The world in harmony was the theme of the 2019 edition of the biennial International George Enescu Festival which took place between 32 August and 22 September in Bucharest under the artistic direction of Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski.
During that period the most prestigious musicians and ensembles alternated, often at the pace of three or four concerts per day, mainly to be heard in the Sala Palatului (the main concert hall) and in the more intimate Romanian Athenaeum (Ateneul Roman) where even 'midnight concerts' took place. The list of musicians and orchestras is impressive: world orchestras, celebrated chamber music ensembles and vocal and instrumental soloists captivate the eager audience. This comes primarily from Bucharest itself but also from other cities that are even tangentially involved in the festival.
Berliner Philharmoniker opens, Concertgebouworkest Amsterdam closes festival
The repertoire presented is large and varied: baroque and classical, contemporary and experimental. Concertante operas alternate with large symphonic works, song recitals with instrumental chamber music and of course works by George Enescu the great Romanian composer (1881-1955) are regularly performed. His Rhapsody nr.2 performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under Kirill Petrennko opened the festival, His Concert overture on popular Romanian themes by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Tugan Sokhiev concluded it. But in between there were many other Enescu compositions to be heard, including performed by the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège.
During the three full days I was able to immerse myself in the Enescu festival, I attended a concert in the beautiful hall of the Athenaeum by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo conducted by Maxim Vengerov who also appeared as a soloist violinist in an Enescu and Tchaikovsky programme, together with cellist Gautier Capuçon. Both musicians played with great dedication, Capuçon with a delightful, shimmering warm sound, solidly accompanied by the orchestra. But when the latter performed Tchaikovsky's Pathétique, the sound seemed somewhat confined within the walls of the relatively small space which is actually intended by the festival for recitals and chamber music.
Sir Bryn Terfel
This became even more apparent in the special programme built around the likeable Welsh baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, also accompanied by the orchestra from Monte Carlo. The orchestra could barely fit on the relatively small stage. Bryn Terfel and conductor Gareth Jones had to repeatedly make their way through the musicians with difficulty and when the orchestra unleashed Wagner's Walkürenritt, the limited space clearly hindered the development of the sound. But that was quickly forgotten once Sir Bryn appeared on stage and the audience, so to speak, ate out of his hand. With Hans Sachs' meditation Was duftet doch der Flieder from Wagner's Meistersinger von Nürnberg he set the tone. The gentleness turned to emotion and authority in Wotans abschied from Die Walküre only to turn into the arrogance of Boito's Mefistofele.
Via Kurt Weill's Dreigroschenoper Terfel then arrived at musicals such as South Pacific and The fiddler on the roof. He knew how to perform each number in the right way, played on the audience's reactions and gave them a wonderful time thanks to his precious voice, great interpretive art and affability. Conductor Gareth Jones and the orchestra clearly enjoyed the experience too and the audience could barely let him go.
A completely different atmosphere prevailed at the performance of the Kremerata Baltica conducted by Guidon Kremer. This time the ensemble and the programme fitted perfectly in the Athenaeum. The programme featured compositions by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, Dinu Lipatti and George Enescu. Guidon Kremer was the passionate advocate of the sometimes difficult to access compositions of Weinberg, including his Symphony nr.10 which Kremer performed as violinist and conductor. Pascal and Ami Rogé provided virtuosic piano playing in Dinu Lipatti's Symphonie concertante.
Midnight…
Also in the Athenaeum the Midnight Concerts took place with a programme featuring much baroque music and concertante opera but also a concert by the Twelve Cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker (ten men and two women) who performed Fauré as well as Boris Blacher, Duke Ellington or Astor Piazzolla equally well. I sat ready at half past ten for a semi-scenic performance of Beethoven's Leonore, the first version of his Fidelio, conducted by René Jacobs at the head of the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Zürcher Sing-Akademie and Birgitte Christensen (Leonore), Robin Johannsen (Marzelline), Christian Immler (Rocco), Johannes Weisser (Don Pizarro), Torben Jürgens (Don Fernando) and Nikolaus Pfannkuch (Jaquino). It was a performance similar to what René Jacobs has also regularly presented in Bozar and here was somewhat cramped on the small stage.
The singers circulated skilfully through the rows of musicians, spoke their dialogues and sang their vocal parts, thus creating a theatrical experience together with the disciplined choir. René Jacobs oversaw everything from his conductor's stand and saw that it was good. The audience remained faithful in following until after midnight!
In the grand concert hall of the Palatului where one large symphony orchestra followed another, I heard the Russisches State Academic Symphony Orchestra Evgeny Svetlanov conducted by Vladimir Jurowski in a particularly austere yet effective manner in De Profundis, an intriguing, captivating and moving composition by Alexey Retinsky (° 1986). Alexandra Silocea's virtuosic interpretation of Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 and a fine performance of Enescu's Symphony No. 2 completed the program. The Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra took the stage the following day and played under the direction of Vasily Petrenko a symphonic poem by Oyvind Torvund and Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra. Leif Ove Andsnes performed Grieg's Piano Concerto op. 16 and the full hall cheered.
- WHAT: International George Enescu Festival
- WHERE & WHEN: Bucharest 11, 12 and 13 September
- PHOTOS: © Andrada Pavel, © Cătălina Filip, © Alex Damien
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