On the 4^th of September 2022 the International George Enescu Competition made its debut- a competition about George Enescu and on a record released internationally on the 3^rd of June under the German label Solo Musica: Impressions d'enfacewith the members of the Raro ensemble - who work at the Sonoro festivals and their guests- including the violinist Gilles Apap.

In 2018, the same label published their first record with music made by Enescu- then, also by Bela Bartok, with the same cast.

This time, we have a chance to get to know the young composer George Enescu by listening to the Quintet he wrote at 15 years old, as well as other plays from the same period that are testimony to his studies in Paris. Finally, you can enjoy an extraordinary version of his suite Childhood Impressions, composed by Enescu in his 60s looking back nostalgically on the early part of his life.

George Enescu's Quintet in D major for piano, two violins, viola and cello is a piece of work composed in 1896, featured on Impressions d'enfance. The Raro ensemble includes violinists Aleksandr Sitkovetsky and Anna Lisa Beztodny, violist Răzvan Popovici, cellist Justus Grimm and pianist Diana Ketler.

A great admirer of Brahms and Fauré, with the indescribable and extremely personal scent of 19^th century Paris- this is Enescu in his youth and in his work between the ages 15 and 21. On the record, there are two more such works: Aubade for violin, viola and cello and Serenade lointaine for violin, cello and piano- with the members of Raro ensemble. In 1922, Enescu also wrote a short homage- Piece sur le nom de Faure for the piano, a work proposed by pianist Diana Ketler.

All these compositions, such as the Quintet in D major, were recorded in June 2019 in the studios of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation in Munich.

These are interpretations that highlight the weightlessness and vulnerability of Enescu's music in its romantic and highly personal side, which moves us more deeply in the beginning of the 21st century, more so than it touched Enescu's peers, over a hundred years ago.

In my opinion, the great surprise of this record is the performance of the suite Childhood Impressions by violinist Gilles Apap and the pianist Diana Ketler. Firstly, we are dealing with an extraordinary music sheet: a blend between the national and the universal achieved by a genius that was undoubtedly George Enescu. Who are we as people in the universal concert? What represents as, what distinguishes us? Enescu suggests as an answer the intertwining of national feelings with the universal language of his time, adding touches of his own experiences and his personality. And Gilles Apap and Diana Ketler understand very well theseparticularities- the rhapsodic style chosen by Gilles Apap matches perfectly the music sheet which lets us feel the wind blowing and becoming fearful of the storm, but also gives the impression of the fullness of the sunrise that Enescu had experienced. By listening to this interpretation, we too can fell all these things.

A word of praise for the entire record conceived and organized by Răzvan Popovici, whose success is also due to the label Sonoro. This autumn, you will be able to see Sonoro, I hope this show is an enjoyable preview for the Sonoro music chamber meetings which you are invited to attend.