The 'Enescu and the Music of the World' International Festival, which is taking place in Sinaia and Bucharest over the course of two weeks, features great symphonic concerts given by the Iuventus Symphony from Poland, the Austrian Youth Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra from Moldova and, certainly, the ensembles sponsored by the 'Friends of Music - Serafim Antropov' Foundation - the Romanian Youth Orchestra, conducted by Cristian Mandeal, Romanian Sinfonietta, conducted by Horia Andreescu and the Junior Orchestra, under Gabriel Bebeşelea's baton, at one of its first concerts.

The symphonic evenings are complemented with chamber music evenings. I had the pleasure of attending a recital which, under the 'Music in the Family' title, brought Bianca, Remus, Stanca and Roman Manoleanu all together to the Sinaia Casino's stage. The chosen programme was reminiscent of poetry, if I may say so. The four musicians chose lieds by Duparc and Rachmaninoff, arias from operas by Bizet and Verdi and instrumental songs by Enescu, Rachmaninoff and Brahms, all of which were lyrical, sensitive, delicate and expressive, filled with strong emotion, conveyed through slow tempos. Soprano Bianca Manoleanu's voice was in extraordinary shape and I appreciated the suppleness of the melody, the mastery of giving sound an infinite number of tones, and, last but not least, the power of bringing her audience to submission, almost. The perfect harmony between Bianca and her husband, pianist Remus Manoleanu, is the result of a life spent together both on stage and home. Their two children - soprano Stanca, who followed in her mother's footsteps, and pianist Roman, who followed his father's - gave an impressive performance, convincing the audience that although they are only at the beginning of their respective careers they possess all the ingredients for success. Although the recital had a unitary concept, meant to highlight each of the four musicians, I must note a splendid version of the andante molto expresivo part of the Sonata op. 24 no. 1 in F sharp minor by George Enescu, Remus Manoleanu's version that stood out in the context.