In the contemporaneity of rattling, pharisaical phrases which are often devoid of reality, Aurelian Octav Popa tenaciously promotes cultural elitism. Substance in detriment of the superficial, the detail experienced as an artistic revelation, musical ideas harmonised with those derived from the realms of literature and plastic arts, are things that have guided him towards unceasing progress and the rarefied air of 'the chosen ones'. He never drifted from this way of being, neither during the communist era, nor after 1989. In other words, he loathes 'fake notes', both on stage and in real life.

In 2014 he celebrated his 77^th anniversary

... and 55 years since he imposed himself on the international stages. 'These are simple repetitions of numbers' - he tells me, hurrying to change the subject! He was a second year student - at the National University of Music Bucharest - when he won the Grand Prize of the Prague Spring International Music Competition. Five years later he won several other competitions in Budapest, Birmingham, Utrecht and Geneva, thus, beginning the saga of the famous clarinetist.

An emblematic musician

Everything that has been composed for the clarinet, either for chamber or concert, was shaped with divine talent by Aurelian Octav Popa, and in the Romanian music he triggered a truly compositional phenomenon: he stimulated Tiberiu Olah's imagination - for The Enchanted Bird. Also, Aurel Stroe, Anatol Vieru, Ștefan Niculescu, Cornel Țăranu and many others, dedicated to him pages in their concerts. These are very well known histories, and so is the Quodlibet Musicum era or the one in which he was a conductor of The Black Sea Philharmonic Orchestra.

Confessions during the broadcast

This time, we will hear about his joys ('my nephew is much subtler and smarter than I am') and his sorrows, and about other moments which he was willing to share with me. 'We have talked too much, let's better play some music' the maestro was encouraging me. From the hundreds of recordings in our sound archive, we have selected a lot of moments which will intercut Aurelian Octav Popa's confessions.

Beyond the Stage, Thursday, 20^th and 27th November, at 20:00