Jan Raes said George Enescu is well known in the Netherlands for his famous compositions and that most of them are played by all the orchestras in the world. “Enescu is very important for the violin schools and you should continue promoting him as much as you can”, said Raes, adding that such manifestations as the “George Enescu” International Festival, one of the most important in Europe at the time, build a bridge between cultures.
Raes mentioned his orchestra accepted to participate at the event owing to the festival's value, the things they know about the local musical tradition, as well as the quality of the program. He sees Enescu as an important promoter of the Romanian culture and deems this is a very intelligent way for the country to get identified with the composer and the musical tradition, and also to have the opportunity to promote his less-known compositions.
The head of Concertgebouw orchestra also told NewsIn that young musicians should find out more about Enescu. He said Bartok is more popular than Enescu at present, also because Romania was a closed country until recently and that people became interested in our country along with the talented musicians.
Radu Lupu is one of the Romanian musicians admired by Raes and they performed together in Amsterdam last season. Jan Raes sees Lupu as a special musician, with personal interpretation and particular sonority, and mentioned he would like to collaborate again in the future.
Raes also declared his orchestra would very much like to connect with the Greek violonist Leonidas Kavakos, with one of the most famous violonists in the world Janine Jansen, with artists like Thomas Hampson, and also young bandmasters.
He mentioned several vocalists aim to perform with the Concertgebouw orchestra and that makes it difficult to choose, but that it is important to have in sight young bandmasters for the future. Raes said the orchestra currently has a main bandmaster and two honorary ones - Bernard Haitink and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Still, they have to connect with the next generation, with artists like Vladimir Zuroski, to invest, to take chances and to grant trust.
The artist also told NewsIn that one of the reasons behind the joy of life impression is the orchestra's quality of interpretation. He mentioned the good acoustics of the best concert hall in the world, where the orchestra performs and rehearses, the loyal public and the sharp selection of the instrumentalists.
Raes also said they are interested in the music talents coming from Eastern Europe, as the quality of the Dutch musical education has decreased.
