Symphony Orchestra
The establishment of the Timisoara “Banatul” Philharmonic in 1947 was the result of an intense artistic activity of musical societies and associations such as the Timişoara Philharmonic Society (1871), the Friends of Music Association (1920) – at the time it was also known as the George Enescu Philharmonic Society ( 1945), the Banatul Philharmonic Society (1946) and the Friends of Music Philharmonic Society (1947) which, over several decades, enriched the artistic life of the city on the Bega. From the very beginning, the orchestra’s concert program revealed a vast repertoire, from baroque to contemporary music, an important place being occupied by Romanian musical creation, many works being presented in the first audition.
The symphony orchestra has been repeatedly invited to participate in prestigious national and international festivals, among which we mention: “George Enescu” International Festival (Bucharest), International New Music Week (Bucharest), Romanian Music Festival (Iaşi), Festival BEMUS (Belgrade), the SAM-90 Festival (Salon Aquitain des musiques) Bordeaux – France, the Primavera’91 Festival – Spain, the ROMA-EUROPA Festival in Italy, the Montreux – Vevey International Festival in Switzerland, as well as the International Music Festival of in São Luis – Brazil. Also, the symphony orchestra undertook numerous concert tours in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Taiwan and Hungary.
Permanent conductors of the “Banatul” Philharmonic were: George Pavel, Mircea Popa, Paul Popescu, Nicolae Boboc, Alexandru Şumski, Remus Georgescu, Peter Oschanitzky; currently permanent conductors being Gheorghe Costin and Radu Popa. Among the prominent guests of the Philharmonic are renowned musicians, among whom we mention the conductors: Horia Andreescu, Jean François Antonioli, Ion Baciu, Roberto Benzi, Erich Bergel, Antonin Ciolan, Emanuel Elenescu, George Georgescu, Emin Haciaturian, Cristian Mandeal, Theodor Rogalski, Constantin Silvestri, Carlo Zecchi; and soloists – Dmitri Bashkirov, Lola Bobescu, Monique de la Bruchollerie, Li Min Chan, Aldo Ciccolini, Valentin Gheorghiu, Yvri Gitlis, Dan Grigore, Pompei Hărăşteanu, Rudolf Kehrer, Radu Lupu, Silvia Marcovici, Mihaela Martin, Eugenia Moldoveanu, Daniel Podlovski , Jean Bernard Pommier, Stefan Ruha, Eugen Sârbu, Ludovic Spiess, Vladimir Spivakov, Daniil Şafran, Alexandru Tomescu, Ion Voicu.
Since 1969, the “Banatul” Philharmonic has been organizing the “Timişoara Muzicală” International Festival, and since 1981, the “George Enescu” Musical Days. The institution’s discography includes recordings on LP and CD at the Electrecord label as well as at labels in England, Austria, Switzerland, France and Germany.
Along with the concerts held at the headquarters, the Philharmonic also organizes numerous concerts in the open air, in unconventional spaces, at the Româneşti Cave, in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral (2007), on the banks of the Bega canal (2008), at the “Traian Vuia” Airport (2008), at the Green Forest (2009), as well as on a construction site at the Municipal Roads Society (2009).