Four violins, including the ’Enescu, Cathedral’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, that belonged to the renowned violinist and composer, will take to the stage in a Romanian tour
In a historic first, four violins that formerly belonged to Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu (1881-1955) are set to share the same stage together in a Romanian national tour from 12 November.
The violins form part of the collection of the National Museum ‘George Enescu’ in Bucharest, where they are classified under the ‘Treasury’ category.
The four featured instruments will be the c.1725 ’Enescu, Cathedral’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’, two violins by Paul Kaul from 1931 and 1930, and a Pierre & Hippolyte Silvestre violin from 1835. They will be played by Gabriel Croitoru, Simina Croitoru, Paul Răducanu and Mircea Dumitrescu respectively.
Gabriel Croitoru has played on the ‘Enescu, Cathedral’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ violin since acquiring it in 2008 through a competition held by the Romanian Ministry of Culture. The violin was played by Enescu for most of his career and was said to be the only violin he bought with his own money. Following Enescu’s death in 1955, the violin was passed on to his pupil Yehudi Menuhin, who kept it for a year before returning it to Enescu’s wife, Maruca Rosetti-Tescanu. She then gave it to the Romanian state in 1956.
’I’m very content to play this Guarneri – I prefer it to the Strads I have played because the sound is more round and profound in the bass,’ said Croitoru in an interview with Tarisio in 2017.
’When you play such a good violin you have the opportunity to do anything you like – the violin responds immediately. The violin has got used to my style of playing and I have started to understand its secrets.’
Enescu was also a keen player of modern instruments and commissioned the the Parisian maker Paul Kaul to make super-sized violins to accommodate his large fingers.
The tour will take place in Iaşi, Galați, Bucharest, Braşov and Deva from 12 to 28 November 2024. More information can be found here.
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