene Grimaud, David Garrett etc. with artists and bands from Romania: Horia Andreescu,
Dan Gregory, Mandeal Dana Borşan, Luiza Borac Voces Quartet, Alexandru Tomescu,
Philharmonic "George Enescu" National Radra.

The joint concerts in the series entitled "Enescu and his contemporaries" continued,
including chamber works in the interpretation of young soloists. Internationally renowned
ensembles performed as "Great international orchestras" and "Chamber concerts", along
with opera and ballet performances.

A series dedicated to contemporary music - "Music of the 21st century" - brought together
works by Romanian and foreign contemporary composers. The works were presented by
bands and singers in Romania and abroad. The series was accompanied by a "workshop"
attended by 17 young composers, master and doctoral university attendees from the country.

A new entry in the Festival’s program was the series "World Music", related to one of the
essential contributions made by Enescu's Universal Music: use of specific national musical
elements through symphony processing. This series was attended by composers and
ensembles that brought elements from the Indian, Japanese, Argentinean, Yiddish,
Lebanese, Moroccan and Romanian music.

The 2011 edition of the program was presented on the stages of 8 theaters and concert halls
(Hall of the Palace, Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest National Opera, National Theatre "I. L
Caragiale" National Art Museum Hall, "Mihail Jora" Hall at the Romanian Radio Society,
Small Hall of the Romanian Athenaeum, National University of Music Bucharest) and The
Festival's Square.

Over 160 artistic events including:

8 Romanian music concerts, 13 chamber concerts, 20 "Great International

Orchestras"concerts, 6 concerts in the series "Enescu and his contemporaries", 10 concerts in
the "World Music" series, 5 opera events, 5 ballets shows, 37 concerts as a part of the
international competition, 64 events in Festival Square, 8 conferences in the musicology
Symposium.

In collaboration with the National Museum of Art, Museum of the Romanian Peasant, Ann
Art and the Bucharest University of Arts, the festival hosted an art exhibition named "E-
Biennial".

Other 23 concerts were held in the rest of the country, in Arad, Bușteni, Cluj Napoca, Craiova,
Iași, Sibiu, Târgu Mureş and Timişoara.