It is a pity that this major cultural landmark in Romanian history is not as popular as it should be, for it is, without a doubt, one of the best museums in the country. Not only it is dedicated to the greatest Romanian composer, George Enescu, but it is also hosted in a beautiful villa, on the main avenue of the capital, Calea Victorie, No 141.
This memorial museum is dedicated to one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, certainly the greatest musical talent ever born in Romania, and it is a worthy tribute to his legacy and work. Hosted in the Cantacuzino Palace, a building of great elegance and beauty, it's collection is made out of various documents and personal objects of the composer, such as the violin that little George Enescu received from his father when he was just four, several music scores of his famous creations, a small collection of diplomas and medals that he received over the years, including the coveted Legion d"Honeur.
Who was George Enescu ?
The most important Romanian composer was born on August 19, 1881, in Liveni-Virnav. The future composer, violonist, teacher and conductor - who could've imagined that he would accomplish so much - began learning to play the piano when he was just 4. His first teacher was actually a Gipsy violonist, very talented, called Nicolae Chioru. Enescu wrote his first compositions just one year later and in August 1889 he made his formal debut as a violonist, in a small show in Slanic, Moldavia. He would later enrol at the Conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, being just seven years of age and proving to be a real boy wonder. He studied violin, piano, harmony, counterpoint, composition, chamber music, music history, mwinning several school prizes and proving to be an amazing an very gifted musician. Graduating in 1894, he enrolled at the Conservatory in Paris, where he pursued his interest into violin and piano playing.
In the summer of 1897 George Enescu also proved to be a great and mature copmposer, as he presented some of his compositions, for the first time, in a concert held in Paris. In 1898 he also began conducting in Bucharest, an occupation that fascinated him from the start and will make him popular in his own country. After playing in several concerts in Bedrlin and Paris, he presented his 2 Romanian Rhapsodies in Bucharest, before a mesmerized crowd. His success was so impressive that it would only be a matter of time until being appointed officiallly court violonist to the Queen of Romania. In 1912 he was the one who established a prize for Romanian composers, given annualy, and in 1917, despite of the war, had the courage of founding the George Enescu symphonic concerts in Iasi.
After the war he continued touring through Europe as a violonist and conductor, he gave violin lessons in Paris (one of his pupils and admirers was the great Yehudi Menuhin), and in January 1923 he played for the first time in the US, with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York. He would return here, as a conductor, in 1937. The Second World War caught up with him while the composer was still in Romania, at this house in Sinaia. He would return to New York only in 1946, as a teacher and in January 1950 gave a farewell concert at New York. It was his 60th anniversary and an important time in the history of classical music. Returning to Paris, George Enescu would unfortunatelly live the last part of his life in poverty and very ill, after a stroke left him an invalid. He died on the 4th of May 1955 in Paris.
A hugely talented musician, his compositions were unfortunatelly few in number, yet very popular, many of them being influenced by Romanian folk strains, in a neo-Romantic style, often complemented with experimental tones. It is said - and proven - that he had a fabulous musical memory and could perform an astounding number of works without using any scores.
George Enescu Memorial Museum
The building that hosts the museum is in itself a masterpiece of early 20th century architecture, and certainly one of the best buildings in Bucharest. It was build by the architect I.D. Berindei, in the Baroque manner of the Louis XVI age. It's owner was Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, an important and very rich Romanian politician. After his death, this palace was inherited by his son, Mihai Cantacuzino. After his death, in 1929, his widow, Maruca, became the new owner. As Maruca remarried in December 1939, this time to George Enescu, it is only suitable for the Memorial Museum to be housed here.
Yet, in those years, the "Cantacuzino palace" was used as the headquarters of the Governement. It would only be after the war, in 1956, that the palace became the Memorial Museum George Enescu. A beautiful palace, with gorgeus and elegant interior decorations and exterior lines, the George Enescu Museum is not to be missed.
Photo : wikipedia.org
2007-11-21
