/ CONDUCTOR
© Ionuț Macri
GABRIEL BEBEȘELEA
Principal Conductor
"George Enescu" Philharmonic Orchestra
Artistic Director
Musica Ricercata
CONTACT
Dacian Predan-Hallabrin
dacian@predan-hallabrin.com
REPRESENTATION
Worldwide general management
Gabriel Bebeşelea is Principal Conductor of the “George Enescu” Philharmonic Orchestra in Bucharest and Artistic Director of the period instrument ensemble and festival Musica Ricercata.
Bebeşelea appeared as a guest conductor with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Tonkunstler Orchestra, the PKF-Prague Philharmonia, etc.
In the 2023/24 season, Bebeşelea returns to the “George Enescu” Festival alongside Musica Ricercata, to the Ulster Orchestra, the Bochumer Symphoniker, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, the "Banatul" Philharmonic Orchestra of Timisoara and to the “Transylvania” State Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was Principal Conductor between 2016 - 2023.
Throughout the season, Bebeşelea tackles a vast repertoire ranging from baroque to world premiers, including performances of Arnold Schoenberg’s monumental “Gurre-Lieder”, Hindemith's "Mathis der Maler", Mahler's 3rd Symphony, Bruckner's 6th Symphony, Brahms/Schoenberg's Piano Quartet and works by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, Stravinsky, R. Strauss, Dvorak, Bartok, Enescu, Ravel, de Falla, Ligeti and the world-premieres of the collective Recviem "In memoriam" and Conor Mittchel's "Riot Symphony". For these concerts, he collaborates with soloists such as Maxim Vengerov, Inmo Yang, Ilya Gringolts, Suyoen Kim, Roman Simovic, Alexander Melnikov, Simon Trpceski, Lawrence Brownlee, Valer Sabadus and Rafael Aguirre.
A remarkable opera conductor, Bebeşelea was named Principal Conductor of the Romanian National Opera of Iaşi in 2011, becoming the youngest ever Principal Conductor in Romania. In 2015 he was named Principal Conductor of the National Romanian Opera House of Cluj-Napoca.
In recent seasons, he has led performances of Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tsar's Bride" at the Perm Opera, Rossini's "Il viaggio a Reims" at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Francesco Cilea’s "Adriana Lecouvreur” at the National Opera House Timisoara (European Capital of Culture 2023) and a new production of “Manon Lescaut” at the Slovenian National Theater Maribor.
Gabriel Bebeșelea is known to devote himself to researching and rediscovering music and he is responsible for uncovering several long forgotten or neglected musical masterpieces. In 2017, to bring such music to light, he founded the ensemble Musica Ricercata - an international artistic collective dedicated to the historically informed performance of music spanning from the baroque to modern eras, with an emphasis on early music.
With the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, he recorded a CD featuring George Enescu’s rediscovered oratorio “Strigoii” (The Ghosts) and his “Pastorale - Fantaisie pour petite orchestre” (edition curated by Gabriel Bebeşelea).
In 2015, Gabriel Bebeşelea studied with two of the world’s most appreciated conductors: Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival at Easter and with Kurt Masur at the Aurora Classical Festival. Bebeșelea was also mentored by Alberto Zedda at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro.
In 2011 he was awarded a scholarship consisting of an internship at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, where he had the possibility to assist at the rehearsals and concerts of some of the most representative conductors nowadays: Mariss Jansons, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Philippe Herreweghe, David Zinman and Eliahu Inbal.
Born in 1987, Gabriel Bebeşelea is winner of the 1st prize of the “Lovro von Matačić” Conducting Competition (Zagreb 2015) and the 1st prize in the “Jeunesses Musicales” Conducting Competition (Bucharest 2011).
In 2018, Gabriel Bebeşelea obtained his PhD with “summa cum laude” at the National University of Music Bucharest.
GABRIEL BEBEȘELEA
VIDEOS
PHOTOS
PRESS
Schönberg's "Gurre-Lieder"
Angelika Bohn, Thüringer Allgemeine, September 2023
At the end, 400 singers and musicians praised the new day. Voices and sounds surged in huge waves through the hall, gripping and enveloping the audience. Everyone certainly feels that in these moments that they are experiencing something precious and wish to stop the time. However, Gabriel Bebeselea, the magnificent monarch of this musical journey, meandering between deep longing, intense pain, and radiant joy, lowers his baton. And the audience responds with cheers and standing ovations.
"Manon Lescaut" at the Slovenian National Theater in Maribor
Ivana Maricic, Kritika Magazine, May 2023
The crown of the successful final performance was the conductor Gabriel Bebeşelea, who obtained enthusiasm, strength ands singing from the orchestra, the likes of which we have not yet experienced in the current season
Dvorak’s 9th Symphony with the PKF-Prague Philharmonia
Daniel Janz, klassik-begeistert.de, March 2023
Rarely has one heard Dvořák’s Ninth so sharp and fiery in its original form. No matter how hard one may search, real weaknesses cannot be found in this orchestra. And the young conductor Gabriel Bebeşelea from Romania does not show any flaws either, but presents a fantastic performance, which is ultimately congratulated with thunderous applause, to which the audience rises almost as one and downright celebrates all the artists. That was truly fabulous, almost perfect, what they have presented.
