On Friday, the 25th of October, the 15th edition of the Royal Charity Concert, an event organized by the "Margareta of Romania" Foundation, will take place at the Romanian Athenaeum.

Live in the Radio România Muzical studio, today's guests are Mugurel Mărgărit - executive director of the "Margareta of Romania" Royal Foundation and pianist Mihai Ritivoiu.Good evening!

Good evening!

I would like to start with some organizational aspects. I would like to know, Mr. Mărgărit, how great the challenge of organizing this concert this year was.

Mugurel Mărgărit: Every year it's a great challenge to organize this concert because it's an event at the Romanian Athenaeum, an event attended by the royal family and by 800 guests which means a great responsibility for us, to ensure not only an extraordinary musical performance, but also an exceptional event. The Royal Concert has become a tradition, it is already in its 15th edition. We can say that we have experience. Although we are an organization that deals with projects in supporting people, we still have an experience of organizing events by the fact that we have been organizing this event for 15 years, always difficult because of these factors.

The difficulties you have faced over the years, I suppose, have only made you stronger, isn't it?

Mugurel Mărgărit: Yes. The difficulties have made us more careful with various details that in previous years haven't been taken into account. Each year, to be as honest as possible, the difficulty is to organize an exceptional event with as little money as possible, because the money we raise at the Royal Charity Concert is that we want to go to the "Young Talents" project, to the scholarships that support Romania's talented young people. And if we spend it on organizing an event, it's not a good thing. So every year we try to keep the budget as low as possible and at the same time have a beautiful show and an exceptional evening.

For you or for the institution you represent, what does a beautiful show, an exceptional one, mean?

Mugurel Mărgărit: It means a combination of top-quality music and an absolutely special atmosphere that is realized at the Royal Concert. The mere presence of the royal family in the hall, the audience that comes somehow for a special cause, that of supporting Romanian talents, the pride that exists in that hall which these Romanian talents are on stage and delight us all and they are young people who now belong to a whole world because they are artists of this world... it's a combination that is hard to describe until you are there to feel it, to see it. And it's in the air. It's something absolutely special!

You were talking about how Romanian talent belongs to the whole world. I suppose that makes us all, but especially you in a certain sense, more responsible.

Mugurel Mărgărit: I think we started with the idea of responsibility in this project. The "Young Talent" project is a project that aims to support talented young people who need financial support to continue to develop their talent. And we do this so they don't get lost. If it wasn't for the intervention of the scholarship, the project with mentoring, with promotion and all these things, they would be lost. And we have this responsibility from the start. But what we realized very quickly is that, as I was saying, we don't only deal with Romanian artists. I mean, these are values that are born in Romania, but they become universal values and they delight people all over the world, and these children, these young people represent Romania afterward on international stages and become, as I was saying, universal values.

I presume that you have also had echoes from the public after the royal concerts?

Mugurel Mărgărit: Yes. How to say... it's that atmosphere that is born in a special moment, when 800 people are in a hall and they support a cause, when they feel in a certain way, when there is a synchronization between them, when you see people with tears in their eyes... when I saw, for example, His Majesty King Michael when he came to the concert and he also had tears in his eyes... you feel some things and obviously, afterwards, you also have feedback from people telling you that the event itself was very special.

Honestly, concerts are organized at the Athenaeum, a lot of concerts and many of them are very good, of very good quality, but the Royal Concert also brings an absolutely special atmosphere.

Now I'm curious to know what has been the reaction you have received over the years from members of the Royal Household.

Mugurel Mărgărit: Every year, there is satisfaction that this event is organized. The event is organized by the Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation, but Her Majesty Margareta is the president of this foundation and she is also the person who gives us direction, who guides and inspires us. So, of course, we want her to like this event, and every year, fortunately, she likes it. I remember when I left the 2023 concert she told me that she liked the concert and that it was even better than the previous year's ones and she asked me what we are going to do next year to make it even better. And I told her I have no idea, we'll see.

I have not been able to find out, from the research that I have done, when did you start to collaborate with this institution and when you to be part of the organizing committee?

Mugurel Mărgărit: I have been working at the Margareta of Romania Royal Foundation since 2007, I think, and I have been the director of the foundation since 2010.

