The 26^th edition of the George Enescu International Festival will take place between the 27^th of August and the 24^th of September 2023. Cristina Uruc, Artexim manager, discussed the proposed concerts, during the Perpetuum mobile show on the 1^st of February.

I welcome Cristina Uruc, Artexim manager, who is now in the Radio România Muzical studio.

Hello, Lucian! Thank you very much for inviting me.

We're talking about this year's edition of the George Enescu International Festival. The tickets went on sale six hours ago. What can Artexim tell us so far? Are any of the concerts sold out?

We're happy to say that everything went well and that there haven't been any major obstacles in the sales process. I would like to remind our listeners that tickets are available on eventim.ro-they are our only ticketing partner for the general programme of the festival. The Bucharest concerts will be put up on sale staring today. I would also like to remind the public that the tickets for our series of educational concerts for kids and family and for the concert on the 10^th of September, at 18 o'clock, by the Musica Ricercata ensemble conducted by Gabriel Bebeselea have already been put for sale by the Odeon theatre at their ticket office as well as on their website. So, remember! We have eventim.ro and Odeon for the two types of programme.

None of the concerts are sold out yet. So, I invite the public to go on the eventim website and pick their places for the concerts they want to see. For a better purchasing experience I recommend them to keep their eyes on the schedule, which is available onto go on the www.festivalenescu.ro, to take notes, to make lists, and then it will all go smootly.

We're talking about the George Enescu International Festival, the 26^th edition, which this year will also include a series of concerts around the country. When will these tickets be available?

As the ones who have been supporting the festival for a very long time know, the tickets will be put up for sale by the direct organizers of the concerts. They will be available on the website of the Enescu Festival at the right time, when we will have all the details and we will invite the ones interested straight to the source.

The festival takes place in between the 27^th of August and the 24^th of September 2023. Oedipe by George Enescu and the Symphony no 3 conducted by Cristian Macelaru are back in the programme. Any other invitations for the concerts from this period?

The programme of the festival is very attractive and I'm glad we have a large repertoire to choose from, starting with baroque music and up to contemporary music. There are the concerts of the ensembles Europa Galante, Les Arts Florissants, Il Giardino Armonico. There are the grand orchestras that we already know- Concertgebouw, LSO, Israel Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Camerata Salzburg, Camerata Bern with Kopatchinskaja...there is something for everyone and at the highest level...operas- Billy Budd by Britten or, by Les Arts Florissants, The Fairy Queen de Purcell. There special concerts, interesting concerts. Another very nice concert, conducted by the maestro Sir Simon Rattle, is the one where they will interpret the Turangalila Symphony by Messiaen, where we will have two soloists-Peter Donohoe playing the piano andCynthia Millar playing ondes Martenot. I want to point out this concert because it is very rare to see an ondes martenot soloist in Romania, mostly a soloist like Cynthia Millar, and I invite everyone to watch this concert and to try and get to it.

The Midnight concerts are also back in the program.

Yes, of course! The Midnight concerts are back in the programme because we do not have the limitations of the pandemic period anymore. We are very glad that this year's concept is that of the jewel-concert. We have the Madrigal Choir, which celebrates 60 years of activity this year and which is a landmark of Romanian culture. We have Valentina Nafornița with Plattform K+K Vienna, Avi Avital with Between Worlds Ensemble and the Rustavi Choir...these are flexible programmes, glamout programmes, brilliant programmes, jewels- as I was saying. And it will be a new experience for the public.

And a new series, that of Romanian orchestras!

A series of Romanian orchestras, indeed! In years past we had the XX century music series. This time, we wanted to bring into focus the Romanian orchestras invited to the festival. The orchestras will present a mixt programme; there will be Contemporary music, as well as Modern and Romantic. So, we invite you all to the concerts at the Radio Hall! I would also like to mention that here, at the Radio Hall concerts, the price of discounted ticket for pupils, students and senior citizens will be 35 ron. So, we have something for all types of public.

Starting with this year, Artexim follows new paths. You are already involved in the developing of the musical world. You support young artist who won the George Enescu International Competition, but I would like you to tell us more about it. How will this project develop this year?

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about two of the important directions that Artexim, as an institution of concerts, projects and the organizer of the Festival undertakes. It's about getting involved in events of developing the cultural market and the human resources. And here I'm talking about our partnership with National University of Music in Bucharest. In November and December both myself and master Cristian Macelaru, as well as mr Mihai Constantinescu participated in workshops organized by the University of Music regarding the careers that young musicians can have in the field, mostly when it comes to organizing, consulting, artistic music, because these are fields that haven't been theorized until now, we've learned as we went along. I'm glad that we can share our experience as event organizer and to pave the way for the young who graduated from musical studies and not only. Moreover, we are involved in the promoting of classical music and Romanian culture. We take part in national and international summits…the next one will be in Iasi, at Festival Classics, where we will speak about the future of classical music alongside other managers of institutions in Romania.

The second direction I would like to point out is the one in which Artexim will support the winners of the Enescu Competition, and not only them, in their artistic career. We offer them logistic and administrative consulting, as it is hard for a talented musician who is focused on their studies and interpretation to do the bureaucratic issues. It is our job and we enjoy doing it and it is a element that Artexim had before and we've reinstalled it. We invite all those who want to ask for our help to a discussion so that we can offer all that we know to do best.

I want to talk about partnerships as well, because starting with 2023 there is a partnership between Radio România Muzical and Artexim.A first episode, on Sunday, the 12^th of February, the "Violin in love" recital by Valentin Serban, the winner of the George Enescu International Competition. A few words about this partnership…

It is a pleasure to be actively involved in events that promote young Romanian artists and this is one of the partnerships that are very close to our heart. I was very glad to be able to support this concert through the coproduction activities that Artexim does and I'm sure it won't be the last. Artexim and Radio România Muzical both want this to be a long-lasting partnership- and this concert marks this collaboration. The programme that Valentin and Daria (who was in the semi-finals in the 2022 competition) will present the public is extremely attractive and fit for the time of the year-on the 12^th of February, close to Valentine's Day-so I can't see a better opportunity for young lovers to spend their time than a concert offered by Radio România Muzical and Artexim.

We must mention that Valentin Serban and Daria Tudor will record an album together in the following period, in the Radio România studio. I would now like to go back to this year's edition of the George Enescu International Festival, and to remind people at home where they can buy tickets for the events!

As we have discussed, the George Enescu International Festival will take place between the 27^th of August and the 24^th of September. The tickets for the festival concerts can be purchased on eventim.ro. Tickets for the concerts taking place at Odeon theater, the ones from the educational concerts series, as well as the concert by the Musica Ricercata ensemble on the 10th of September at 18 o'clock, will be put up for sale by the theater, meaning on the Odeon website.

And about the opening concert-on the 27^th of August, at Sala Palatului…

It is a very important concert, as the opening concert marks the beginning of a tradition. From now on, the George Enescu Festival will be opened by the festival's artistic director, Cristian Macelaru himself, who will conduct the George Enescu philharmonic. The soloist will be the cellist Gautier Capucon.

Cristina Uruc, Artexim manager, I thank you for joining me at Perpetuum mobile! I'm waiting for you to come back for a discussion closer to the festival.