Father and daughter violinists Gabriel and Simina Croitoru returned in November 2023 for their second time together on the Enesco’s Violin national tour of Romania’s towns and villages. The two violins, kept in the Georges Enesco Museum, instruments touched by the magic of Georges Enesco, who was one of the twentieth century’s greatest violinists, could be seen and heard in the hands of Gabriel and Simina Croitoru in Jassy, at the Salle Union of the Victoria Cinema on 8 November; in the village of Gugești, Vrancea County, on 9 November; in the village of Petriș, Arad County, on 17 November; in Deva, at the Pro Arte Concert Hall on 17 November; in Brașov, at the Patria Concert Hall, on 18 November; and in Bucharest, at the Radio Concert Hall, on 21 November. At the city concert halls in Jassy, Deva, Brașov and Bucharest, the two violinists were joined by pianist Horia Mihail, alongside whom Gabriel Croitoru began the Enesco’s Violin in the Villages series of concerts almost a decade ago.
In 2023, the tour carried on its mission of bringing the music of Georges Enesco back to its roots in the village milieu that inspired it, thereby dispelling the prejudice that classical music is not for everybody. Just as Enesco himself crisscrossed the country during the First World War, giving the gift of his music to the war wounded, today, in its modern iteration, his music reaches those who do not usually have access to such performances: the people of Romania’s villages.
The programme of this edition of the tour was made up entirely of violin duets, with the two violinists each being onstage the whole time, whether or not accompanied on the piano by Horia Mihail. Each recital included works or arrangements of pieces by Dmitri Shostakovich, Nicolas Louis, Hubert Bauersachs, Edmund von Weber, Carl Kämmerer, and Moritz Moszkowski.
For eleven years we have been bringing classical music and Enesco’s violin to the towns and villages of Romania. I would like to express my delight at being able to play in the company of my daughter Simina Croitoru, who has proven to be an important continuer of the Romanian violin tradition that comes down to us from maestro Georges Enesco. Together with Horia Mihail, through these concerts we try to transport you to a different and, we hope, a better world.
Gabriel Croitoru
Itinerary
8 November – Jassy, Sala Unirii – Cinema Victoria
9 November – Gugeşti, Vrancea County
17 November –Petriş, Arad County
17 November – Deva, Pro Arte Concert Hall
18 November – Braşov, Patria Concert Hall
21 November – Bucharest, Radio Concert Hall
Enesco’s Violin 2023 video
Ten Years of Enesco’s Violin event (2022)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHrY77vhLU
Handel’s Passacaglia, feat. Simina and Gabriel Croitoru