Over the years, what are the lessons you've learned on a personal level, because obviously we as listeners, the public and young musicians all benefit from this initiative, but what have you left with?

Mugurel Mărgărit: I am left with a certain satisfaction and pride. It is the satisfaction that when we started this project, some 16 years ago, we promised everyone that we would support Romania's future artists, the people who will represent us on the world stage. We promised that then and we strongly believe in it because the selection of the Young Talent program is very rigorous. Any young person between the ages of 14 and 24 can apply if they are a music or visual arts student; scholarships are awarded for music and visual arts. The selection we make means on the one hand we look at the young person's file to see if they need our support, but on the talent side we have a specialized jury - one for music and one for visual arts - who make the selection. In the case of music, it's an audition, a moment where they are heard by the jury, and in the case of visual arts, it's a presentation of a portfolio of work. And we want this selection to be extremely well done on the talent side. On the portfolio side, we, the foundation, investigate it; on the talent side, other specialists decide. This combination means that when we award our scholarships, about 30 each year, and we integrate young people into this project, we can say yes, these are the talented young people who need support.

And why did I say that the feeling that remains is one of satisfaction? Because we have at least partially fulfilled this promise. On the stage of the Royal Concert on Friday evening we will have young people who have been scholarship holders of the Royal Margareta Foundation of Romania, but also young people who are now established artists, some of whom no longer even live in Romania, like Mihai who is here with me. They show that, first of all through their extraordinary work, but also through our small support, they have managed to do something, they have been enabled to move forward with their talent and have not lost their way. And so, I have this satisfaction.

Since we are talking about talent and Mihai Ritivoiu, I would like to talk a bit about your beginnings with the foundation. How did you start your relationship with the Royal Foundation?

Mihai Ritivoiu: I can say that I'm one of the veteran grantees of the foundation, from the early years of this extraordinary project. I must have found out about this scholarship on the internet or from one of my teachers and decided to apply.

How many years ago?

Mihai Ritivoiu: Over 10, maybe 15 years ago. I was an undergraduate student.

You took that first step.What came next?

Mihai Ritivoiu: What followed was the actual scholarship, the financial aid that I used at a time when I went, for example, to a masterclass at the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, where I met Dominique Merle, the great pianist and teacher. These kinds of encounters and opportunities, at the time they arose for me, reverberated throughout my career later on. Following the masterclass that I could afford with the help of the Royal Foundation, Dominique Merle invited me to a second masterclass the following year, this time free of charge, in France, which also served as a kind of training camp for the Enescu Competition, where I was a laureate.

In English they say "It's not what you know, it's who you know". Does this prove to be true, at least at a small level, at the beginning of your career?

Mihai Ritivoiu: Yes, it is true. Well, there are two connotations to this expression...

A positive one, obviously, because we know your value as a pianist! It was just in the sense that the fact that you had access to that masterclass opened a door that you couldn't have afforded to open by yourself.

Mihai Ritivoiu: Yes, absolutely. And it was also kind of... providence worked because you can meet a very good teacher who is not necessarily your style, but we had communication and benefited a lot from that meeting.

What is a good teacher in this sense? Maybe that's a tough question for a live interview, but I'm trying to find out because I think it's something you don't say easily.

Mihai Ritivoiu: I have had many good teachers in my life, from whom I have been left with various things, some principles that I always remember. Some teachers leave you with a certain energy that is transmitted almost by osmosis, it's not something you can write about in a treatise. This energy and enthusiasm for playing, coupled with some very deep, very scientific knowledge... I remember Maestro Merle telling us about Chopin's manuscripts and the fact that the pedals, for example, are notated by his hand, when to put the pedal in and when to take it out, and these things have to be respected. So, on the one hand, there are things of subtlety and precision and, on the other hand, a certain energy and inspiration that you can feel then, at the moment, in a masterclass.

I'm sure that at least some members of the audience have spoken the same way about you, about a certain energy that is transmitted during a concert or after a recital. I'd like to know how you can pass that energy on to a non-musician who doesn't know when Chopin wrote Chopin to take his foot off the pedal, without all the technical aspects?

