RadiRo, the International Radio Orchestras Festival is drawing to a close
Renowned musicians and conductors have given concerts in Bucharest as part of the International Radio Orchestras Festival, an extraordinary event staged by Radio Romania.
Corina Cristea, 26.09.2014, 14:18
Five prestigious radio orchestras from Finland, the Czech Republic, Germany, France and Romania have given concerts in Bucharest this week as part of an exceptional event held at the Radio Concert Hall. The programme is dedicated to the music of Richard Strauss, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the German composer’s birth.
The festival opened on September 20th with Finland’s Radio Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1927 that performed for the first time in Romania. The second day of the festival saw the performance of the Romanian National Radio Orchestra conducted by Cristian Mandeal, the honorary director of this year’s festival. With over 1,000 concerts he conducted all over the world, Cristian Mandeal is a true magician, able to create a special chemistry between the orchestra and the audience.
A special guest of the evening was soprano Katarina Jovanovic, a familiar presence with music lovers. A highlight in the festival was the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague that performed in Bucharest under the baton of its main conductor, Ondrej Lenard, and together with pianist Jan Simon, two heavy names of international symphony music. The first concerts of this orchestra in Bucharest had Tiberiu Soare, the leader of the young generation of Romanian conductors, at the helm.
Pianist Horia Mihail, a soloist of the Radio Romania choirs and orchestras and the protagonist of the Travelling Piano Tour staged by Radio Romania was the special guest of the second concert given by the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague. Stuttgart’s Radio Symphony Orchestra, a prestigious orchestra conducted in the 1970s by the Romanian Sergiu Celibidache took to the stage alongside violinist Nicolaj Znaider, one of the most flexible contemporary musicians, and soprano Ruxandra Donose, who has recently received an award from the famous classical music magazine Gramophone.
On Friday, the last but one day of the festival, the Romanian National Radio Orchestra will perform again, featuring violinist Alexandru Tomescu, one of the most celebrated Romanian musicians today, who plays on a 1702 Stradivarius violin. Tomescu performed on stages throughout Romania and the world, as part of his Stradivarius Tours, with a programme dedicated to the music of Debussy, Strauss and Brahms. Closing the RadiRo Festival on Saturday will be an exceptional performance by the French National Orchestra that has recently marked 80 years of existence.
