As part of our special programme of events honouring the Centenary of the establishment of Greater Romania (1918-2018), our popular Enescu Concert Series looks back, through a succession of events, to 100 years of best Romanian music. We start the festive year with compositions written during the troubled years of the Great War, performed with precision and evocative expressiveness by the Dinu Lipatti Trio.
With introductory remarks by musicologist Mihai Cosma.
Programme:
George Enescu: Melodie from Suite No. 3 for Piano, Op. 18
Frank Bridge: Sonata for cello and Piano, H. 125
Claude Debussy: Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor, L. 140
Zoltán Kodály: III. Maestoso e largamente, ma non troppo lento. Presto from Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7
George Enescu: Piano Trio in A Minor (edited by Pascal Bentoiu)
Cristian Niculescu was born in Bucharest, where he studied piano with Cristina Georgescu and Sandu Sandrin. He completed his studies at Hochschule der Künste Berlin with Hans Leygraf and attended the masterclasses of Dmitri Bashkirov in Salzburg and Madrid. Cristian played as a soloist with National Radio Orchestra and George Enescu Philharmonic in București, Cleveland Chamber Symphony Orchestra, Berliner Symphoniker, Brandenburgischen Philharmonie Potsdam and Anhaltischen Philharmonie Dessau, and has appeared on the chamber music series of Berliner Philharmoniker, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, DR SymfoniOrkestret København and Norddeutsche Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Hamburg. He is the founder of the piano duo Niculescu & Bálint and of the chamber music groups Dinu Lipatti Trio Berlin and Ensemble Contempo Paris, and the initiator and Artistic Director of the Kammermusiktage Ahrenshoop Festival (Germany). Among his artistic partners are Ruxandra Donose, Mihaela Martin, Florin Paul, Frans Helmerson, Jeremy Menuhin, Avi Avital, Ramon Jaffé, Lior Shambadal, Gerd Albrecht, Diego Masson, Horia Andreescu, Emil Simon, Lior Shambadal, Camil Marinescu, Corneliu Dumbrăveanu, and Aron and Athäneum string quartets. His recordings are broadcasted by BBC, NdR Hamburg, Deutschland Radio Berlin, Danmarks Radio, and Radio Romania.
Alexandra Paladi studied violin in Bucharest with Ștefan Gheorghiu, continued with Jakob Gilman at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, and later withViviane Hagner and Peter Reiner at Universität der Künste Berlin. In addition, she has benefited from the guidance of such personalities as Vartan Manoogian, Mariana Sîrbu, Ingolf Turban, Nora Chastain, Zakhar Bron, Aaron Rosand and Anna Chumachenco. She played along with Viniciu Moroianu, Elena Mateucci, Nikolaus Resa, Cristian Niculescu, Sebastian Studnitzky, Leon Gurvitch, Mari Samuelsen and Kristjan Järvi. She features on recordings made by Bayerischen Rundfunk and TVR International and collaborated as an ensemble member with prominent orchestras such as Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Kammerakademie Potsdam, and Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin. She appeared as a soloist of the Berliner Camerata ensemble in Bach’s Double Violin Concerto in performances hosted by the Chamber Music Hall of the Berliner Philharmonie and the Gewandhaus in Leipzig.
Cellist Rodin Moldovan studied with Aurel Niculescu at the Bucharest Conservatoire, continued with Franco Maggio Ormezowsky and Radu Aldulescu at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, and in 1993 with Mstislav Rostropovich. At present, he is solo cello of the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig. He collaborated as a soloist or orchestral musician with renowned conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Manfred Honeck, Daniel Nazareth, John Nelson, Marcello Viotti, and Kristjan Järvi. Alexander Paley, Cristian Niculescu, Gabriel Croitoru, Ning Feng, Justus Franz, Geza Hosszu-Legocky, Mihaela Martin, Julian Rachlin, Eugen Sârbu, Mihaela Ursuleasa, Berlin Philharmonic Octet, Nathan Quartet, and Sächsische Bläserphilharmonie are his usual stage and recording partners.
When: Thursday, 1 February 2018, 19:00
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute - 1 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PH
Entrance is free but we kindly request you to book your ticket on Eventbrite.
Please note that seating is unreserved.