3-CD Box Set of George Enescu's Full Symphonies and Romanian Rhapsodies 1 & 2, Out This April

GRAMMY Award-winning conductor Cristian Măcelaru leads his own Orchestre National de France in the complete symphonic works of George Enescu (1881-1955), out Friday, April 12, 2024 on Deutsche Grammophon.

Recorded in Paris, where the Romanian-born Enescu moved in his early teens, this collection including Enescu's well-known pair of Romanian Rhapsodies (1901) and the composer's three, rarely-performed completed symphonies will be released digitally and as a 3-CD set on April 12, 2024. The First Symphony's Vif et vigoureux finale is out today and available to stream and download.

Celebrated as a national hero in his native Romania but not widely recognized elsewhere since his death in 1955, George Enescu was not only a virtuoso violinist and pianist, but a prodigiously talented composer, conductor and teacher (Yehudi Menuhin was among his pupils).

As appreciation grows for Enescu's music, Măcelaru poses: "The five compositions presented here offer perfect examples of the artistic development of one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. From the youthful brilliance of the Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 to the profound, ethereal, philosophical ending of the Third Symphony, one can discover and relive the journey of this great genius, and my personal hero, George Enescu."

Enescu moved to Paris in his early teens to study at the Conservatoire and divided the majority of his time thereafter between France and Romania. As noted by Măcelaru, both countries played a key role in his life as a musician.

His birthplace gave him "the Romanian spirit found in the centuries-old melodies and rhythms to which [he] refers with such consistency and depth," while his adopted home "was where he developed into a mature, sophisticated musician." It is therefore particularly appropriate to hear his music performed by the Paris-based Orchestre National de France, this year celebrating its 90th anniversary, conducted by the Romanian Măcelaru - who is also the newly appointed Artistic Director of the prestigious George Enescu International Festival, held in Romania since 1958.

The early success of Enescu's first Rhapsody long overshadowed the composer's later orchestral works, establishing the notion that his music was purely folk-inspired and "exotic." As his three symphonies show, however, his vision was nothing less than cosmopolitan, seamlessly weaving together everything he had learned from his studies first in Vienna and then in Paris with the Romanian folk traditions absorbed from his earliest days.

George Enescu: Symphonies 1-3 Tracklist

CD 1
Enescu - Romanian Rhapsodies, op. 11
1. No. 1 in A Major [11:53]
2. No. 2 in D Major [11:41]

Enescu - Symphony No. 1 in E flat Major, op. 13
3. i. Assez vif et rythmé [11:36]
4. ii. Lent [11:16]
5. iii.. Vif et vigoureux [9:11]

CD 2
Enescu - Symphony No. 2 in A Major, op. 17
1. i. Vivace, ma non troppo [20:23]
2. ii. Andante giusto [14:50]
3. iii. Un poco lento, marziale [4:44]
4. iv. Allegro vivace, marziale [16:03]

CD 3
Symphony No. 3 in C Major op. 21
1. i. Moderato, un poco maestoso [18:55]
2. ii. Vivace, ma non troppo [13:32]
3. iii. Lento, ma non troppo [18:09]

TT: 2:42:13

About Cristian Măcelaru

GRAMMY Award winning conductor Cristian Măcelaru is Artistic Director of the George Enescu Festival and Competition, Music Director of the Orchestre National de France, Chief Conductor of the WDR Sinfonieorchester, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Interlochen Center for the Arts' World Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director and Conductor of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

At the 2023 George Enescu Festival, his inaugural season as Artistic Director, Măcelaru led the George Enescu Philharmonic, WDR Sinfonieorchester and Orchestre National de France alongside the Romanian Youth Orchestra. Additional 2023/24 season highlights included Măcelaru's debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra and return engagements with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

During the 2023/24 season, Măcelaru and the Orchestre National de France toured major cities in Austria and Spain, including Vienna, Madrid and Barcelona. This season, he also toured China with the WDR Sinfonieorchester.

Măcelaru's previous seasons include European engagements with the Concertgebouworkest, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Staatskapelle Berlin and Budapest Festival Orchestra. In North America, he has led the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, The Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, where he was Conductor-in-Residence for three seasons. Learn more at www.macelaru.com.

About Orchestre National de France (ONF)

A Radio France formation, the Orchestre National de France is the first permanent symphony orchestra created in France. Founded in 1934, it was born from the desire to forge a tool to serve the symphonic repertoire. This ambition, added to the broadcasting of concerts on the radio, has made the National Orchestra a prestigious formation. On September 1, 2020, Cristian Măcelaru took up his position as musical director.

Throughout its history, the orchestra has had many meetings with conductors Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Bernard Haitink, Antal Doráti, Eugen Jochum, Igor Markevitch, Lovro von Matačić, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Georges Priest, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Georg Solti or Evgueni Svetlanov, and soloists such as Martha Argerich, Claudio Arrau, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nelson Freire, Yo-Yo Ma, Yehudi Menuhin, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Vlado Perlemuter, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Arthur Rubinstein, and Isaac Stern.

The National Orchestra gives an average of 70 concerts per year in Paris, at the Radio France Auditorium, its main residence since November 2014, and during tours in France and abroad. The orchestra maintains a bond with the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées where it performs every year, as well as with the Philharmonie de Paris. For 15 years, ONF has been offering educational programs aimed at amateur musicians, families and schoolchildren, visiting schools from nursery school to university. All his concerts are broadcast on France Musique and frequently broadcast on international radio stations. The orchestra also records fiction concerts with France Culture. 

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