Despite the pandemic and its challenges, the Jubilee Edition of the George Enescu International Festival will bring to Bucharest 32 of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras from 14 countries. Most of the top-notch orchestras come from the United Kingdom and Germany, among them London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia London, as well as Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, and Munich Philharmonic under the baton of maestro Valery Gergiev.
The Festival Program also includes performances by Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, with a special program and a conductor on his first visit to Romania, Andrés Orozco-Estrada; Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome with Danielle Gatti conducting; French National Orchestra conducted by its new musical director, Cristian Macelaru; Les Dissonances, with David Grimal as artistic director and soloist; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with two conductors – Daniel Harding and Alan Gilbert; Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of artistic director Lahav Shani; and Ensemble Arpeggiata with Christina Pluhar and countertenor Philippe Jaroussky.
London Mozart Players, Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Athens State Orchestra will be present for the first time at the Enescu Festival.
One of the interesting appearances at this edition, also for the first time at the Festival, is the Baltic Sea Philharmonic conducted by Kristjan Järvi. Known for its spectacular concerts and for the fact that its musicians come from all over the Baltic Sea region, the orchestra will be present in Bucharest with two special concerts, alongside two acclaimed soloists: pianist Maria João Pires (on August 30) and violinist Viktoria Mullova (on August 31). The Baltic Sea Philharmonic will also perform George Enescu’s Symphony No. 2 in A major, op. 17.
Moreover, the Festival Program includes performances by renowned Romanian musical ensembles such as George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, National Radio Orchestra and Academic Choir, Philharmonic Orchestras of Iasi, Timisoara, Sibiu, Cluj-Napoca, and Bacau, as well as the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra, and Chamber Radio Orchestra. The George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in the Opening Gala of the Festival under the baton of conductor Paavo Järvi.
Individual tickets for concerts of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell, the Royal London Philharmonic Orchestra with Vasily Petrenko and Julia Fischer, the Joyce DiDonato and Ensemble recital, Mahler Chamber Orchestra with Yuja Wang, and the recital by Maxim Vengerov and Polina Osetinskaya are already sold out; for these concerts the only seats available at the moment are as part of subscription tickets.
Tickets for the Enescu Festival
Ticket sales continue for this Jubilee Edition of the Festival. Preparations for the arrival of more than 3,500 artists are well underway, despite the pandemic. Organizers reconfirm the fact that the Enescu Festival will take place from August 28 to September 26 and that all concerts will observe the required sanitary and safety conditions. In the exceptional situation that a concert does not take place, tickets purchased for that event will be refunded.
Access to the Grand Palace Hall and the Radio Hall will be granted providing the sanitary criteria are being met, according to 70% of the hall capacity occupancy rules. Physical distancing will be mandatory and masks worn over the nose and mouth will be required at all times.
Given the extremely high demand for tickets, the organizers have decided that 100% of seats at the Romanian Athenaeum will go on sale and for this reason, audience access to the hall will be granted on presentation of a photo ID and one of the following:
- Official proof of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 (with a minimum of 10 days passed since completing the vaccination plan)
- A negative result to a PCR test taken within 48 hours before the concert
- Medical attestation of the fact that they are between the 15th and 180th day from testing negative after a confirmed infection with SARS-CoV-2
- A negative result of a rapid antigen test certified by a medical unit, taken within 24 hours before the concert.
The same conditions will also apply for access to concerts in the Auditorium Hall.
Ticketing Information
Information on the purchase procedure and conditions of access is available on the Festival website, under the Tickets section. It is still possible that changes are made to the Program due to the pandemic. Access to the concert halls will only be allowed if sanitary conditions are observed; face masks will be mandatory indoors at all times.
The 2021 George Enescu International Festival is scheduled to take place between August 28 and September 26, 2021, with an exceptional musical program, sustained by over 3,500 international and Romanian artists for a record duration of 4 weeks, with measures in place to reduce potential health risks for audiences, artists, organizers, and journalists.
The full Program can be found on the festivalenescu.ro website.