Ulster Orchestra
Leighton Jones, Bachtrack, October 2022
Bookending the Grieg were two pieces by György Ligeti whose 1951 Concert Românesc began the evening. Despite being an early work, it wasn’t premiered until 2000, having been banned. Tonal in nature, this curious work set a high bar for the rest of the evening. The folk melodies were given very different characters from Bebeşelea, with vivid colour changes and different rhythmic energies, this work came alive evocatively, almost dancing.... During the interval, the audience were requested to set off 100 metronomes (lent by Bebeşelea) arranged along the platform edge for a ‘performance’ of Ligeti’s 1962 Poème symphonique. The metronomes, however, provided the arching link with Beethoven’s succinct Eighth Symphony. Bebeşelea showed an affinity here, stressing its rhythmic and motivic nature. The four vivacious movements brimmed with energy and the UO sounded radiant in the hall’s acoustic. Some of Bebeşelea’s orchestral balances had a quirkiness about them, emphasising the winds and brass especially.
Weber’s Symphony No. 1 with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin
Frederik Hanssen, Der Tagesspiegel Berlin, September 2020
Weber’s Symphony No. 1 in C major - an ideal piece for Gabriel Bebeselea, who tonally loves it lush and juicy, and who also possesses the Kapellmeister quality to be able to inspire the musicians for 1b works. An inner glow emanates from the Konzerthausorchester on Friday, melody, middle voices and bass fundamentals develop acoustic depth, because each of the participants feels addressed by the maestro, regardless of whether they are currently playing a main or supporting role in this team play.
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Chang Tou Liang, Bachtrack, November 2019
The orchestra, conducted by rising young Romanian conductor Gabriel Bebeșelea, began the concert’s second half with the Asian premiere of George Enescu’s Pastorale-Fantaisie for small orchestra. First performed in 1899, this ten-minute long gem was “lost” until rediscovered by Bebeșelea, who gave its first modern reading in 2017....Then the penny dropped, as this was the young Romanian polymath’s tribute to the greatest symphonist of all, Ludwig van Beethoven, whose “Pastoral” Symphony was to follow. This stroke of programming nous was not initially apparent on paper, but totally succeeded in the concert hall. The performance of the symphony was just as good. Conducting from memory, Bebeșelea kept the narrative taut and the music breathing. The litheness and goodly pace resembled period instrument performances but without the wheeziness and thinness of textures.
Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra
Lluis Trullén, Revista Musical Catalana, October 2019
Good work by the OBC, which maintained the tension and discursive sense of the events, bringing out their melancholy, vehemence, passion and evocation, always with a dramatic background that is the driving force behind the expressive level of the composition. Likewise, full understanding by the direction of Bebeselea, who gave himself to this dense score, making the introspective and poignant sense so typical of the 5th Symphony and “Pathétique” emerge, always relying on the richness of Tchaikovsky’s unmistakable language and constant melodic inspiration, perfectly exposed by the masters of the OBC
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Dominic Lowe, Bachtrack, May 2019
Full marks to Gabriel Bebeşelea and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for originality in the programming of this concert, entitled rather grandly “A Voyage of Invention”. Using Mozart’s popular Symphony no. 41 in C major as the crowd-pleaser, they filled the rest of the space with interesting and comparatively rarely performed works: George Enescu’s Orchestral Suite no. 2 in C major, Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto no. 3 in B Minor and Ciprian Porumbescu’s Ballade for Violin and Orchestra. Bebeşelea, making his debut with the RPO, is currently Principal Conductor of the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and his facility with the music of his country is clear to see.
The Enescu is a piece full of life and it is to be regretted that it does not receive more outings... Bebeşelea brought a warm bustle to the opening Overture and real colour to the gypsy-like Sarabande. The rather ponderous Menuet grave was given heft by the brass, underlain by rather glitzy strings. The great virtue of Bebeşelea’s interpretation was the care with which the folksy elements of the work were brought out and gently textured.
Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2 with the Ulster Orchestra
Leighton Jones, Bachtrack, January 2019
Describing the work as a “confession of the soul” by the composer, Sibelius’ Symphony no. 2 in D major is a full of extremes of emotion, which Bebeşelea clearly understood...Bebeşelea was consistently clear in his direction and the highly articulate playing featured prominent brass and woodwind lines. The second movement was perhaps one of the darkest renditions I’ve encountered. Although acknowledged as being based around Don Juan, the poetry of Walt Whitman came to mind, such as "On the Beach at Night Alone", as what appeared was a moody and atmospheric nightscape. The range of expression here was remarkable as each phrase was shaped like raising and crashing waves, each one different and unpredictable. Whether or not it was Bebeşelea’s intention to create such a picture in the mind’s eye, it was musically captivating and emotionally driven with effective rubato. The Ulster Orchestra’s playing was first rate and the players followed Bebeşelea’s every direction….What Bebeşelea has done is made me re-examine overly familiar repertoire and listen with fresh ears and renewed interest, which is no bad thing."
Strigoii / Ghosts with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra - Album Review
Dr. Ingobert Waltenberger, Onlinemerker.com, September 2018
The Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, under the impressive musical direction of Gabriel Bebeşelea (since 2016/17 Chief Conductor of the "Transylvania" State Philharmonic Orchestra), thrilled from the first moment with an atmospherically dense orchestral performance that captivated the listener. Bebeşelea, who also attracted attention in Pesaro as the conductor of Rossini's "Il Viaggio à Reims" [...], gives "Strigoii" another calling card for his outstanding musical and dramatic talent.