On Monday, November 18th, 2024, the Official Hall of the Romanian Athenaeum hosted the 33rd edition of the Annual Awards Gala of the magazine "Musical Actuality", a publication that appears under the aegis of the Romanian Composers and Musicologists Union. The Gala was moderated by Mihai Cosma, editor-in-chief of the publication, and Octavian Ursulescu, the magazine's editor.

Personalities who have had an impact on the Romanian music scene in the period 2022-2023 were awarded. In the field of classical music, composer and conductor Simona Strungaru was awarded for the originality and impact of her projects. Actress and singer Laura Gabriela Oana was praised for her scenic excellence, and musicologist Oltea Șerban-Pârâu was acknowledged for her series of projects under the title " Fairytale tours", including, for example, "The Violin Duel " and "The Traveling Piano".

In the entertainment music category featured Marius Țeicu, named "The Champion of the ballads," and Adrian Daminescu, whose exceptional interpretations earned him the title " The Force of Talent." Petre Geambașu was honored for a life dedicated to the stage, and Paul Surugiu-Fuego, for his constant contribution to the promotion of pop music through the show "Drag de Româniamea." Andrei Tudor was honored for his book "A Century of Romanian Pop Music", a comprehensive survey of the history of this musical genre, and Mircea Tiberian received the Jazz Award, a tribute to his contributions to the field.

The most eagerly awaited moment of the Gala was the awarding of the prize for "The Show of the Year", a distinction traditionally given, but only in very exceptional circumstances, as Mihai Cosma emphasized during the ceremony. He also said that this important recognition has only been awarded five times in the past. This year the award went to the musical "The Phantom of the Opera ", staged at the Bucharest National Opera. The show, directed by Răzvan Ioan Dincă and conducted by Daniel Jinga, was considered an unprecedented box office success in the history of the Bucharest opera house. It attracted the audience with its impressive scenery, exceptional acting and the beauty of Andrew Lloyd Webber's music.

At the end of the event, we gathered opinions from those present:

Adrian Nour, performer of the Phantom character in the musical " The Phantom of the Opera ": It's a special award.It marks my career. I won my first award with " Romeo and Juliet" in 2009. It was my first musical.It was like a school for me.It was the show that made me fall completely in love with this kind of show. After that followed the award for "Mamma mia" for best performer, for the other Phantom in 2015, now this award is coming with a new team and we are happy that people appreciate what we are doing and I hope that we will continue to do beautiful things.

Conductor Daniel Jinga: The award is a natural recognition of the success of a very good and successful musical. It is not my merit. I have a small part of merit as a conductor, as an artist, perhaps also as a manager, because I dared to program a musical at the opera and I did well, because it is a musical about opera, with an action that takes place in the opera. It was a show that drew a big audience to the National Opera and we saw that afterwards. I can't wait to reschedule it in 2026. I'm sure audiences can't wait to fill the opera house.This show is well worth seeing. Most of all, I would like to congratulate the creative team, congratulate the artists, congratulate the director, Răzvan Dincă, and congratulate those who played both the main and secondary characters, because they are all equally important and they all turn this show into an exceptional one.In fact, this is how a good show is recognized, by the fact that there are no half-measures in any of the cases, neither if you have a diva character, let's say, nor if you have an episodic, meteoric role, because all of them can help or spoil that artistic flow that "The Phantom of the Opera", as a show, as a production, managed to keep from the first chords until the end of the plays.

Musicologist Dumitru Avakian: The event that our magazine supports together with Catena is an important one in our musical life, in our artistic life, in the public space, in that the authentic values of substance are emphasized and besides the fact that they are known in the radio and television channels, there must also be that relationship in the professional environment, or the magazine "Musical Actuality" facilitates and determines this relationship and this close knowledge between the people of music and musical performance in our area.