On Monday, 23^rd September, 2013, the city of Braşov celebrated the Day of Classical Music: while the violinist Maxim Vengherov responded to the invitation to the 'George Enescu Festival' and inaugurated the new hall of the Braşov Philharmonic at the Army Club at 18:00, the violinists Liviu Prunaru and Grabriel Croitoru, accompanied by the pianist Horia Mihail, performed their first concert on the Tour 'The Duel of the Violins', the third edition. Alina Dragomir was there and is now sharing her impressions:

Half an hour before the concert, Liviu Prunaru and Gabriel Croitoru are still rehearsing; or, if we were to take into consideration the idea that initiated the Tour 'The Duel of the Violins' in 2011 - 'they are crossing their violin bows and they are fencing feverishly'. Gabriel Croitoru straightens the glasses on his nose and Liviu Prunaru takes off the coat which is bothering his movements. They look at each other, they frown at the score and the conversation gets heated. Horia Mihail, in front of the fingerboard, awaits the consensus; once, twice, eight times they rehearsed the same bar. The light falls on the desks of the two artists as they are rehearsing frantically. I am watching them from a dim nook of the room and I am thinking that for three years people have been talking about the great confrontation, about the differences between the violins, the wood, the sound, the maker - in fact, it is all about an extraordinary completion, without which the musical dialogue could not be created on stage.

Liviu Prunaru seems to be reading my mind: 'The rehearsal was very short. We do it as we always have, while travelling, on the road, but for the first time - here, in Braşov - I think it's been even better than all those previous times, in the beginning. One can therefore see that we have started to solder together, we have started to get along, to be more compliant. We've already argued before; it's not that big of an issue. We've fallen over each other, but out of these beautiful frictions, something even more beautiful comes out.'

The result is a musical dialogue that glues you to your seat. At least, that's what some of the four hundred inhabitants of Braşov, who crammed into the Army Club, were saying on Monday evening. The recital started a few minutes later because the members of the stage crew searched for more chairs to accommodate the people that bought last-minute tickets.

'I think it's a dialogue with us, the public. And I don't think there's a duel between them, it's something really cool.'

'I liked them both. I see no difference between them.'

'Certainly, a dialogue! The three of them even managed to have a conversation with the violins.'

Have you ever wondered how much work this dialogue requires in order to be displayed on stage?

'It's hard work, absolutely. Hours and hours, days in a row, no childhood, no adolescence, only work.'

Gabriel Croitoru, with a conclusion of the first recital of the Tour:

'I'd say that each year - against all expectations - there's an even bigger impact, although, look, people say the idea might be losing ground and so on…On the contrary, I'd say that the public's interest is increasing with each passing year, and not decreasing, which is a very good thing.'

On Tuesday, 24^th September, the Tour 'The Duel of the Violins' arrives at the Palace of Culture in Târgu Mureş.

Further details on : www.duelulviorilor.ro .