Enescu – Symphony No. 3 | Cristian Măcelaru | WDR Symphony Orchestra | WDR Radio Choir

Enescu – Symphony No. 3 | Cristian Măcelaru | WDR Symphony Orchestra | WDR Radio Choir
埃內斯庫 – 第三號交響曲 | 克里斯蒂安‧馬切拉魯 | 西德廣播交響樂團 | 西德廣播合唱團

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George Enescu’s Symphony No. 3 in C major, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra and sung by the WDR Radio Choir under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru. Recorded live on 27 June 2026 at the Cologne Philharmonie.

George Enescu – Symphony No. 3 in C major, Op. 21

00:00:00 I. Moderato, un poco maestoso
00:18:43 II. Vivace, ma non troppo
00:32:25 III. Lento, ma non troppo

WDR Symphony Orchestra
WDR Radio Choir
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
Philipp Ahmann, rehearsal directo

Introduction:
George Enescu led several lives at once. He was a child prodigy on the violin, an acclaimed soloist, conductor, pianist and composer – and later the teacher of Yehudi Menuhin, amongst others. Enescu was born in 1881 in Liveni, Romania – a town that now bears his name in his honour – and trained in Vienna and Paris. Hardly any musician of his generation moved so effortlessly between Eastern and Western Europe. When Romania entered the First World War in August 1916, Enescu could have retreated to safer climes. Instead, he remained in the country. Following the occupation of Bucharest, the government relocated to Iași. Enescu, too, now spent most of his time in Moldavia. He gave charity concerts, played in military hospitals for the wounded and raised money for relief efforts. Whilst Europe lay in ruins, he sought to offer solace through music. At the same time, Enescu was working on his Third Symphony. He had begun the work in May 1916, even before Romania entered the war. He finally completed it in August 1918 in Dorohoi. Between these dates lies the collapse of a world. For an artist who had made his home between Bucharest, Vienna and Paris, this was more than just a political catastrophe. Although Enescu’s Third Symphony reflects the circumstances of the time, it is anything but a battle scene. In the finale, a choir joins the rich orchestral texture, though it does not sing any specific text. Here, the human voice does not become the herald of a message, but becomes sound in its own right. Following the musical scenes teeming with detail that Enescu unleashes in the two preceding movements, this conclusion feels like an attempt to conceive of a new order. When it was premiered on 25 May 1919 in Bucharest, one year after the end of the war, a symphony was heard that did not set out to be a victory march. Whilst Enescu does not suppress the catastrophe, he does not allow it to have the last word.
Text: Otto Hagedorn

Film Provioded by ARD Klassik