Winner ex-aequo of the "Heirs of Musical Romania" Scholarship in 2021, Dragoș Ilie performed last night the first classical guitar recital in the history of the Great Hall of the Romanian Athenaeum. A large and welcoming audience joined him on a musical journey through various cultural areas, alongside the instrument with the most intimate sound, according to Dragoș Ilie.

The musician's entrance on stage was preceded by a detailed presentation by our colleague, Cristina Comandașu, who gave the audience the most interesting facts about Dragoș Ilie, a very passionate musician and guitar lover who, after a 10-year period spent studying in the United States, returns to Romania to offer his experience to the guitarists of the country. The event was included in the series of concerts "Heirs of Musical Romania", initiated and organized by Radio România Muzical, and is also part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) "Discoveries" project, which brings together recordings with exceptional soloists and special repertoires.

Conceived as a journey through his personal and artistic history - as he confessed in an interview - last night's recital program included works rarely performed on the stages of our country - Viennese, Romanian music - noteworthy is his own arrangement of Enescu's "The Baritone" -, Spanish and even Japanese. Dragoș Ilie also chose to present to the audience some information about the repertoire and his own vision of the works.

At the end of the recital, we gathered the audience's impressions:

"I thought it was a very beautiful concert. The pieces were chosen from different repertoire, and at the end I witnessed something really unique - three encores, one after the other, absolutely fantastic!"

"It was something unique! I think it's very brave - the first guitarist to perform on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum, in the Great Hall. He had a very warm, friendly presence, spoke very pleasantly and chose the pieces very well."

"I also play guitar and I was impressed by Dragoș Ilie's performance! I am very happy that he has returned to Romania and that he has entered the academic environment and will train the next generations of guitarists. This product of Romania, Dragoș Ilie, who has borrowed from the international cultural repertoire, has come to enrich Romanian culture and hopefully he will be a host who will bring together other artists."

"It was a novel experience, because I have never been to a classical guitar concert. It surprised me! It was a special evening!"

"I was moved by the way he lets the sounds flow, in such a deep, deep way... playful, joyful at times, surprisingly many times. It's extremely nuanced. I never imagined a classical guitar could do so much. I listened totally absorbed from the beginning to the end!"

"A recital of the highest class. You can see that the ten years in America have taught Dragoș Ilie a lot. I happen to be a guitarist myself and I understand this better. He chose his repertoire very well. He went through a classical palette, Romanian music, the Japanese stuff - slightly esoteric, but very beautifully played - and music from Spain, which is always a glowing fire. Well-chosen encores. It's a beginning of a climax. There are more peaks to come. We've enjoyed it very much! We are happy music lovers!"