CRISTIAN MANDEAL – General Manager and Principal Conductor, George Enescu Philharmonic of Bucharest - Download CV (PDF)Cristian Mandeal has conducted on four continents, in 32 countries and 25 world capitals. His career began with the orchestras in Targu Mures, Cluj, and Bucharest, and he soon gained  a well-earned reputation. In 1991, he was appointed Director General of the “George Enescu” Philharmonic, a position he still holds. During this time, he has organized tours of this first orchestra of Romania to over 20 countries, from Portugal to Japan, to South Corea and Singapore. Cristian Mandeal is also the Artistic Director of the Euskadi Symphonic Orchestra in Spain. In addition, he became the Principal Guest Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester (the famous orchestra of Sir John Barbirolli) in the Fall of 2005. Until the Summer of 2002, he was Artistic Director of the Haifa Symphony in Israel, and until the Winter of 2003, he was Director in Residence of the Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano e Trento, Italy. He was also Artistic Director of the International “George Enescu” Festival and Contest in 2001 and 2003.Born in 1946, Cristian Mandeal studied piano, composition,  and conducting, in Brasov and Bucharest, attended master courses held by Herbert von Karajan in Berlin and Sergiu Celibidache in Munich. Until 1990, his international career was mainly restricted to Eastern Europe, but following the political changes in 1989, his appearances in Western European countries have become ever more frequent. Thus, the Maestro has worked with prestigious orchestras around the world, with famous soloists, and with youth orchestras. He has lead summer courses and has taught master courses. He has been invited to be part of juries of international conducting contests and has been awarded many prizes and distinctions.Cristian Mandeal’s vast repertoire also includes absolute first auditions of more than 50 symphonic pieces by Romanian and foreign composers. He has conducted ballet music, as well as the opera Stifelio by Verdi at the Vienna State Opera. He has recorded many LPs and CDs with opera, symphonic, and film music, including a complete version of Bruckner’s symphonies with the Transylvania Philharmonic Orchestra in Cluj for the Romanian label “Electrecord”. Under the patronage of Arte Nova, he has also recoded the complete symphonies and  vocal-symphonic pieces by Brahms on nine CDs, as well as the complete symphonic works of George Enescu performed by the “George Enescu” Philharmonic. For the Claves record label, he has recorded six author CDs with works by Basque composers, performed by the Euskadi Symphony.Cristian Mandeal is an indefatigable promoter of George Enescu’s music and has conducted his works around the world. He has dedicated a special place in his career to the masterpiece Oedipe, which he has conducted at the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest, at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, at the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari (the Italian premiere), and in 2002 in a concert-opera version at the International Festival in Edinburgh, which constituted  the premiere of Enescu’s masterpiece in the U.K.