How can Romania pay these fees?
OrchestrasThe 2023 George Enescu Festival has unfurled its 2023programme. It includes some of the highest earners in classical music.
Romania is one of Europe’s poorest countries. Many of its citizens can be found begging on the streets of London , Paris and Berlin. Some of its musical heritage sites (pictured) are in ruins.
So who’s paying these artists?
Gewandhausorchester + Herbert Blomstedt
Charles Dutoit conducting the Hungarian Philharmonic with Martha Argerich
Royal Concertgebouw + Klaus Mäkelä + Yuja Wang
London SO + Simon Rattle
WDR Köln + Jörg Widmann + Carolin Widmann
Matthias Goerne
Zubin Mehta + Maggio Musicale
Lahav Shani and Israel Philharmonic
Renaud Capucon
Jan Lisiecki
Fazil Say
Pierre-Laurent Aimard
Baiba Skride
Kirill Gerstein
Czech Philharmonic + Manfred Honeck
Ensemble Intercontemporaine + Matthias Pintscher
Zurich Tonhalle + Paavo Järvi
Gothenburg + Santtu-Matias Rouvali + Leif Ove Andsnes
Wiener Philharmoniker + Jakub Hrusa + Igor Levit
Fabio Biondi
Kent Nagano
Lawrence Foster
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
Hannu Lintu
Vladimir Jurowski
Yefim Bronfman
Daniel Hope
Vilde Frang
Collegium Vocale Gent + Philippe Herreweghe
Orchestra di Santa Cecilia + Tugan Sokhiev
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet
Orchestre national de France + Augustin Hadelich
Full programme here.
pictured: Enescu’s house
It is surprising. We cannot afford to have the LSO
In Manchester. Even without Simon Rattle.
Fabulous programming. Lots of cello concertos. 100 US dollars per ticket would and full houses from beginning to the end would make a large dent in the costs. An angel would have to make up the deficit, in any case.
I will certainly be there to hear my favorite cellist Daniel Müller-Schott on the 4th of September performing Rococo Variations!!
His name deserves to be mentioned in the list above!
Hooray for Romania! They have their priorities straight.
Tell that to your philistine Brit Arts Council!
So, who is paying these artists? Was this supposed to be a news piece?
Simon Rattle, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Lawrence Foster, Vladimir Jurowski and Yefim Bronfman are old friends of the festival. The fact that they keep coming back proves that they got their fees and, shockingly, liked what they found in ” one of Europe’s poorest countries” ( I mean not any country is Austria or Switzerland, but whatsoever…)
Looking forward to Kate Lindsey’s recital ( a lot of Weill, Korngold, Zemlinsky and Alma Mahler). It’s the very first time she comes to Romania, I guess ( and she is such a talented and earnest performer).
Why the shabby-shack photo? I was in Bucharest just a few months ago, and was surprised to find it such an elegant city with stunning architecture, hi-end residential neighborhoods, and a plethora of fine dining and shopping options. We drove from one end of the country to the other, on well-maintained roads, and visited many fine towns. We saw no blatant poverty.
You are absolutely right . Mr. L’ébréchât has apparently never visited the country and only needs to show some outmoded British colonialist superiority . I also visited the country last year and was impressed . Mr Lebrecht laments recent British funding cuts on arts but does not rejoice when ‘ poorer’ countries still support them …
But nobody on here has said who is paying on one of the poorest countries.
Elegant and rich parts of Bucharest yes, but well maintained roads? Can it be that you actually were in Austria?
I’ve been “driving from one end to the other” of Romania regularly for the last eight years and while it is a country with many beauties and wonderful qualities, if all you experienced were ‘well-maintained roads’ and saw ‘no blatant poverty’ I can only say that you either weren’t looking very closely or perhaps preferred not to look at all. Outside the smarter districts of the major cities you do not have to look far to find unmade roads and historic buildings in a near-ruinous state due to lack of funds for basic repairs. And best not to look too closely at the living conditions of the rural poor, particularly in certain minority communities. I offer no judgement or explanation but to suggest that this is not the case is simply wilful blindness – it reads almost like old-school eastern-bloc propaganda.
Maybe because the huge, wow! Festival program is an occasion to discover, perform not so often played music, to know local artists and mix forces to obtain wonderful performances, to bath in a more exotic musical environment than the usual big, known music halls ones, qui sait? therefore accept with joy lower fees as usually…
Mr Liebrecht, mi perdoni, you apparently didn’t learn your lesson from the other day’s post: why such a picture?
Sadly inappropriate.
If, as stated, the picture indeed depicts Enescu’s former home, that is a sad state of affairs and the picture is apropos (very much unlike the snide choice of photo of Timisoara).
