'I am even more charged up than Leontina. That's right! It is hard being a mother!' said Maria Ciobanu, Leontina Vaduva's mother, before the start of the Sunday performance at the Romanian Athenaeum on 27^th October, 2013.

Accompanied by actress Medeea Marinescu and the pianist Masakatsu Nakano, the soprano performed a commemorative recital called 'Verdi - Wagner: Correspondence'. Set up by the Music, Art and Culture Association, the event was dedicated to the two composers' 200th anniversary. The creations of the two composers that redefined the lyrical genre in the 19^th century are well known. Wagner and Verdi, at two opposite poles, the North and South of the Alps, are the ones who changed the musical theatre. What we are not familiar with are the people, Richard and Giuseppe, the musical geniuses as seen through the eyes of their wives. Medeea Marinescu interpreted exceptionally the excerps from Cosima Wagner's diary and Giuseppina's Streponi's correspondence, the two composers' spouses. The backstage of the Bayreuth theatre and the secrets of the Rigoletto, La Traviata and Aida lyrical dramas - all of them were accompanied by Wagner and Verdi's music as performed by soprano Leontina Vaduva and the pianist Masakatsu Nakano.

The public's reaction is reflected through comments such as:

'I believe it is a novel idea that should be continued with other composers, as well. Either way, Medeea Marinescu's performance was incredible.'

'I think it was a good choice to show the unseen and unimagined side of famous operas through an extraordinarily good staging, as well.'

'It was an unforeseen evolution for such an event. The soprano, Leontina, has always been surprising.'