The George Enescu International Festival 2025 (August 24 - September 21) reconfirms its leading position in the European and international cultural landscape, proposing an exceptional edition, marked by artistic diversity and interdisciplinarity.

Along with grand symphonic evenings and refined chamber concerts, the program of the 27th edition brings to the fore opera and ballet performances, operas in concert version, and symphonic productions that integrate contemporary dance.

A celebration of the synthesis between music, theater and movement, this edition fully reflects the festival's vocation to cultivate excellence and innovation in the performing arts.

On Monday, September 15, 2025, at 7:00 PM, Enes' masterpiece Oedipus will be presented on the stage of the Bucharest National Opera in a monumental stage production, signed by the Italian director and visual artist Stefano Poda - a personality internationally recognized for his elaborate and symbolic visual stagings. Conductor Tiberiu Soare will lead an elite cast, featuring baritone Ionuț Pascu in the title role , alongside mezzo-sopranos Ruxandra Donose ( Iocaste ) and Ramona Zaharia ( The Sphinx ), bass Vazgen Gazaryan ( The High Priest ), tenor Paul Curievici ( Laius ) and baritone Bogdan Baciu ( Creon ), alongside the soloists of the Bucharest National Opera. A performance-event that brings the universality of Sophocles' tragedy to life.

Thursday, August 29, 2025, 7:030 PM, Maurice Ravel 's Spanish Hour is presented at the Bucharest National Opera, in a production signed by Tompa Gábor , a multiple award-winning Romanian director, active in Europe and the USA. The set design is by Carmencita Brojboiu , and the international cast is accompanied by the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana , under the baton of James Gaffigan , one of the most active and versatile American conductors of the moment.

Two new ballet performances have been included in the official program of the George Enescu International Festival. The performances will take place at the "IL Caragiale" National Theatre in Bucharest, at the "Ion Caramitru" Halls and the Studio, and the events mark the resumption of the collaboration between the two prestigious institutions: ARTEXIM, the organizer of the Enescu Festival, and TNB.

The dance performances scheduled within the festival are the expression of the syncretism between poetry, music and movement, with a strong visual component, highlighting remarkable collaborations.

On September 2, 2025, at 7:00 PM, at the Studio Hall of the National Theatre, choreographer Gigi Căciuleanu presents the show DinDor'NdoR , set to music by Dan Dediu , with sets and costumes designed by scenographer Viorica Petrovici . The production is carried out by the Sibiu Ballet Theatre and the ArtProduction Foundation, with the support of JTI.

On September 9, 2025, at 7:00 PM, at the Ion Caramitru Hall of the Bucharest National Theater, the show Les Saisons / Anotimpurile will be presented – a choreographic meditation on the cyclical nature of life, to the music of Antonio Vivaldi and Giovanni Antonio Guido . The production is carried out by Malandain Ballet Biarritz and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Versailles, the choreography is signed by Thierry Malandain, one of the most important European choreographers, and the well-known Argentine conductor Andrés Gabetta will take the orchestra's podium .

The George Enescu International Festival includes in this year's edition six great masterpieces of musical literature in concert version, from Mozartian virtuosity to Russian expressionism, in a formula that emphasizes musicality and vocal expressiveness :

On Saturday, August 30, 2025, at 4:30 PM, at the Romanian Athenaeum, Dardanus by Jean-Philippe Rameau (the 1744 version), will be performed by the ensemble Les Ambassadeurs – La Grande Écurie and the Namur Chamber Choir – for the first time in Romania, under the baton of Emmanuel Resche-Caserta , with soloists being tenor Benoît-Joseph Meier ( Dardanus ) and soprano Emmanuelle de Negri ( Iphise, l' Amour ) , alongside a remarkable international cast.

Monday, September 1, 2025, at 8:00 PM, at the Palace Hall, the opera Salomé op. 54 by Richard Strauss will be performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra of Cologne , conducted by maestro Cristian Măcelaru . In the title role – soprano Jennifer Holloway , a forceful presence on the world's great stages.

Friday, September 5, 2025, 10:30 PM, at the Romanian Athenaeum, the baroque opera Il trionfo della fama , serenata per musica in one act by Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, performed by the famous Accademia Bizantina and the Purcell Choir, under the musical direction of the renowned harpsichordist Ottavio Dantone .

