Despite her Asian roots, she said she especially likes performing in Europe.

"I do like Europe because the music I'm playing is from here, there is a certain culture and tradition," she said.

"Paris is the first city I went to when I came out of China when I was seven. There is a huge childhood memory there.

"Vienna is also very beautiful. When you're there you just see how glorious it was, the empire and everything, kind of like Romania, but here there is also a juxtaposition with communism."

Formerly communist Romania joined the European Union in 2007. Despite being one of the most impoverished nations in the bloc, Romania has produced a host of famous classical artists and has supported the festival named for the famed composer since its founding in 1958, three years after his death.

Wang said she was introduced to Enescu's music by listening to recordings by Clara Haskil and Dinu Lipati, two Romanian classical pianists she hugely admires.

Another Romanian pianist, Radu Lupu, opened this year's festival, playing to an adoring audience with the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra and conductor Daniel Barenboim.

Wang joins a list of top-class musicians, conductors and orchestras appearing at the festival throughout September, including conductor Antonio Pappano, pianist Murray Perahia, violinists Pinchas Zuckerman and Maxim Vengerov, as well as the Royal Concertgebouw and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

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