Bursting with Pride

25 September 2017
WRITTEN BY
Irina  Simon-Renes

Irina Simon-Renes

Musician

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Bucharest, Romania, September 20 - September 24, 2017. 

Forget the plane-hotel-rehearsal-concert-hotel-plane routine. This is my hometown. Every corner speaks to me, every stone reminds me of a story. I am here with my colleagues of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra for a concert at the George Enescu Festival and I am bursting with pride. 

In a country where "the stones speak and the forests whisper, the rocks think and the rivers sing" (Romanian Legend of Bran) my personal emotions seemed to find an echo in the spectacular lightning in the evening of our arrival day when I took my colleagues for a tour through Bucharest. I did my best to convince everybody that Bucharest is the greatest city in the world. And when words failed me, the palinca (Romanian alcoholic drink made of fruit) did the rest. It was a beautiful first evening!

The second day we started rehearsals for the program for our concert on September 23: Béla Bartók's (born in present-day Romania!) Divertimento for strings, György Ligeti's (also born in present-day Romania!) Concert Romanesc as well as Paul Hindemith's (for a change - not born in Romania!) Nobilissima Visione. Not an easy program, with lots of notes and lots of information to deal with. But as always with Mahler Chamber: the joy of making music prevails!

On a side note - the rehearsals took place at the National Music Conservatory in a room with a view: you might recognize the monstrosity that is the palace of Ceausescu behind the trees of the old Cismigiu park.
During the afternoon some of my colleagues continued rehearsing Ligeti's Violin Concerto with the always inspiring Patricia Kopatschinskaja, while some others, including myself, had a free afternoon. After having lunch with my parents (such a luxury to be able to spend time with them!) I went for a walk through Bucharest together with my colleagues Emma and Geoff. Here are some impressions:

The Carturesti bookstore which used to be my mother's kindergarten and later became a center for "pionieri" (communist scouts). When I was a child I used to come here to recite patriotic poems...
Admiring Romanian blouses together with Emma...
The heart and soul of Romanian music: Ateneul Roman, the spectacular concert hall built in 1886-1888...
And only 200 meters away from the Ateneu, in typical Romanian architectural contrast: my old home...
The third day of our stay in Bucharest was marked by a long rehearsal at the Conservatory and even more lunches and dinners with my parents as well as old friends and classmates. I started to be very grateful for all the adrenaline which helped me going through the musical and emotional challenges of my Bucharest stay!

Finally on day four, after a good night rest, we were allowed to witness the marvel which is the Ateneul Roman. I grew up seeing this building every morning on my way to school, dreaming of performing here one day, so you might understand my enthusiasm. As I am unfortunately not able to properly describe my feelings of respect, pride and admiration for this unique space I hope that at least Geoff's photographs will give you a good impression...

During the concert I had tears in my eyes looking at my colleagues playing so wonderfully, filling this unique space with even more beauty and speaking directly to the hearts of the warm festival audience... These are precious memories and I am very grateful for them! 

But personal feelings aside, one thing is certain: to us Romanians the meaning of the Enescu Festival exceeds by far the quantity or the quality of the concerts. This festival is the best ambassador for our spirituality. It expresses our need for humanity, our soul. After years of suppression, in a country still fighting for stability, this is what we truly need: moments of real beauty.

Thank you, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, for these wonderful four days! I am so proud.



Photos: Geoffroy Schied

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