Sunday, September 7, 1:00 PM, at the Radio Hall, The Magic Flute by WA Mozart is presented by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen – celebrating 145 years of activity – and the Chorwerk Ruhr Choir , conducted by the young and charismatic Tarmo Peltokoski .

On Sunday, September 7, at 4:30 PM, at the Romanian Athenaeum, conductor Arnaud Arbet will take the stage of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra for the opera End of the Game by György Kurtág , marking the 99th anniversary of the birth of the composer of Romanian origins.

Sunday, September 14, 2025, 7:00 PM, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk op. 29 by Dmitri Shostakovich – an overwhelming work in its expressive force – will be performed at the Palace Hall, by the National Radio Orchestra and the Academic Radio Choir , under the baton of Giancarlo Guerrero , multimedia director Carmen Lidia Vidu . The great soprano Kristine Opolais will perform the role of Katerina Izmailova , alongside an elite international cast.

In the register of lyrical music, we also mention the opera gala performed by soprano Sonya Yoncheva , who will be accompanied by the Radio Chamber Orchestra , with a program of arias from famous operas - Sunday, September 21, at 4:30 PM.

At the Enescu Festival, dance and orchestras enter into spectacular symbiosis, in two unmissable events:

Thursday, September 11, 5:00 PM, at the Romanian Athenaeum, Breaking Bach brings a choreographic reinterpretation of baroque music performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and British choreographer Kim Brandstrup – a leading name in European contemporary dance.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025, 8:00 PM, at the Palace Hall, the famous conductor Iván Fischer leads the Budapest Festival Orchestra in a hybrid event: the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin Sz. 73 by Béla Bartók will come to life through the expressive dance of the Eva Duda Dance Company , in a highly impactful visual and sound synthesis, and the evening will continue with another work by Bartók, the opera The Castle of Prince Bluebeard Sz. 48.

Opera and ballet, expressions of the complexity of a world in motion, return to the Enescu Festival in updated and vibrant formulas, in harmony with contemporary forms of scenic expression. Through the diversity of the repertoire, which includes both reinterpreted classical masterpieces and recent choreographic creations, the 2025 edition of the festival proves to be a living space of excellence and dialogue between disciplines, generations and cultures.

Tickets for the concerts within the George Enescu International Festival can be purchased both online, from the Eventim.ro platform, https://www.cts.eventim.ro/artist/festivalul-george-enescu , and in physical format, from the Carrefour hypermarket network and the Cărturești and Humanitas bookstore chains.

The organizers reserve the right to modify the programs. Please visit the George Enescu International Festival website, http://www.festivalenescu.ro/ , to stay up to date with the latest information.

About the George Enescu International Festival

The George Enescu International Festival is one of the largest classical music events in the world, organized since 1958. The 27th edition takes place between August 24 and September 21, 2025, marking the 70th anniversary of the death of the great Romanian composer and musician, George Enescu. This year's theme is " Anniversaries / Celebrations ", and the program includes over 95 concerts performed by over 4,000 of the world's most renowned artists, which will bring to the fore both Enescu's artistic legacy and his profound impact on universal classical music.

♫ festival trailer: https://youtu.be/yMxcqyqifCM?si=wx32lFirvG-1kfGF

The George Enescu International Festival is an event held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania.

Cultural project funded by the Romanian Government through the Ministry of Culture.

Organizer: ARTEXIM

Co-organizer: ArtProduction Foundation

Co-producers: Romanian Broadcasting Company, Romanian Television Company, Bucharest City Hall through ARCUB – Cultural Center of Bucharest

Main partners: Rompetrol – KMG International, BRD – Groupe Société Générale, JTI – Immersive Experience (innovation partner), Lexus (mobility partner)

Partners: Purcari, FERRERO, Mobexpert, One United Properties, Orange, Nazzuro Aqua, L'OR, Althaus, Liliana and Peter Ilica Foundation, Senia Music

With the support of: BIGOTTI, Țuca Zbârcea & Asociații, SANADOR

Institutional partners: Odeon Theater

Monitoring partner: mediaTRUST

Details for the press:

For additional information, interviews or images from the event, please contact the festival's communications department.

CONTACT:

Bianca Boitan-Rusu

Media Relations Coordinator

ARTEXIM – George Enescu International Festival & Competition

www.festivalenescu.ro | www.artexim.ro |

Phone +4021 317 80 81/83 | Mobile +40 732 642 164