The Athenaeum

was built between 1886-1888 by architect A. Galleron. In front of the building is the statue of the greatest Romanian poet, Mihai Eminescu.

This hall, inaugurated in February 1888, was built in record time due to popular contribution, and was to become a temple of music and the very symbol of Romanian culture and nation. It remains to this day the home of our first symphony orchestra, which, since 1955, bears George Enescu's name.

Sumptuous winding stairs open onto great marble and gold foyers that lead to the marvelous circular concert hall of nearly thousand seats. In the interwar period the hall was enriched with an organ and a marvelous circular painting in fresco. Beneath its majestic dome, the most prominent conductors and performers of the century were acclaimed: Erich Kleiber, Sergiu Celibidache, Ionel Perlea and Herbert von Karajan, Dinu Lipatti, Pablo Casals and Yehudi Menuhin. In the Romanian Athenaeum concert halls, the "George Enescu" Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted, through the years, by outstanding musicians, like George Georgescu and Constantin Silvestri.