Romania George Enescu International Festival 2025 [2] – Various: Academy of St Martin in the Fields / Jan Lisiecki (leader, piano), Tomo Keller (leader). Romanian Atheneum, Bucharest, 12.9.2025. (ES-S)
Boulez – Mémoriale for flute and 8 instruments
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No.3 in C minor, Op.37
Encore: Chopin – Prelude in E minor, Op.28 No.4
Enescu – Dixtuor à vents in D major, Op.14
Prokofiev – Symphony No.1 in D major ‘Classical’, Op.25
Encore: Ravel – ‘Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn’
Amid the flood of daily concerts in the George Enescu Festival’s third week, the Romanian Atheneum hosted the Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) in an afternoon program that placed Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto among twentieth-century works. The result was a remarkably eclectic journey, illuminating different facets of tradition and innovation.
At the center of the afternoon stood Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3, with Jan Lisiecki as leader and soloist. He did not conduct in the conventional sense – never raising his hands – but guided the ASMF through discreet signals: a tilt of the head, a quick smile, the flicker of his eyes. This understated direction lent the performance the intimacy of chamber music rather than the grandeur of concerto ritual, the orchestra closely attuned to his phrasing and pacing.
The first movement emphasized definition over fire. Lisiecki favored dialogue, giving space for exchanges with the winds and keeping Beethoven’s architecture transparent. Some phrases lingered a tad longer than necessary, but with poetic intent that underlined harmonic shifts without breaking momentum. His cadenza was reflective, emphasizing line and voice leading over bravura.
The Largo proved the emotional heart of the performance. Lisiecki’s lyrical patience allowed the piano’s cantabile to float above the muted strings, each phrase carefully weighted yet never static. The finale brought a shift in character, rhythmically sharper, agile in passagework, buoyant in spirit. The orchestra matched him with crisp articulation, their partnership taut yet playful. What emerged was not a vehicle for virtuoso display but a collaborative reading, thoughtful in conception and eloquent in execution.
As an encore, Lisiecki offered Chopin’s Prelude in E minor, its stark simplicity extending the concerto’s introspective spirit in a final gesture of quiet intimacy.
The program opened with Pierre Boulez’s Mémoriale, composed in 1985 and derived from his larger, ever-evolving project …explosante-fixe…. Though brief, it is among his most haunting scores, its textures hovering on the edge of silence, the flute line emerging like a thread of memory against the most delicate of accompaniments. In the Romanian Atheneum, whose resonant and intimate acoustics favor transparency, the effect was fragile yet penetrating. Flutist Martin Cox shaped the solo with quiet authority, his sound less a projection than a remembrance, dissolving into sonorities that faded almost as soon as they appeared. A string quintet and pair of horns played with remarkable control, allowing the equilibrium between soloist and accompaniment to be finely sustained. What might easily feel abstract or austere instead unfolded as a vision suspended in time – iridescent, elusive and quietly spellbinding.
After the intermission came George Enescu’s Dixtuor à vents. Scored for a double wind quintet, the work is rarely programmed, perhaps because it resists easy classification: more expansive than a serenade, more restrained than a symphony. Its themes emerge, drift and shade into one another, their contrasts gentle rather than confrontational.
The ASMF’s wind players found precisely the balance the score requires. Oboes and clarinets were light in articulation, the horns rounded but never heavy, the bassoons supplying a pliant foundation. In less disciplined hands the work might feel diffuse, but here it gained coherence through precision of phrasing and ensemble unity. The outer movements carried a buoyant energy, while the slower passages were shaped with songful phrasing tinged with a nostalgia that never tipped into sentimentality. The transparency of texture, the interplay of colors, and the measured balance of the playing brought the work’s charm and craftsmanship into clear relief.
The final programmed work was Prokofiev’s Symphony No.1. Conceived as a modern take on Haydn, it offers crystalline textures and Classical forms spiced with sly harmonic shifts and rhythmic surprises while hinting at the ballets to come. Directed by violinist Tomo Keller, whose contribution was exemplary throughout the concert, the orchestra played with precision and buoyancy. The opening Allegro was fleet and transparent, the strings phrasing with grace while allowing Prokofiev’s unexpected twists to sparkle. In the Larghetto, long lines unfolded with poise, the delicate string textures shaped with finesse. The Gavotte carried a touch of irony without losing its dance-like grace, and the final Molto vivace was dispatched with verve and brilliance. The performance highlighted the music’s Classical elegance and modern wit, the ensemble playing with cohesion and character.
There was a second encore: Ravel’s ‘Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn’, a graceful miniature that turns the composer’s name into a delicate musical pattern. Following Prokofiev’s First Symphony, its refinement offered a final gesture of delicacy, a reminder of how deeply the Classical spirit continued to inspire later composers. The ensemble shaped it with polish and lucidity, rounding off the afternoon in quiet radiance.
Edward Sava-Segal
Featured Image: Academy of St Martin in the Fields playing Enescu’s Dixtuor © Catalina Filip
It was my orchestration of the Ravel ‘Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn’ that was performed here… a bit disappointing that my name was not mentioned in the program, but I am very happy to hear that it was well received.