The festival program is mouthwatering, whatever the source of the financing (musically literate oligarchs?). One hopes that foreign guests will get the chance to experience many of Romania’s beauties, in addition to the festival programs.
Perhaps it’s government knows the importance of culture as such? Unlike many western governments for whom culture is a footnote
The cost has been a long running issue…..
This from 2013
https://www.romania-insider.com/pm-romania-to-keep-pledged-budget-for-george-enescu-festival-even-if-beyond-the-countrys-means
And then in 2019
https://www.romania-insider.com/enescu-festival-canceled-govt-funds
The line up of performers has always been impressive. In 2021 they had the London Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, the Royal Concertgebouw and the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko, along with Mitsuko Uchida Yuja Wang and Joyce DiDonato to name just a few.
Well, to be fair, Enescu doesn’t live there anymore, so it doesn’t bother him if the roof leaks.
Our tax money, after a round in EU.
The ruinous cottage is not Enescu’s house, though he spent much time there; it is the house of his mother’s family. It was rescued from demolition in 2013, and restoration has been ongoing since 2014. It looks a lot better nowadays. https://www.propatrimonio.org/home/casaenescu/
Rather an out-dated view of Romania in evidence here.
Wow, two blacklisted conductors: Gatti and Dutoit. Go Romania!
BTW, just returned from London and did not see any Romanian beggars. This time, there were also no announcements about Broadway shows in London on British Airways flights.
Bravo, Romania, you’ve got your priorities right. Better than funding diversity/inclusion/unconscious bias bullsh*t the way they do here in the oh-so-much-more-enlightened west.
Who is paying? The citizens of Romania, that also payed 7 years ago to restore Enescu’s house, as everybody can see in the pictures of this article. https://e-zeppelin.ro/casa-lui-george-enescu-din-mihaileni-jurnal-de-campanie-pentru-arhitectura-si-comunitate/
Everybody is welcome to Bucharest to listen these fantastic concerts and the discover the true reality of this country.
Maybe they work cheaper in Bucharest? I’ve heard a lot of performers take lower fees at the Proms…
Is there a possibility that EU is paying for this?…….as for many other things….
If they were, it would be one of the first things they got right.
Go visit Romania and spend some time there. The “romanians” that beg in London are either fooling the Brits and have palaces (literally. Google rroma houses Romania), or are brits themselves. Homeownership in Romania is over 95% (top in the world). Romanians pay no rent. Salaries are quite good (musicians: 2-3.000 euros net), and life is quite affordable. Ah…there is more: companies pay 1% income taxes…you see…sometimes yoi have to do some research before posting some cancanesque article. I know, research does not matter. Clicks do. Bit still.
Btw….this is a post covid Enescu Fest. Not so star heavy. Check the last years’ editions….
Enescu had several houses. This one belonged to his grandparents from his mother’s side. It is now fully restored. More info here:
https://www.propatrimonio.org/proiecte-pro-patrimonio/george-enescu-house/?lang=en
It is not at all a fair topic.
The majority of the so-called romanian beggars bwlong to the gipsy ethnos. This is not caused by piverty, but by a tradition and a well organised begging mafia.
Plus the salary level paid in Romania by most of the eurpean comanies is a real theft.
The photo was from 2012, as stated in the copyright. That was 10 years ago. It looks much different today; https://e-zeppelin.ro/en/george-enescus-house-in-mihaileni-campaign-journal-for-architecture-and-community/
I’ve followed this biennial festival for a number of years since I visited it and Romania 20 years ago. They have always had high standards. It’s nothing new. They also webcast most of the performances for free. Only this blog would question how they do it. Oh….it creates extra clicks…I get it!
Seems highly interesting! Makes me want to travel there to experience the festival!
I’m all for greater scrutiny when it comes Arts funding, particularly in countries like Romania where corruption and rural deprivation are a real concern. However, 10 seconds on Google was enough to discover that George Enescu’s house in Mihăileni (pictured) was beautifully renovated between 2013-2020 thanks to the determination of the local community and the Pro Patrimonio foundation. As usual, I suspect that Mr Lebrecht has prioritised contention over substance, without bothering with even a minimal amount of due diligence. If this is how seriously he takes his own job, I have serious doubts about authenticity of his commitment to the plight of Romanians – besides his willingness to exploit them for divisive headlines.
For more on the renovation of the house: https://www.propatrimonio.org/proiecte-pro-patrimonio/george-enescu-house/?lang=en
https://e-zeppelin.ro/en/george-enescus-house-in-mihaileni-campaign-journal-for-architecture-and-community/