Horia Mihail, the pianist from Braşov, gave an exceptional recital at the Military Centre in Braşov on Friday, 29^th March, 2013. The concert was part of the 3^rd Travelling Piano Tour, organized by Radio Romania Culture and Accendo. Attracted by the pianist's renown and the selected repertoire, which included some of Beethoven's finest sonatas - Pathétique, Moonlight Sonata and Appasionata - the audience in Braşov was very large.

'I liked the performance.'

Did you come for the repertoire or for Horia?

'Both for the repertoire and for Horia Mihail. I follow him everywhere he plays and he is one of our fellow townsmen.'

'I came for Horia, for the concert and for the entire feel of it.'

Did you know about The Travelling Piano Tour?

'I did. I think this idea of coming to meet the listener is very beneficial.'

'Certainly, I'd heard about it on the Radio.'

'He's just as I had expected; a virtuoso!'

'It is a very good initiative. Perhaps this will go to other cities where there is no philharmonic and where they don't have the chance to listen to classical music and to meet talented people like Horia Mihail.'

'Wonderful! I only found out about this project at the end of last year. Good for him! He reminded me of Enescu, who used to go from fair to fair with his violin, to share his art with the masses. What Horia Mihail is doing is wonderful. He has to be supported as much as possible.'

'Horia Mihail is an exceptional name and an exceptional pianist. It is a great and good idea and I think that this charity element, this social element should be treated more seriously and perhaps it should be given more consideration.'

'It is fantastic! We might become kinder somehow, because we've all become very bad. Music has always made miracles!'

The hundreds of attending spectators made Horia Mihail feel very good at home, in Braşov:

'This has been the most successful edition so far from the point of view of the audience. Maybe this is because both the concert with the orchestra and the recital took place at the Military Centre. We need a music hall, that is clear, and I hope the Philharmonic will move into a new headquarters as soon as possible, because there is, as we can see, an audience for piano recitals and chamber recitals; it's not true what they said a few years ago, that music lovers had long disappeared. No! Thanks to huge efforts, the efforts made by Radio Romania this year and many years before, especially by Radio Romania Culture, due to the modern way of introducing such an event, people come and enjoy it. This can only benefit the audience and us, the musicians.'

The great pianist also mentioned that it was absolutely necessary to bring a new piano to Braşov:

'The city of Braşov hasn't had a new piano since the 70s, when a Petrof piano was received from the state. Things have changed since then, we really need a new instrument and I hope aesthetics lovers in Braşov - natural or legal persons - will contribute to this, because it is shameful that in 2013, in a country in the European Union, in such a large city, with a long musical tradition of hundreds of years, with a philharmonic orchestra, soloists, conductors, and an audience, we, the pianists should struggle with the limits a 30-year-old instrument imposes and frustrates the audience altogether.'

The next stop of the Travelling Piano Tour will be the Culture House in Piteşti.