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George Enescu
• George
Enescu
(August 19, 1881, Liveni
– May 4, 1955, Paris)
was
a
Romanian
composer,
violinist,
pianist, conductor and
teacher,
preeminent
Romanian musician of
the 20th century, and
one of the greatest
performers of his time.
Biography
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He was born in the village of Liveni, Romania and showed musical talent
from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first
musical composition at the age of five. Shortly thereafter, his father
presented him to the professor and composer Eduard Caudella. At the
age of seven, entered the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied with
Joseph Hellmesberger, Robert Fuchs, and Sigismund Bachrich, and
graduated before his 13th birthday. In 1895 he went to Paris to continue
his studies.
In 1923 he made his debut as a conductor in a concert given by the
Philadelphia Orchestra in New York City. In 1935, he conducted the
Orchestre Symphonique de Paris.
In 1939 he married Maria Rosetti (known as the Princess Cantacuzino), a
good friend of the future Queen Marie of Romania. While staying in
Bucharest, Enescu lived in the Cantacuzino Palace on Calea Victoriei
(now the Muzeu Naţional George Enescu, dedicated to his work).
He was also a noted violin teacher. Yehudi Menuhin, Christian Ferras,
Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux, and Ida Haendel were among his pupils. He
promoted contemporary Romanian music, playing works of Constantin
Silvestri, Mihail Jora, Ionel Perlea and Marţian Negrea.
On his death in 1955, George Enescu was interred in the Père Lachaise
Cemetery in Paris.
Oedipe (opera)
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Oedipe is an opera in four acts by the
Romanian composer George Enescu, based
on the mythological tale of Oedipus, and set
to a French libretto by Edmond Fleg. Enescu
had the idea to compose an Oedipus-inspired
opera even before finding a libretto and began
to sketch music for it in 1910. The first-draft
libretto from Fleg arrived in 1913. Enesco
completed the music in 1922 and the
orchestration in 1931. The opera received its
world premiere in Paris on 13 March 1936. The
first German production was in Berlin in 1996,
in a production that subsequently traveled to
the Vienna State Opera. The United States
premiere was in 2005 at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
This dramatic musical treatment of the
Oedipus myth is unusual in that it attempts to
cover the entire story of Oedipus' life, from
birth to death. Act III covers the story of
Oedipus the King. Act IV overlaps in plot with
Oedipus at Colonus, though with divergent
psychological treatment of Oedipus' final
days compared to the original.
George Enescu Festival
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The George Enescu Festival (also known as George Enescu Festival
and International Competition) is the biggest classical music festival
and classical international competition held in Romania, and one of
the biggest in Eastern Europe. It was first held in 1958, and is now
presented every two years in memory of George Enescu, who is
regarded as the greatest Romanian composer. The 2007 festival ran
from 1 September to 23 September.
The concerts are held in three different venues in Bucharest, Iaşi and
Sibiu. The 2007 presentations ended with a performance of Carl Orff's
Carmina Burana before an audience of over 4,000 at the Sala Palatului.
The competition portion of the Festival lasts about a week, and it
consists of three different categories: composition (118 particpants in
2007), piano (44 in 2007), and violin (41 in 2007), each a record number
of participants.
In the 2005 and 2007 presentations a daily open-air concert was added
to the festival program. It is known as the Festival Piazza and features
3 1/2 hours of classical music, in addition to movies about the life of
George Enescu.
George Enescu Philharmonic
Orchestra
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The George Enescu Philarmonic Orchestra is the most representative
musical institution of Romania.
Founded in 1886, under the supervision of , the Romanian Philarmonic
Society had as purpose the creation of a permanent symphonic
orchestra in Bucharest. By December of the same year, its first concert
took place.
Once that the palace of the Romanian Athenaeum was inaugurated on
March 5, 1889, the concerts of the society started to take place in that
location, as they do to this day.
Wachman, who conducted the first permanent orchestra until 1907,
was followed by (1868-1936), and himself was followed as the principal
conductor starting from 1920, by (student of Arthur Nikisch and
Richard Strauss).
During this time, the repertoaire of the orchestra was greatly enlarged,
and the Philarmonic entered the international scene. Meanwhile, great
musical personalities of the inter-war period, such as Jacques Thibaud,
Pablo Casals, Igor Stravinsky, Enrico Mainardi, Alfred Cortot, Maurice
Ravel, Richard Strauss, Yehudi Menuhin or Herbert von Karajan, played
in Bucharest with the orchestra.
After World War II, the institution diversed its activity by creating the
Academic Choir, a strong nucleus of soloists, and several chamber
ensembles. After the death of George Enescu in 1955, the Philarmonic
was renamed George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra in his honour.