An event with multiple meanings: the first recital performed by Alina Bercu in Bucharest, more than 20 years after her first symphonic concert and solo recital on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum.

Born in 1990, Alina Bercu made her debut in an orchestra concert when she was just 9 years old. 20 years ago, she was regarded as a miracle child, a musician with enviable artistic and technical qualities. At 16, she left to study in Germany, where she settled down, her performances in Romania becoming rarer as time went on. But on February 17th, 2026, just a few days after her 36^th birthday, Alina Bercu will be returning in a recital event on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum's Great Hall, broadcast live by Radio România Muzical, recorded by TVR Cultural and forwarded to the European Broadcasting Union.

For this recital event, Alina Bercu picked out a spectacular program, collected under the title Tablouri în lumini şi umbre ("Paintings in Lights and Shadows"), a true auditory journey in sonorous lights familiar to her and very well fleshed out, under the auspice of virtuosity. First, Enescu, with the evocative Pavane from the Piano Suite No. 2 Op. 10, then El Albacin from Isaac Albeniz's Suite Iberia, a dazzling opus, infamous for the difficult technique it demands.

In 1905, Fritz Kreisler published two of his most well known miniatures: Liebesleid ("Love's Joy") and Liebesfreud ("Love's Sorrow") for violin and piano, pieces that the famous composer and violin virtuoso, at first, deliberately attributed to Joseph Lanner, who is known for his waltzes. It wasn't until 1910 that Fritz Kreisler admitted to writing the already famous Liebesleid and Liebesfreud. In 1931, Sergei Rachmaninoff wrote his own transcription of these miniatures, and, given that Rachmaninoff was a piano virtuoso, these new pieces impress not only through their elegance, but also the bouts of virtuosity it brings, a new opportunity for Alina Bercu to show off her remarkable technical and expressive qualities.

Returning to the present, the recital's program brings forth the music of an exceptional pianist of our own times, the Turkish Fazil Say, author of Black Earth, a piece with recognizable ancient echoes that are familiar to us.

The tour de force assumed by Alina Bercu's recital ends with a famous suite, "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky, not the original piano version, but the spectacular arrangement composed by pianist Vladimir Horowitz in 1951.

Tablouri în lumini şi umbre ("Paintings in Lights and Shadows") - a spectacular concept by a Romanian pianist at the peak of her career, who's glad to be back home.

Alina Bercu: "Its's a joy and honor to be back on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum after all these years. I'm so glad for the opportunity to perform a program so dear to me, intimate, but brilliant and majestic. I picked these pieces because I was trying to create diverse atmospheres and sonorities, to evoke different aesthetic dimensions. At the same time, I'm convinced that the world of classical music is in a moment of transformation, when the audience is starting to like experimental and unconventional programs more and more and appreciate nonconformist combinations of pieces. The program I picked out was built on these convictions, thus, it's a program that combines classical repertoire with other pieces, based on special sonorous effects.

I'm grateful to the organizers and sponsors for the invitation and I'm looking forwards to seeing you again at the Romanian Athenaeum's Great Hall on February 17th, 2026!"

Tickets for the February 17th recital can be purchased starting from December 30th, 2025 on the "George Enescu" Philharmonic's website. https://oveit.com/hub/event/mostenitorii-romaniei-muzicale-W3ABbWnL

Pianist Alina Elena Bercu

Born in Câmpina, Romania, Alina Bercu is a pianiste of international renown, known for her refined sound, musical sensibility and a powerful stage presence. She started by taking piano lessons from PhD. Stela Drăgulin and continued her studies in Germany with Prof. Grigory Gruzman at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, and Prof. Wolfgang Manz at the University of Music Nürnberg. At the same time, she studied chamber music with Prof. Michael Sanderling and Prof. Angelika Merkle at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts.

Her artistic career spans Europe, America and Asia. She performs in some of the most prestigious concert halls in the world, such as Carnegie Hall, Tonhalle Zürich, Mariinsky Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Prinzregententheter München, Die Glocke Bremen, Auditorium Roma, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, the Romanian Athenaeum, Sala Palatului's Great Hall etc.

She performed as a soloist together with prestigious orchestras, such as the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Camerata Zürich, Bremer Philharmoniker, Mozart Orchester Hamburg, the "George Enescu" Philharmonic, Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra etc.

Aside from her international performances, Alina Bercu is heavily involved in social and cultural initiatives. She supported countless charity concerts in Indonesia, Romania and the Netherlands, supporting children in need, as well as artistic and cultural institutions.

Her recordings were appreciated internationally. Her Schubert and Brahms CD, recorded with violinist Ilian Garnetz, won a Golden Label and Clé d'Or. She's also been invited to numerous radio and TV shows, such as NBC, ARTE, medici.tv, Radio Suisse Romande, Eurovision and Radio Bremen.

Between 2018 and 2020 she was an assistant professor at the "Franz Liszt" University of Music in Weimar. From 2020 onwards, she continues her pedagogical activity at the "Phoenixsee" International Academy in Dortmund, Germany.

Alina Bercu is a laureate of multiple international competitions, such as First Prize and Public's Award at the "Steinway & Sons International Piano Competition", Gold Medal and the First Prize at the "World Piano Competition Cincinnati" (USA), as well as distinctions in the "Clara Haskil", "ZF Musikpreis", "European Piano Contest Bremen" and "Premio Trio di Trieste" competitions. She has also received special awards from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania and Radio România Cultural (2006), for her artistic and cultural contributions.

Specialty critics describe her performances as "fascinating, with a velvety sound and brilliant acoustic colors" (Klassiek Centraal), "remarkable from a stylistic standpoint" (Abend Zeitung) and "brilliant from a technical and musical standpoint" (Luxemburger Wort).

"The Heirs of Musical Romania" project

…organized by Radio România Musical, with financial support from Rotary Club Pipera, developed in two directions in the past two years. The first aims to bring young, exceptional musicians of Romania to prestigious Romanian stages, artists who have significant activity abroad, but rarely perform at home. The performances in this project target a wide audience, with an accessible repertoire lasting an hour, without break.

Since 2018, there have been 24 concerts and recitals: cellist Andrei Ioniță, violinist Ioana Cristina Goicea, cellist Valentin Răduțiu, pianists Florian Mitrea, Adela Liculescu, Axia Marinescu are just a few of the protagonists. Within this project, Casa Radio Publishing House released four albums featuring performances from the recitals.

The second development direction is the Heirs of Musical Romania scholarship. In 2020, Radio Romania Musical and Rotary Club Pipera founded the Heirs of Musical Romania scholarship for young musicians aged 16-24. Winners of the 4000 euro scholarship have been pianist Cadmiel Boțac (2020), violinist Cornelius Zirbo (2011), pianiste Kira Frolu (2022), pianist Nil Mladin (2023). At the jury's behest, finalists who stood out in the Heirs of Musical Romania competition benefited from numerous other preofessional perks: recitals, concerts, recordings, performances in international competitions. There have been 40 events in five years.

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