It is a special edition. To us, this 40^th edition is also a great challenge, as we intend to have an ambitious number of events, 40 of them, in accordance with the anniversary figure. It is a real challenge, but we are trying to manage.

What artists are you collaborating with during this edition?

The festival opened on 15^th November, when we had maestro Gheorghe Costin as guest in a symphonic-vocal concerto, within the Verdi-Wagner bicentenary. This week we have Jin Wang as a guest – a well-known conductor among Bucharest’s musical scene, who will perform a Sergei Rachmaninoff piece. Then we have maestro Alexander Bălănescu, invited in a special concert as composer, performer and conductor. Towards the end of the festival – and I have only outlined here the most consistent concertos – we have Theo Wolters, principal conductor of the Craiova Philharmonic for this season, with a very attractive programme for the audience – Mussorgsky – which brings on stage two foreigner soloists. On 8^th December we will have as guests the Orchestra Ensemble of the Timișoara Philharmonic, who will close the festival with an extraordinary concerto.