Tour in Batistei area – Sunday 31 August
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Showing posts with label George Enescu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label George Enescu. Show all posts
The Romanian Rhapsodies
George Enescu composed his Romanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2 in 1901; they were introduced together under in Bucharest on March 18, 1903. None of Enescu's compositions has achieved the enormous popularity of his Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, which long ago earned a permanent place in the international repertory. That brightly colored work, in A major, was built on authentic folk tunes, with brilliant orchestration, and strong characterization and originality. The Second Rhapsody stands in marked contrast to the ebullient, outgoing character of the First: it is a more inward and reflective piece, based on the theme of a folk song about certain heroic episodes recounted in ancient Moldavian chronicles and characterized by a spirit of poetic rumination. Toward the end there is brief episode of restrained animation, evoking for an instant the spirit of country fiddlers, but the end is undemonstrative. The contrast of the two rhapsodies when they were introduced together must have been as striking as the music itself.
George Enescu - Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major, op. 11
George Enescu - Romanian Rhapsody No. 2 in D major, op. 11
George Enescu - Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major, op. 11
George Enescu - Romanian Rhapsody No. 2 in D major, op. 11
Cantacuzino Palace
Built in 1899–1902 by Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino (known as “The Nabob”, former mayor of Bucharest, leader of the Conservative Party, and one of the richest men in Romania ever), the architectural ensemble was designed by architect Ioan D. Berindei.
The Cantacuzino Palace can be found at 141, Calea Victoriei (Victoria Road), Bucharest. After G. G. Cantacuzino died in 1913, the palace was inherited by his son, Mihail G. Cantacuzino and his wife, Maria (also known as Princess Maruca, born Rosetti-Tescanu); after the premature death of her first husband, Maruca re-married in 1939, becoming the wife of George Enescu, Romania's greatest composer. In the 40’s, the palace hosted the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and since 1947 the Institute for Romanian-Soviet Studies.
After the death of George Enescu, in 1955, his wife donated the domain to the Museum and to the Composers’ and Musicologists’ Union of Romania, to be dedicated to the memory of the musician. Thus, on the 19th of June 1956, George Enescu Museum was opened. The museum gathers documents and pictures referring to the composer’s life and work. Among other exhibits, there also is the violin the composer received as a present when he turned 4 year old. There are regular classical music concerts hosted by the palace (many of them being organized by the Polish Cultural Institute), and this is a good time to visit the building (for otherwise, the main hall of the palace is not included in the regular museum visit).
The palace was set in French Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements. The façade’s richness in sculptural decoration is notable. On the top of the entrance, the circular fronton bears the princely coat of arms of the Cantacuzino family. The facade is dominated by the main entrance; above it there is a giant shell-shaped porte-cochére and two stone lions guard the stairs and the door that mingle harmoniously with the statues and other ornaments in the Baroque style, and wrought iron balconies surround the home's tall windows.
For the decoration of the building, the architect collaborated with several recognized artists of the time. The mural paintings were made by George Demetrescu Mirea, Nicolae Vermont, Costin Petrescu and Arthur Verona, the sculptures and the ornamentation are made by Emil Wilhelm Becker, while the artfulness of Krieger House in Paris can be admired in the interior decoration (tapestry, chandeliers, lamps, stained-glasses).
The Cantacuzino Palace can be found at 141, Calea Victoriei (Victoria Road), Bucharest. After G. G. Cantacuzino died in 1913, the palace was inherited by his son, Mihail G. Cantacuzino and his wife, Maria (also known as Princess Maruca, born Rosetti-Tescanu); after the premature death of her first husband, Maruca re-married in 1939, becoming the wife of George Enescu, Romania's greatest composer. In the 40’s, the palace hosted the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and since 1947 the Institute for Romanian-Soviet Studies.
After the death of George Enescu, in 1955, his wife donated the domain to the Museum and to the Composers’ and Musicologists’ Union of Romania, to be dedicated to the memory of the musician. Thus, on the 19th of June 1956, George Enescu Museum was opened. The museum gathers documents and pictures referring to the composer’s life and work. Among other exhibits, there also is the violin the composer received as a present when he turned 4 year old. There are regular classical music concerts hosted by the palace (many of them being organized by the Polish Cultural Institute), and this is a good time to visit the building (for otherwise, the main hall of the palace is not included in the regular museum visit).
The palace was set in French Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements. The façade’s richness in sculptural decoration is notable. On the top of the entrance, the circular fronton bears the princely coat of arms of the Cantacuzino family. The facade is dominated by the main entrance; above it there is a giant shell-shaped porte-cochére and two stone lions guard the stairs and the door that mingle harmoniously with the statues and other ornaments in the Baroque style, and wrought iron balconies surround the home's tall windows.