Mihai Ritivoiu: These technical aspects are relevant to us, they are, in a way, our artistic craft kitchen. But all great works of art do not technically speak to us, they speak to us at a level at which we can intuitively understand, we can feel the craftsmanship and finesse behind an interpretation, a composition, a painting and so on. Of course, there are more knowledgeable audiences, with a slightly more technical interest to know, and audiences who may not know many details, but music is for everyone.

And since we're talking about music... What will you play on Friday night?

Mihai Ritivoiu: I will be playing Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos, with Cadmiel Boțac, another alumnus of the scholarship.

It is an orchestral score that is less performed in Romania. I'm not sure it's ever been played. Do you have any information about it?

Mihai Ritivoiu: Yes. It has been sung many times and beautifully by the couple Valentin Gheorghiu and Roxana Gheorghiu. In a way, things came together nicely, because I will be involved in a commemoration of Maestro Gheorghiu Gheorghiu at the Athenaeum on Sunday. But apart from them, I think it was played recently, last season, by Oxana Corjos and Cristian Niculescu. But it is not a very well-known one. There is also this logistical problem of having two pianos that sound the same.

And to fit the orchestra on stage.

Mihai Ritivoiu: Exactly.

What can you tell us about this work? What attracted you to this music? Poulenc is, in my view, a popular composer, but maybe some people don't appreciate him as much as they should.

Mihai Ritivoiu: I appreciate him very much. One criticism that is sometimes leveled at him is... a false criticism of superficiality. He's one of the few composers of the 20th century who has a catchy melody, a chameleonic spirit, like that, who goes from serious to lighter music, let's say, very easily. It's a very compact concert, 20 minutes, and it takes you through an extraordinary journey, from sort of neoclassical, even Mozart-inspired things to influences of traditional Balinese music and more modernist accents. It is extremely exciting music.\

Ravel comes to my mind. I can't help but draw a parallel because he has a concerto that goes on about there too, compactly, and accusations have been leveled at Ravel in his lifetime and even now; people associate him very strongly with Debussy. But back then, he was accused of having copied, of having imitated Debussy, which is obvious to anyone who listens to more than five minutes of either of their works that it's false. But in that sense we hope that perhaps a renaissance for Poulenc's music is coming.

Mihai Ritivoiu: I hope so. I think there are many things to discover. Speaking of music that speaks to us from any level... I think it's music that immediately attracts and has depth at the same time.

What was your first reaction when you heard it was a Poulenc concert? It's modern music, it's perhaps music that the general public is not used to. Can you tell us your reaction and the reaction in general within the foundation?

Mugurel Mărgărit: We like the beautiful music that the young scholarship holders of the Royal Foundation play or create. From that point of view, the choice is theirs. Naturally, it has to be correlated with an audience at the Athenaeum and an audience which, in the case of the Royal Concert, is not an audience that comes to concerts very regularly, it is divided. Their choice was an inspired one. They chose together with the conductor, Tiberiu Soare, and I am convinced that something amazing will come out.

In any case, I congratulate you for not censoring this choice in any way!

Mugurel Mărgărit: We never get into the artistic side of them because we're not good at it. This is the truth. The Royal Foundation has several projects. One of them is 'Young Talent', but most of our projects have a social thread. This is a project that also has a social link, but it is also very strong culturally and educationally. Now, we say from the start that we are not good at the cultural side and that's why we work with a lot of people who are with us, mentors and people who support us and come to fill this gap, to be complementary with us. That's why we're never going to get into this artistic side with young people.

One last question to both of you: What can we do as an audience, or music lovers in general? What could we do to help young musicians and young artists in general?

Mihai Ritivoiu: Simply coming to concerts seems to me to be the strongest sign of support and encouragement, which keeps us going, even the youngest ones like me, who have perhaps finished their musical studies at a difficult time in 2020. The fact that the public has not abandoned us after this ordeal is the greatest encouragement.

Mugurel Mărgărit: I represent the Royal Foundation and, as a foundation, I have to say that this Young Talent project has so far invested €2 million in developing young talent. But it is not money that we have invested ourselves because we had nowhere else to get it, it is money that we have invested from donors and sponsors - all from Romania. So this is money coming from Romania. So the answer for us is very simple. If the public wants to support young artists, then they have to try or they have the choice to support the "Young Talent" project, which is a project that has proven over time that it does produce results.