The launch of the series of events dedicated to the great composer George Enescu by the Romanian Cultural Institute took place in Sinaia, and the choice was not made by accident. On one hand, the “George Enescu” Memorial House, the place of recreation and inspiration of the musician, where he composed part of his favorite work, Oedipus, is located in this resort, and on the other hand, Enescu’s creation was part of the program of the traditional event held in autumn on Prahova Valley – the “Sinaia Forever” Festival.
The Romanian Cultural Institute has opened on Sunday, October 8, 2017, at the International Conference Center “Casino Sinaia”, the series of events dedicated to the great composer George Enescu. The event, which is organized by the Romanian Cultural institute in partnership with the Sinaia Municipality, has a symbolic significance, as well as a special dimension, being scheduled in the last day of the “Sinaia Forever” Festival, a traditional action organized in autumn in the most famous resort on Prahova Valley. According to the program announced by ICR, the “George Enescu” National Museum and the French Cultural Institute had an important contribution at the event held in Sinaia, by launching the second bilingual volume in the Romanian and English languages, called “George Enescu – The musical genius in pictures”.
The volume offers a biography in pictures of the brilliant musician, focusing on the last two stages of his life, the maturity and the old age; the selection, the introduction and the legends of the pictures were made by the musicologist Viorel Cosma. The events also included an extraordinary recital, while documentary photo exhibitions with the themes “George Enescu’s violins” and “George Enescu, a great creator of the 20th century” have been presented in the lobby of the Casino. The evening ended with the screening of the documentary move “Enescu – at the crossroads of times”, directed and pictured by Nicolae Margineanu.
In this context, we have to mention that the event in Sinaia has opened the series of events related to the great composer, given that the Romanian cultural institutes from abroad will also organize events dedicated to the musician George Enescu under the project called “The Enescu Month at the Romanian Cultural Institute”, over the next 30 days, and even until the end of the year in some cases. Thus, according to the announced program, the Romanian Cultural institute in Paris together with the French Music Society “Georges Enesco” and the Noesis Association will organize from October 9 to 18, 2017, the fourth edition of the festival “The George Enescu International Musical Meetings”. A festival of French and Romanian music since the 20th and 21st centuries and an international contest of vocal art will be held under this aegis. The “Mihai Eminescu” Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau in cooperation with the Chisinau Municipality will also organize, in the middle of October, at the “La Rond” Gallery, the exhibition having the theme “George Enescu – a personality of the Romanian and universal culture”.
The exhibition, consisting of 22 banners, will include a number of documents, testimonies and photos restoring in pictures the path of the musician’s life and work, with the mention that the event is integrated in the “Centenar” cultural diplomacy program, designed and approved by the Romanian Government, aiming to present the Romanian cultural and historical values in the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York will organize, under the title “From Enescu to blues, from doina to modern jazz”, a new successful tournament, whose protagonists are two internationally renowned musicians: the Romanian pianist Lucian Ban and the Grammy-nominated American violinist Mat Maneri. The tournament is scheduled for the period October 27 – November 2, 2017 and consist of four concerts accompanied by presentations, talks with the audience and a lecture workshop, all of them being held by the two artists in four legendary places dedicated to music lovers from the south and the southwest of the USA. Not at last, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing will continue to organize the project called “Romanian Cinema and Music Audition” from October 25 to December 31, 2017, at its headquarters, by screening three Romanian movies – “Aventurile lui Babusca”, “Buletin de Bucuresti” and “Maria Mirabela” -, and by presenting the compositions and the interpretations of the great Romanian musicians George Enescu and Dinu Lipatti.
The movies will be scheduled once per month, and before their screening, music auditions of George Enescu and Dinu Lipatti’s compositions will take place. Speaking about the series of events dedicated to the musician George Enescu, the President of the Romanian Cultural Institute Liliana Turoiu, wished to mention: “The most recent international successes related to George Enescu’s work, and I am talking about the extraordinary interest shown by the audience in London for the opera Oedipe, presented in the concert version at Royal Festival Hall, entitle us to say that George Enescu has become a real country brand. This is the reason for which the Romanian Cultural Institute dedicates to him an entire month of events, starting from October 8, 2017.
Although George Enescu doesn’t need any presentation, people with great hearts, together with specialists, are bringing in front of the audience new aspects of our great composer’s life. The volume ‘George Enescu – The musical genius in pictures’ which we will launch at ICR within the series of events called ‘The Enescu Month’, is an example to this end, and I thank, in the name of the Romanian Cultural Institute, to all those who made possible for us to publish and present it to the audience who loves good music and culture”.
France’s Ambassador Ramis: Enescu – a bridge between Romania and France
France’s Ambassador in Bucharest Michele Ramis believes that the great Romanian composer George Enescu represents a bridge between Romania and France.
“Enescu is, indeed, a bridge between Romania and France. Although, undoubtedly, he is not the only one. His musical genius and the great variety of his creation which lies between romanticism and modernity, has considerably fed from this French influence. Because he studied music in France, he excelled on the French musical scene to the same extend as he was influenced by the French culture. He is one of the symbols of this cultural interaction,” Michele Ramis stated at the “Casino” International Conference Center in Sinaia.
The French diplomat, delivered her speech in the Romanian language and participated, alongside other celebrities from the country and abroad, in the launching of the second volume of the bilingual edition, in the Romanian and English languages, of the “George Enescu. The genius musician in pictures” album.
Underscoring that “a long history ties France to Romania,” Michele Ramis brought to mind the participation of some French musicians and critics in the 2017 edition of the “George Enescu” International Festival, an event which “continues the Romanian-French dialogue,” in the prospect of 2018-2019 France-Romania Cultural Season.
The album, which was edited by the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR) in partnership with the “George Enescu” National Museum, offers a biography in imagines, some of them unpublished, revealing the brilliant musician, with an emphasis on the last two stages of the composer’s life, maturity (1920-1946) and senescence (1946-1955). The selection, introduction and photos legends were made by musicologist Viorel Cosma.
The event, which opened the “Enescu Month at the ICR,” included an extraordinary concert performed by Mirana Tutuianu, Anne Billant, Stefan Tarara, Mihai Ritivoiu and Marin Cazacu, and the screening of the documentary film called “Enescu at the crossroad of times” (Enescu – la raspantie de vremi), directed by Nicolae Margineanu, who also signed the film picture, while Adei Brumaru wrote the script and the commentary.
Several personalities of Romania’s diplomatic, cultural and academic environment, but also from abroad, participated in the event organised by the ICR in partnership with Sinaia City Hall.
