National Radio Orchestra - live broadcast
Friday, 24 February 2012 , 19.00

The National Radio Orchestra will perform on Friday, 24^th of February 2012, starting at 19:00, under the baton of famous conductor Cristian Mandeal who is returning to the stage of the Radio Hall.

The soloist of the concert will be Russian pianist Dmitri Alexeev. The programme will include Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16 by Edvard Grieg and Manfred Symphony in B minor, Op. 58 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

During his career which spans forty years, Cristian Mandeal has been conducting both national and international orchestras. Having studied piano, conducting (guided by Constantin Bugeanu) and composition at the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory, he completed his studies under the guidance of Herbert von Karajan (Berlin, 1980) and Sergiu Celibidache (Munich, 1990). He served as conductor of the Târgu Mureş State Philharmonic Orchestra (1977-1980), Cluj Philharmonic Orchestra (1980-1987) and Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra (1987-2009). He also acted as Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival and International Competition in 2001 and 2003.

As Principal Conductor and General Director of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra (1991-2009), he enhanced the prestige of the orchestra to such a degree that he transformed it into a Romanian landmark. Cristian Mandeal has conducted hundreds of concerts with more than a dozen orchestras, on four continents, in thirty-five countries. He has participated in various prestigious international festivals, along with the most renowned soloists in the world. He served as Artistic Director of the Symphony Orchestra in Haifa (1999-2002) and the Basque National Orchestra in San Sebastian (2001-2008), Permanent Conductor of the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento (2000-2003), Main Guest Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester (2003-2008) - he is the first-ever principal guest conductor appointed by the Hallé Orchestra since its establishment 150 years ago, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (2006-2007) and the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra (2006-present).

Cristian Mandeal has conducted over sixty world premieres of works written both by Romanian and foreign composers, with many of which being dedicated to him. He is an active supporter of George Enescu and promotes his music on all continents. He conducted both the British and the Italian premiere of the opera Oedipe by George Enescu, the former at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002 and the latter at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari in 2005. He is currently the President of the Enescu Society in London, a position which he has been holding since 2008. He has also been serving as member and president of the jury in several international conducting competitions.

Exceptional pianist who has earned sustained applauses all over the world for his concerts, Dmitri Alexeev studied at the prestigious Moscow Conservatory, under the guidance of pianist Dmitri Bashkirov. He has achieved recognition by performing with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Orchestre de Paris, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the five London orchestras. His discography is impressive and includes concertos for piano and orchestra by Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Prokofiev, Scriabin, Shostakovich, Medtner, works for piano solo by Chopin, Brahms, Schumann and Liszt and the complete preludes by Rachmaninoff for which he received the Dutch Edison Prize.

Dmitri Alexeev has performed with such artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Pierre Boulez, Mariss Jansons, Antonio Pappano, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yuri Temirkanov, Tilson Thomas, Klaus Tennstedt and Daniele Gatti. His musical talent has been rewarded with prises at different competitions including the Marguerite Long Competition in 1969, the George Enescu Competition in 1970, the Tchaikovsky Competition in 1974 and the Leeds Competition in 1975.