George Enescu Philharmonic

Bucharest acquired its first standing symphony orchestra in 1868, when Eduard Wachmann founded the Philharmonic Society and conducted it himself; the ensemble is among the oldest continuously working orchestras in Europe. Since 1888 it has played in the Romanian Athenaeum, the domed rotunda on Calea Victoriei that has become the city's emblem. George Georgescu shaped the orchestra across three decades either side of the war, and Constantin Silvestri after him. In 1955 it took the name of George Enescu, who had conducted and played with it, and it remains Romania's senior orchestra, appearing each cycle in the festival that carries the same name.