National Orchestraof France, conductor Cristian Măcelaru - GeorgeEnescu - the 15th, 20th and the 5th of May

Second Symphony - broadcastthe 15th of April

3rd Symphony Op. 21 in C major (RadioFrance Choir) - broadcast the April 22nd

Romanian Rhapsodies Op. 11 Nos. 1 and 2, SymphonyI Op. 13 - broadcast on May 5th, 1 pm

A long-awaited album: a three-disc collection of George Enescu's three completed symphonies and George Enescu's two Romanian rhapsodies, recorded by the National Orchestra of France, conducted by Cristian Măcelaru. It is an album released on April 12th, 2024, under the label of the famous Deutsche Grammophon: L recordings made by Radio France, in 2022 and 2023, with the supportof the Romanian Cultural Institute.

I must tell you that I listened with great thrill to this album which, in my opinion, represents a cultural act of immense importance for Romania, that country which is defined by its undeniable values worldwide.

It is an album that has already received the Supersonic (maximum) rating from one of the most authoritative publications dedicated to record reviews, Pizzicato in Luxembourg. Remy Franck, who is also president of the jury of the International Classical Music Awards, wrote in his review, among many other things: "When Cristian Măcelaru transforms the French National Orchestra into a Romanian ensemble in his interpretation of the RomanianRhapsody No. 1, turning this music into something lively and colorful, he raises the bar for these recordings to anextremely high level. By the power of his gifted hands, the Parisian musicians vibrate in a way I've never heard before with this work. As for symphonies, there aren't many recordings of George Enescu's symphonies, but these are clearly the bestcurrently available.

Cristian Măcelaru gave an interview to Radio România Muzical about this album (author: Ioana Țintea), from which I quote: "When I became the music director of the National Orchestra of France, the first project I wanted was to perform of George Enescu's works, because he was a true Romanian composer with whom we are proud and whom we keep in our hearts and souls. But at the same time, he lived, experienced, and understood the French life very well. He also trained in Paris as a young musician, studying with Fauré and Massenet. That's why I thought it was very fitting for a French orchestra like the National Orchestra of France, which maintains and continues the tradition of French music, to perform Enescu's music. I then proposed this project to the orchestra. Together, we also proposed it to the Deutsche Grammophon record label, which did not have Enescu's music in their catalogue. We all agreed to do this project, which was very challenging because Enescu's music requires a lot of time to be understood. It's such a complex music, but it's also beautiful and unique. Enescu, like no other composer I know, created a unique universe in everything he did. I am very proud that we have reached this first step of making these recordings a reality.

When were the recordings made and from what scoreswere they workedon?

The recordings were made over the last three years. I personally requestedaccess to the manuscripts held at the George Enescu Museum, access which was granted to me by the Ministry of Culture and the George Enescu Museum for my research. Unfortunately, the existing editions of Enescu's scores are full of errors, and I can say that I spent dozens of hours correcting these mistakes and consulting the original source of what Enescu composed. I am pleased to present these discs in a version where I hope these corrections will remain from now on.

Are these concert recordings or special recordings?

They are special studio recordings.

How did you rediscover George Enescu while working on this project?

I rediscover George Enescu every time I open one of his scores, because the complexity of his music is so profound that I don't think a lifetime would be enough to know everything about what he wrote. That's why, each time, Icome to rediscover with joy, curiosity, and pleasure what Enescu composed.

In the First Rhapsody, the most well-known and performed work by George Enescu internationally, we have a national benchmark in the legendary interpretation from the seventies by Sergiu Celibidache at the helm of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. However, we do not have any model with a foreign orchestra and a conductor of international caliber, even though this is still the most recorded of Enescu's works by major record labels worldwide. And the Second Rhapsody, more introspective, still awaits, over 120 years since its creation, to be morefrequently performed on international stages.

Remy Franck: "Where Mariss Jansons created something completely artificial and ultra-sentimental (referring to the RomanianRhapsody No. 1), Măcelaru makes everything sound exactly as it should,with the rightcolors and rhythms. The Second Rhapsody is just as successful, because Măcelaru, with his innate instinct for this music, makes it full of atmosphere and tension."

Yes, Cristian Măcelaru poured bits of his Romanian soul into these memorable recordings of George Enescu's RomanianRhapsodies, alongside the National Orchestraof France. The recordings were made in September 2022 for the Second Rhapsody and June 2023 for the First Rhapsody, in the Radio France studios. But more than that, he brought a universal vision to this music because he understood precisely that Enescu was not just a great Romanian composer but a great universal composer, a man who started from Romania, worked, and gained worldwide recognition, returning and contributing as much as he could in his homeland. Like so many other Romanians from our recent past, of whom we are proud today, among them conductor Cristian Măcelaru, currently the most important Romanian conductor on the international stage. He is the music director of one of the best European orchestras, the National Orchestra of France, and the recently announced music director of a well-known Americanorchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

Enescu's Romanian Rhapsodies, as envisioned by Cristian Măcelaru, speak of the idea of an ideal Romania, as some of us dream of. I have listened to them, often with tears in my eyes-absolutely stirring versions for those who still understand and appreciate what this music and its interpretation conveys.

Enescu composed his SymphonyNo. 1 in 1905, eight years after the death of JohannesBrahms, whose influences can be found in this symphony, as noted by Remy Franck of Pizzicato. Franck continues, "Măcelaru's dramatic interpretation makes us think more of Wagner and Richard Strauss. However, Măcelaru works in Paris, as did Enescu, who studied with Massenet and Fauré, whose influence is also heard in this symphony."

The performance of George Enescu's Symphony No. 1, as envisioned by Cristian Măcelaru and the National Orchestra of France, offers us once again an encounter with the universal Enescu, born in Romania, trained in Vienna and Paris, and incorporating into his work the essence of Europeanism, of the East and the West, in a synthesis that truly exemplifies what genius means. Măcelaru, together with a very supple orchestra well-versed in the interpretation of French music, constructs multiple sonic planes, highlighting details that seem as if we are hearing them for the first time. Indeed, this First Symphony needed a world-class international interpretation to emerge from the undeserved obscurity in the realm of great universal values, and this moment has arrived with this recording by the NationalOrchestra of France,conducted by CristianMăcelaru.

George Enescu's Symphony No. 2 is a movingscore, a greatpiece both literallyand figuratively, where some have seen similarities with Richard Strauss's symphonic poems; a score that speaks of the end of an era, before the outbreak of the First World War. It is brilliantly illuminated by the special sound of the National Orchestra of France and the orchestra's expertise in shaping the broad arches and embellishments required by French literature.

Cristian Măcelaru, in the booklet of this CD: "After many hours spent in the company of the National Orchestra of France, I began to understand why Enescu meticulously noted every detail in his scores, how the millions of annotations were, in fact, his attempt to capture the way every musician trained at the Paris Conservatory knows how to sustain a long phrase or play with ease the rich ornamentation that so often embellishes Enescu's music. Keeping this French interpretative tradition alive for almost 100 years, the National Orchestra of France was the perfect ensemble to bring to life Enescu's meticulously notedideas in the score."

Exactly this fluidity and free spirit, as well as the ability to construct overlapping sonic planes in perfect cohesion, individualize the wonderful version of George Enescu's Symphony No. 3, recorded with the participation of the Radio France Choir. In a journey supposed to be from Purgatory, through Hell, reaching towards Paradise, Enescu appears to us as the providential universal man that Romania was fortunate to have and whom it continues to discover, thanks to a top French orchestra and a conductor who left Romania nearly 30 years ago, and who, like Enescu, has also become a citizen of the world.