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| Places
of interest - Bucharest |
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George Enescu
Museum
As the husband of the Princess Maria
Cantacuzino, George Enescu was offered the opportunity to live
in one of the most extravagant houses in Bucharest. This giant
of Romanian music, whose compositions today are acclaimed and
passionately applauded in great concert halls of the world, seemed
to know something of the magic of simplicity. He was born and
raised in the small village of Livenii Dorohoiului, in Northern
Maldavia. Throughout his life, and amidst all his fame and glory,
he remained a modest, humble man to the very end.
The offer of the large and luxurious Bucharest home mentioned
earlier, is a case in point. He chose not to live in such opulent
circumstances. He decided a single room was sufficient for his
simple needs, and was satisfied with those conditions.
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Today,
in Bucharest, visitors may see that same room with its narrow bed,
two paintings of his wife, and a crucifix.
The building can be found at 141 Calea Victoriei. It has two stone
lions on each side of the main entrance; their beautiful shell-shaped
covers mingle harmoniously with the statues and other ornaments
in the French baroque style, and wrought iron balconies surround
the home's tall windows.
Here we can find various personal objects and possessions of the
famous composer of the "Romanian Rhapsodies". One of his
first violins is here, scores of his compositions in his own handwriting
(including the pen holder he used while writing them). His diploma,
received in 1893 from Vienna, is there with the mark "excellent".
There are also two pianos one at which he composed the famous opera
"Oedipus" - and another where he sat towards the end of
his life in Paris longing for country.
George Enescu died in Paris in 1955. It was in that same year that
the Cantacuzino Palace was transformed to become the "Union
of Romanian Composers". George Enescu is buried in the Pere
Lachaise cemetery in Paris. On his tombstone is written ENESCU.
This will remind us again and again of the "simplicity of a
Genius". |
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