GEORGE ENESCU NATIONAL MUSEUM

GEORGE ENESCU NATIONAL MUSEUM is situated inside the Cantacuzino Palace, one of the most beautiful buildings in Bucharest. The sumptuous entrance, overshadowed by the large canopy in the most authentic Art Nouveau Style, announces that, here, the luxury and the long-forgotten refinement have met in order to erect, at no.141 on the yesterday's Mogoºoaia Bridge, today's Victoria Street, one of the most brilliant and imposing palaces in Bucharest.

Built between 1901 and 1903 by Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino, also called Nababul (former mayor of the capital city, prime-minister, chief of the Conservatory Party), the palace was erected according to the projects of the remarkable architect Ioan D. Berindei.

For the decoration of the building he collaborated with some of the most renowned artists of that time - G.D.Mirea, Nicolae Vermont and Costin Petrescu for the mural paintings, architect Emil Wilhelm Becker for the sculptures and the sculptural ornamentation, Krieger House in Paris for the interior decoration (tapestries, chandeliers, lamps, stained glasses.)

After Nababu's death, in 1913, the palace went in the possession of his son, Mihail G. Cantacuzino and his wife, Maria (Maruca, born Rosetti - Tescanu), who, after the premature death of her husband, remarried George Enescu in 1937. Between 1945 - 1946 the Enescu couple lived in the house in the back of the palace, which was initially designed for the administration of the palace.

After George Enescu's death, his wife left, through testament, the palace and the extensions to the museum founded in the memory of the composer. George Enescu National Museum and The Romanian Union of Composers and Musicologists have enfolded their activity since 1956.

The permanent exhibition unfolds chronologically in three of the halls of Cantacuzino Palace. It displays, among others, photographs, manuscripts, various documents, diplomas, awards, drawings, busts, musical instruments, the tail coat and academic suit of the composer, his death mask and a mold of his hands. The long forgotten atmosphere can be found in the privacy of the house in the back of the palace, a very modest building which has now become George Enescu Memorial House.

Situated in an exceptional place, George Enescu National Museum has an important historical, cultural and artistic value. Its patrimony allows the reconstruction of a lifetime's history and of an exceptional career, that have been in the service of the Romanian music, contributing to its assertion in an universal context.