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Enescu's Music - Well Received in France
Ms. Mara Dobrescu, the new year appears to be a very busy one for you, filled with musical projects. A few days ago, you performed Enescu's Quartet op. 30 alongside a few French musicians, on stage at the Cortot Hall in Paris. How would you describe musically this opus dedicated to composer Gabriel Faure and how is Enescu's music received in France?
To my delight, and also that of all Romanian musicians', Enescu's music is well received in France. This concert was a real celebration because, working with this trio of musicians from Paris's orchestral ensemble, I discovered this quartet I did not know and we felt like we were in another world; I was very pleased to be able to enter this universe. Of course, in this work, Enescu draws inspiration from Faure's creative world, however creating a completely different universe, and what struck us the most was that Enescu has a certain precision about what he wants in terms of tempo, nuances, so much so that, in the end, we figured that this work would want to be inspired in that moment, I don't know how to express it...there are many tempo indications. We asked ourselves if the tempo really needed to be changed every two beats, as indicated, but we realized that Enescu would have wanted this musical piece to be interpreted - like it is also said in Chopin's works - in a completely free and improvised way.
You've just finished recording a CD with George Enescu's Trios for piano. What attracts you to chamber music and how was working in the "Brâncuși" trio like?
The works we have recorded and which will now be available to audiences and music lovers, are two trios less known to the general public, because I think the scores can no longer be bought. These works - and I would like to thank pianist Ilinca Dumitrescu for helping us procuring these scores from the Enescu Museum - have not been played in a very long time. Even Trio in G minor, which is a youthful trio - Enescu was only 17 at the time - exists only in manuscript. Prof. Vasile Țugui, PhD helped us by writing each of our parts in this trio. We were endorsed by these two great figures, and by the Romanian Cultural Institute, which supports us with promoting this project, by organizing concerts in London, Italy, Portugal, and Brussels. We are very happy because, through this recording, we would like to bring to light the wonderful pages of Enescu's two trios - in G minor and A minor - and his Serenade, score found by famous violinist Șerban Lupu and printed in London, in 2005.
Translated by Ioana Ristulescu
MTTLC, Bucharest University