For the decoration of the building, the architect collaborated with several recognized artists of the time. The mural paintings were made by George Demetrescu Mirea, Nicolae Vermont, Costin Petrescu and Arthur Verona, the sculptures and the ornamentation are made by Emil Wilhelm Becker, while the artfulness of Krieger House in Paris can be admired in the interior decoration (tapestry, chandeliers, lamps, stained-glasses).
George Enescu Music Fesival
George Enescu International Festival and Competition in Bucharest is organized by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, Religion and National Patrimony, under the high patronage of the President of Romania.
George Enescu (1881–1955) was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, and teacher and is considered to be the most important of Romania's musicians. The festival was founded in 1958, three years after Enescu's death by his friend and sometimes collaborator, conductor George Georgescu. Designed to honor Enescu, but also, hoping to gain some international good will for the local regime, the festival benefited from the beginning from the participation of major international classical music artists and musicians of the time (Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrach, Sviatoslav Richter, Herbert von Karajan, Agnes Baltsa, Pascal Roge, Viorica Cortez and many other). During the following years, the festival had an irregular periodicity (every couple of years), until it was stopped (during the 80s), only to be reborn after 1989.
This year's event is being held in four different cities, drawing over 300 international participants. Because of the global economic crisis Romanian cultural sector funding has been reduced. But the Enescu festival, the biggest classical music
festival in Romania and one of the biggest in Eastern Europe, is the only cultural event not to be impacted by the cuts. The 19th biennial George Enescu International Festival and Competition, scheduled for August 30 - September 26, 2009, will pay special tribute to Romania’s most famous composer/musician on the 128th anniversary of his birth, in 1881. World’s top orchestras, conductors and chamber ensembles will perform in Romania – some premiering new works - and jurized competitions will be held for piano, violin and voice. Already on the schedule are:
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France,
English Chamber Orchestra,
London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,
Orchestra Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,
Sankt Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra,
Royal Concertgebow Orchestra Amsterdam,
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse,
Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks,
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne,
Nash Ensemble London,
Choir and Orchestra of Les Arts Florissants,
Wiener Kammerorchester,
Basel Chamber Orchestra,
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremmen,
Munchener Philharmoniker Kammerorchester,
Theatre de Ballet de Monte Carlo "Cinderella",
Bucharest National Opera House,
"Madrigal" National Choir,
"Moldova" Philharmonic Orchestra Iaş,
"Transilvania" Philharmonic Orchestra Cluj,
Radio Academic Choir "Te Deum Laudamus" Orthodox Men Choir,
Chamber Orchestra of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic.
The list of the participants can be found here. The complete program of the festival can be found here.
"George Enescu was one of the most prodigiously gifted musicians of the twentieth century" according to noted biographer Paul Banks, "a great violinist and composer, a distinguished conductor, an accomplished pianist, able cellist and a famous violin teacher who numbered Christian Ferras, Arthur Grumiaux and Yehudi Menuhin among his pupils. His musical memory was phenomenal, a fact that contributed to the loss of some of his own works which he composed but never wrote down".
George Enescu (1881–1955) was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, and teacher and is considered to be the most important of Romania's musicians. The festival was founded in 1958, three years after Enescu's death by his friend and sometimes collaborator, conductor George Georgescu. Designed to honor Enescu, but also, hoping to gain some international good will for the local regime, the festival benefited from the beginning from the participation of major international classical music artists and musicians of the time (Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrach, Sviatoslav Richter, Herbert von Karajan, Agnes Baltsa, Pascal Roge, Viorica Cortez and many other). During the following years, the festival had an irregular periodicity (every couple of years), until it was stopped (during the 80s), only to be reborn after 1989.
This year's event is being held in four different cities, drawing over 300 international participants. Because of the global economic crisis Romanian cultural sector funding has been reduced. But the Enescu festival, the biggest classical music
festival in Romania and one of the biggest in Eastern Europe, is the only cultural event not to be impacted by the cuts. The 19th biennial George Enescu International Festival and Competition, scheduled for August 30 - September 26, 2009, will pay special tribute to Romania’s most famous composer/musician on the 128th anniversary of his birth, in 1881. World’s top orchestras, conductors and chamber ensembles will perform in Romania – some premiering new works - and jurized competitions will be held for piano, violin and voice. Already on the schedule are:
Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France,
English Chamber Orchestra,
London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,
Orchestra Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,
Sankt Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra,
Royal Concertgebow Orchestra Amsterdam,
Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse,
Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks,
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne,
Nash Ensemble London,
Choir and Orchestra of Les Arts Florissants,
Wiener Kammerorchester,
Basel Chamber Orchestra,
Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremmen,
Munchener Philharmoniker Kammerorchester,
Theatre de Ballet de Monte Carlo "Cinderella",
Bucharest National Opera House,
"Madrigal" National Choir,
"Moldova" Philharmonic Orchestra Iaş,
"Transilvania" Philharmonic Orchestra Cluj,
Radio Academic Choir "Te Deum Laudamus" Orthodox Men Choir,
Chamber Orchestra of the "George Enescu" Philharmonic.
