Echoes of an Autumnal Musical Dream: The Opening Concert of the 2025 George Enescu International Festival

The year 2025 marked, for me, a joyous return to the spellbinding realm of classical music - whether symphonic, chamber or operatic - through encounters (and re-encounters) with some of the world’s greatest orchestras and most celebrated soloists. For nearly a month, they all converged in Bucharest under the vast artistic umbrella of the “George Enescu” International Festival. Once again at the festival’s artistic helm stood Maestro Cristian Măcelaru, who - together with the Artexim team - crafted an impressively ambitious program. For over three weeks, we basked in the transformation of Bucharest into a major capital of high art music.

The opening concert presented the Orchestra and Choir of the “George Enescu” Philharmonic, conducted by Măcelaru himself. The evening commenced with Dan Dediu’s Concert for Orchestra - a work commissioned for this edition and unveiled as a captivating sonic voyage. Through an artful blend of harmony and motif, Dediu gently evokes the Enescu legacy, honoring both the master and his own contemporary vision. His characteristic playfulness (which I’ve long admired in his operas “O scrisoare pierdută”/”The Lost Letter” and “D’ale carnavalului”/”Adventures at a Carnival” at Bucharest’s National Opera) mingles here with a wistful melancholy, granting each orchestral section a distinct voice. Under Măcelaru’s inspired baton, the ensemble sculpted color and tension with impeccable balance. In the concert’s second half, drama mounted steadily, culminating in an exuberant tutti - with brass and percussion driving a thrilling, propulsive climax.

The evening’s second highlight was Aram Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto, its energetic brilliance given extra luster by the magnetic presence of Nemanja Radulović. At the festival’s press conference, Radulović spoke of the freedom he seeks in interpretation - and that very freedom animated his every phrase. The virtuosic flourishes of the first movement emerged with a distinctive, poised touch; pauses themselves became a potent musical language. Maestro Măcelaru, ever attentive, ensured no sonic collisions ever marred the dialogue between soloist and orchestra. Radulović’s cadenza - laden with charged silences - struck me as even more compelling than the celebrated version by Oistrakh. In the second movement, the concerto’s lyric melancholy surfaced fully: violin and orchestra shared deep nostalgia, invoking the plaintive hues of the “Spartacus” lamento. And in the third movement’s vigorous finale, Radulović’s interpretive freedom blossomed into a true visual and sonic spectacle - one which the orchestra, under Măcelaru’s assured guidance, embraced with unflagging enthusiasm. A dialogue between harp and flute shone especially bright, a moment of elegant color that showcased each instrumentalist’s artistry.

Finally, George Enescu’s “Romanian Rhapsody” closed the program in a mood both poetic and reflective, framed by the opening recitation of Marius Bodochi. His eloquent delivery of Enescu’s own words - “Life is a dream, and the dream is my whole life,” “In art you progress very, very slowly,” “Originality happens only when it is not sought,” “Write music, not about music,” “Hone your craft in silence” - cast an intimate, contemplative spell over the hall. As the Rhapsody unfolded, an offstage chorus murmured from the wings, while multimedia projections deepened the sense of memory - as if Enescu himself, in the winter of his life, were recalling his childhood. The orchestra’s interjections - sometimes tempestuous, sometimes delicate - were driven by Măcelaru’s gestures, both sensitive and decisive, demonstrating how organically a Romanian ensemble can resonate with its greatest national composer. Transitions from stormy episodes to folk-inspired passages flowed seamlessly, interwoven with melancholic strains reminiscent of a doină. In the final bars, the conductor’s full-bodied expressivity reminded us that when a maestro commits his entire being to the music, the emotional power of the score transcends the fourth wall between performers and audience.

It was a consummate evening, one in which three musical worlds - Dediu’s modern invention, Khachaturian’s fiery lyricism and Enescu’s timeless spirit - came together in perfect artistic communion.

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Photo credits: Alex Damian and ​Andrada Pavel