For its 2025-2026 season, the George Enescu Philharmonic will bring to Bucharest more than 70 Romanian and foreign conductors and soloists of top level, 75% of whom are present for the first time in its artistic programming, the institution said.
Among the names that will take the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest starting this fall will be conductors Kent Nagano, Ton Koopman, Dennis Russell Davies and Daniele Rustioni; pianists Nikolai Lugansky and Kirill Gerstein; violinists Gidon Kremer and Leonidas Kavakos; cellist Gautier Capuçon; and vocal soloists Matthias Goerne (baritone), Sunnyboy Dladla (tenor), Sarah Traubel (soprano), Ramona Zaharia (mezzo-soprano), Justina Gringytė (mezzo-soprano), Matthias Goerne (baritone), Chen Reiss (soprano), Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), Matthew Brook (baritone), Cristina Păsăroiu (soprano), Alexander Ruslavets (bass).
Musicians familiar to the local public, such as conductor Lawrence Foster, conductors Leonard Slatkin, Andrey Boreyko, Sunwook Kim, and Gilbert Varga, will also return for various performances in the upcoming season.
When it comes to Romanian musicians, the program includes performances featuring conductors Cristian Mandeal and Gabriel Bebeșelea, pianist Mihai Ritivoiu, laureate of the 2011 George Enescu Competition (and artist in residence in the 2025-2026 Season), pianist Andrei Gologan, violinist Valentin Șerban, and cellist Ștefan Cazacu.
The 2025-2026 symphonic season will open on Thursday, October 2, and Friday, October 3, with two concerts, featuring the legendary American conductor Kent Nagano and the German violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann.
The philharmonic’s chamber music season will open on Wednesday, October 1, with a recital by pianist Mihai Ritivoiu. The program will include works by Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin.
Among the highlights of the 2025–2026 season is the performance of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, which will open the symphonic season under the baton of Kent Nagano, with the participation of violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, in a program that also includes Beethoven’s Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra and George Enescu’s Concert Overture on Romanian Folk Themes.
Major vocal-symphonic works are included in the program, including Ludwig van Beethoven’s Mass in C major (October 30/31, conductor Lawrence Foster); Gustav Mahler’s Symphony no. 3 (November 13/14, conductor Roberto Trevino, mezzo-soprano Justina Gringyte); Johannes Brahms’s A German Requiem (March 5/6, 2026, conductor Michele Mariotti); Joseph Haydn’s Oratorio Creation (April 8/9, conductor Paul McCreesh); and Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum, which will close the season under the baton of conductor Daniele Rustioni
Contemporary music has a significant presence in the upcoming season, with numerous works performed for the first time on the stage of the Athenaeum: Sofia Gubaidulina’s Concerto no. 1 for violin and orchestra, Offertorium (December 11/12, with violinist Gidon Kremer); Mihaela Vosganian’s Broken; Bernard Herrmann’s Adagietto from the film The Snows of Kilimanjaro; Gara Garayev’s Symphonic Engravings Don Quichotte; George Gershwin’s Strike up the Band Overture; and Cindy McTee’s Circuits.
The George Enescu Philharmonic will also present, in its first-ever performance at the Romanian Athenaeum, the work Cuib by Diana Rotaru, a special commission made by the Philharmonic.
Among the works by George Enescu included in the program are the Concert Overture on Themes in Romanian Folk Character, op. 32; Triumphal Overture; Symphony Concertante in B minor for cello and orchestra, op. 8; Rhapsody no. 2, in D major, op. 11; The Voice of Nature; Symphony No. 3, in C major, op. 21, and Rhapsody No. 1, in A major, op. 11.
“We want our audience to experience in Bucharest a musical season comparable to those in the great cultural capitals of the world. Alongside conductors and soloists of high artistic standing, such as Kent Nagano, Gidon Kremer, Leonidas Kavakos, Lawrence Foster, Leonard Slatkin, Matthias Goerne, Nikolai Lugansky, Kirill Gerstein, Gautier Capuçon, Ton Koopman, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Daniele Rustioni, Dennis Russell Davies, Leo Hussain, as well as with the participation of some of the most talented Romanian artists, the repertoire will offer both emblematic works and musical discoveries, in a balance meant to inspire and delight,” Marin Cazacu, director of the George Enescu Philharmonic, said.
Season tickets will be sold between August 1 and September 10, while regular tickets will be available starting September 15.
(Photo: Cristian-Tamaș/ Filarmonica George Enescu press kit)
simona@romania-insider.com
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