Music Experienced as Freedom. The George Enescu Philharmonic Opens the 2026–2027 Season

In a world where our humanity and freedom are gradually being eroded, the George Enescu Philharmonic opens its 2026–2027 Season at the Romanian Athenaeum, guided by an essential idea: music does not grant us freedom; rather, it reveals the freedom that already exists within us.

The Chamber Music Season opens this evening, 29 September, at the Romanian Athenaeum with a sold-out recital featuring legendary pianist Martha Argerich, mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, and pianist Iddo Bar-Shai. On 1 and 2 October, the Symphonic Season begins with two sold-out concerts conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, featuring Martha Argerich's return to the Philharmonic's stage, making her debut as a soloist in its Symphonic Season. Beyond these encounters with leading artists of the international music scene, the new Season offers a shared experience that remains, at the same time, deeply personal: experiencing music as a force that reveals freedom.

The official video of the 2026–2027 Season can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Spxz69BGePU

The full programme of the 2026–2027 Season is available at www.filarmonicaenescu.ro or directly at https://www.filarmonicaenescu.ro/ro/evenimente.

The Opening of the 2026–2027 Symphonic Season will take place on Thursday, 1 October, and Friday, 2 October, with two sold-out concerts conducted by Mikhail Pletnev, featuring Martha Argerich as soloist.

Mikhail Pletnev is an artist who defies rigid categorisation. His remarkable conducting career has focused primarily on the Russian National Orchestra, although he is also regularly invited to conduct prestigious ensembles such as the Philharmonia, London Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, and Los Angeles Philharmonic. As a soloist, widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of our time, Mikhail Pletnev continues to perform recitals and concerts in major musical capitals and at important festivals across Europe, Asia, and his native Russia. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Kurt Sanderling, Neeme Järvi, Herbert Blomstedt, Lorin Maazel and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Christian Thielemann and the Israel Philharmonic, Daniele Gatti and the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Libor Pešek and the Czech Philharmonic, Carlo Maria Giulini and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, as well as Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic.

With an extraordinary career and an artistic reputation that has left an enduring mark on the international concert scene, Martha Argerich is undoubtedly one of the most important pianists of all time. Her distinguished career as a concert soloist, performing with the world's leading orchestras and most renowned conductors, is complemented by an equally remarkable contribution to chamber music. She has given numerous recitals and made many recordings with artists such as Mischa Maisky, Alexandre Rabinovitch, Gidon Kremer, and Daniel Barenboim. For more than 50 years, she performed four-hand and two-piano repertoire with Nelson Freire. Her recordings have been released by prestigious record labels, including EMI, Sony, Philips, Teldec, and Deutsche Grammophon, and have received numerous international awards, including Grammy Awards, Gramophone's Artist of the Year and Best Piano Concerto Recording of the Year, Choc de Classica, and Künstler des Jahres – Deutscher Schallplattenpreis. Among her three Grammy Awards is one recognising her recording of Prokofiev's Cinderella, made with Mikhail Pletnev.

The Opening Programme of the Symphonic Season brings together works by George Enescu, Sergei Prokofiev, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The evenings will begin with George Enescu's symphonic poem Isis, reconstructed and completed by Pascal Bentoiu, presented in an extended version featuring the Philharmonic's Women's Choir. A highlight of the concerts will be Martha Argerich's performance of Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26. In the second half, audiences will hear Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Suite, performed for the first time in Romania in an arrangement by Mikhail Pletnev himself.

Legendary pianist Martha Argerich opens the George Enescu Philharmonic's Chamber Music Season for the second time with a sold-out recital. Following her resounding success in 2024 alongside violinist Geza Hosszu-Legocky, the celebrated Argentine artist returns today, 29 September, to the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum, joined by two other outstanding figures of the international music scene: mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and pianist Iddo Bar-Shai.

Mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon recording artist since 1999, has released numerous recordings acclaimed by critics. In 2017, she began collaborating with the Pentatone record label. Her discography encompasses Baroque opera, Lieder and Czech songs, French mélodies, as well as major recital recordings with pianists such as Yefim Bronfman and Mitsuko Uchida. Her recording career has earned her prestigious distinctions, including Gramophone's Artist of the Year award, the Echo Klassik Award, the Record Academy Prize Tokyo, and the Diapason d'Or.

Iddo Bar-Shai made his orchestral debut as a soloist at just 12 years old. He has won prizes at several international competitions in Israel, the United States, and France. These achievements were followed by invitations to prestigious international festivals, including Verbier, Ravinia, and La Roque d'Anthéron. He has also participated in La Folle Journée in Nantes, as well as festivals in Lisbon, Tokyo, and Rio de Janeiro. As a chamber musician, he has performed alongside the Ysaÿe Quartet, Aviv Quartet, and Ébène Quartet.

The Opening Programme of the Chamber Music Season has been designed to showcase all three performers equally. The first half explores two distinct expressions of French Impressionism. The celebrated Mother Goose Suite by Maurice Ravel, inspired by fairy tales such as Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, and Beauty and the Beast, will be performed in its original version for piano four hands, capturing the charm and simplicity of childhood. It will be complemented by a lesser-known work by Claude Debussy, En blanc et noir (In Black and White), written for two pianos during the First World War and representing a synthesis of his mature style, rich in rhythm and colour. Interspersed throughout the programme, Leoš Janáček's Moravian Folk Songs will offer another distinctive musical experience, evoking the sounds and traditions of the mezzo-soprano's homeland.

The second half of the evening turns to the Romanticism of Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann. Schubert's delicate and reflective Rondo, composed during the final year of his short life, will be followed by some of the most beloved Lieder ever written, brought together by Schumann under the title Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love). Set to poems by Heinrich Heine, this celebrated song cycle captures 16 different expressions of love.

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