The George Enescu Philharmonic opens on Wednesday the 2025–2026 season with an artistic program performed in collaboration with renowned artists from abroad and from Romania. The public is invited to attend the concerts at the Romanian Athenaeum until June 26, 2026.

The theme of this season’s communication is “Respiro.”

Program of the day

At 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, pianist Mihai Ritivoiu, artist-in-residence, will open the Chamber Season with a piano recital including works by Liszt and Chopin. A limited number of tickets are still available for this recital at www.oveit.com  or directly via the link: https://oveit.com/hub/event/deschiderea-stagiunii-camerale-20252026-recital-de-pian-e7VY4dn4.

At 6:00 p.m., the famous conductor Kent Nagano, making his first appearance in Bucharest, will take part in a special conversation entitled “Leadership Without Words.” The dialogue is inspired by Nagano’s conducting artistry and by the lessons his model of working with an orchestra can offer to society: about trust, empathy, shared purpose, and the ways beauty and inspiration can be discovered in the most unexpected places. The event is part of the Talks re: Music & Beyond series, launched this season by the George Enescu Philharmonic to create moments of clarity and inspiration, in which the experience shared by artists extends far beyond music. Seats sold out quickly.

Opening of the Symphonic Season

The opening of the 2025–2026 Symphonic Season will take place on Thursday and Friday with two sold-out concerts featuring conductor Kent Nagano and German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann. The program begins with George Enescu’s Concert Overture on Romanian Popular Themes, op. 32, continues with Ludwig van Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, op. 61, and closes with Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.

A three-time Grammy Award winner for his recordings, Kent Nagano is regarded as one of today’s foremost conductors in both the opera and symphonic repertoire. Beginning in September 2026, he will become the new Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain (OCNE) in Madrid. Together with Jan Vogler, he is also Artistic Director of The Wagner Cycles project at the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, carried out with the Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln. He is also patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival. Since 2006, Nagano has been Honorary Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, since 2019 of Concerto Köln, since 2021 of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and since 2023 of the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg.

Frank Peter Zimmermann, one of the leading violinists of his generation, will perform this season with the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris, all under the baton of Dima Slobodeniouk. He plays the 1711 Antonio Stradivari “Lady Inchiquin” violin.

Out of the 76 soloists and guests featured this season, 75% will appear for the first time in the artistic programming of the George Enescu Philharmonic. Other internationally renowned artists making their Philharmonic debut include conductors Ton Koopman, Dennis Russell Davies, Daniele Rustioni; pianists Nikolai Lugansky, Kirill Gerstein; violinists Gidon Kremer, Leonidas Kavakos; cellist Gautier Capuçon; and vocal soloists such as Matthias Goerne, Sunnyboy Dladla, Sarah Traubel, Ramona Zaharia, Chen Reiss, Carolyn Sampson, and Cristina Păsăroiu.

Beloved international conductors returning to the podium of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra include Lawrence Foster, Leonard Slatkin, Andrei Boreyko, Sunwook Kim, and Gilbert Varga. Important Romanian conductors such as Cristian Mandeal and Gabriel Bebeşelea will also return to the Athenaeum stage.

The Chamber Season will continue to offer the public both chamber music and jazz. Educational programs such as “Clasic e Fantastic” and “Music for Everyone” will also continue this year. Through the latter, the George Enescu Philharmonic will provide free access to 50 students at each concert, particularly those from areas with no musical infrastructure or with limited access to it.

Written by   News.ro |  10 01 2025, 13:45