The list of the participants can be found here. The complete program of the festival can be found here.
"George Enescu was one of the most prodigiously gifted musicians of the twentieth century" according to noted biographer Paul Banks, "a great violinist and composer, a distinguished conductor, an accomplished pianist, able cellist and a famous violin teacher who numbered Christian Ferras, Arthur Grumiaux and Yehudi Menuhin among his pupils. His musical memory was phenomenal, a fact that contributed to the loss of some of his own works which he composed but never wrote down".
George Enescu
George Enescu (August 19, 1881, Liveni – May 4, 1955, Paris), Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher, preeminent musician of the 20th century, and one of the greatest performers of his time.
Enescu was born in the village of Liveni, Romania (Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County), and showed musical talent from early in his childhood. At the age of five he received his first musical instruction from his local teacher and at seven his father sent him to Vienna to study at the Conservatory where, only four years later, he was awarded the grand medal of honor. His violin teacher was Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., he also studied composition and harmony with Robert Fuchs. At the age of 14 he went to Paris to study at the Conservatoire National with Jules Massenet, André Gédalge, Gabriel Fauré and Armand Marsieck.
In 1898, Enescu's Op. 1, the Poème Roumain (Romanian Poem), was performed for the first time in Paris at the Concerts Colonne, becoming a huge success; the same year, George Enescu had his first public appearance as a conductor, performing his own Poème Roumain at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. This year also marks the beginning of his outstanding career as violinist, that will lead him through Europe and America.
During World War I Enescu stayed in Romania. Before and after that war he made numerous concert tours in Europe and traveled to the United States. He played Beethoven with Felix Weingartner, conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Orchestra of the New York Philharmonic Society, and appeared together with Béla Bartók.
From 1927 on he choose France as his second home. He appeared with many musicians. He conducted the Paris Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de l'association des concerts Colonne. He also performed and conducted in other European countries. In those years Enesco taught both in Romania and in France. He again travelled to North America to appear in front of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1936-37 season, not long after the premiere of Oedipe, the opera on which Enesco worked for merely ten years, leaving hardly any time to write other music, except for Symphony No. 2. During World War II the maestro stayed in Romania, but after the war and the Soviet occupation of Romania, he remained in Paris. On January 21st, 1950, George Enescu gave a farewell-concert in New York, performing as a violinist, as a pianist and as a conductor. After that his health did not allow him to play the violin any longer, but he still was able to conduct from time to time. He died on May 4th, 1955 in Paris.
Perfection, which is the passion of so many people, does not interest me. What is important in art is to vibrate oneself and make others vibrate. (George Enescu)
Enescu was born in the village of Liveni, Romania (Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County), and showed musical talent from early in his childhood. At the age of five he received his first musical instruction from his local teacher and at seven his father sent him to Vienna to study at the Conservatory where, only four years later, he was awarded the grand medal of honor. His violin teacher was Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., he also studied composition and harmony with Robert Fuchs. At the age of 14 he went to Paris to study at the Conservatoire National with Jules Massenet, André Gédalge, Gabriel Fauré and Armand Marsieck.
In 1898, Enescu's Op. 1, the Poème Roumain (Romanian Poem), was performed for the first time in Paris at the Concerts Colonne, becoming a huge success; the same year, George Enescu had his first public appearance as a conductor, performing his own Poème Roumain at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. This year also marks the beginning of his outstanding career as violinist, that will lead him through Europe and America.
During World War I Enescu stayed in Romania. Before and after that war he made numerous concert tours in Europe and traveled to the United States. He played Beethoven with Felix Weingartner, conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Orchestra of the New York Philharmonic Society, and appeared together with Béla Bartók.
From 1927 on he choose France as his second home. He appeared with many musicians. He conducted the Paris Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de l'association des concerts Colonne. He also performed and conducted in other European countries. In those years Enesco taught both in Romania and in France. He again travelled to North America to appear in front of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1936-37 season, not long after the premiere of Oedipe, the opera on which Enesco worked for merely ten years, leaving hardly any time to write other music, except for Symphony No. 2. During World War II the maestro stayed in Romania, but after the war and the Soviet occupation of Romania, he remained in Paris. On January 21st, 1950, George Enescu gave a farewell-concert in New York, performing as a violinist, as a pianist and as a conductor. After that his health did not allow him to play the violin any longer, but he still was able to conduct from time to time. He died on May 4th, 1955 in Paris.
Perfection, which is the passion of so many people, does not interest me. What is important in art is to vibrate oneself and make others vibrate. (George Enescu)
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