The recital pianist Alina Bercu held last evening, on the 17^th of February, at the Romanian Athenaeum was titled Tablouri în lumini şi umbre ("Paintings in Lights and Shadows"). It was the musician's reunion with the public in Romania after 20 years. The recital was part of Radio România Muzical's "Heirs of Musical Romania" project, supported by Rotary Club Pipera.

Because she believes that it's important for the audience to know not just information about the musical program they're listening to, but also the artist's perspective on the pieces they're performing, Alina Bercu chose to speak to the audience:

"I'm happy to have you here, at the Romanian Athenaeum, this evening. I'm even happier to be here today, because I've returned to Bucharest and the Romanian Athenaeum after more than 20 years, so it's a beautiful feeling and I'm glad to have such a full auditorium. Thank you for choosing to spend the next two hours with me and the repertoire that I hope you'll enjoy as much as it brings me joy every time."

The spectacular program chosen by Alina Bercu included famous pieces from the works of composers such as George Enescu, Isaac Albéniz, Modest Mussorgsky or Fritz Kreisler, some of them performed in the arrangements of great pianists such as Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vladimir Horowitz.

Succeeding in the depiction of various facets of musical colors and contrasts, the pianist's emotional and lively performances delighted the all-ages audience that filled the Romanian Athenaeum's hall.

During an intermezzo in which the pianist prepared for the final piece in the program, my colleague, Cristina Comandașu, manager of Radio România Muzical and the initiator of the "Heirs of Musical Romania", project took the scene. As a follow-up to Alina Bercu's performance, she spoke to the audience about the pianist's journey in Romania and then about her international career, emphasizing the importance of a project that supports young talent and Romanian performers who have important careers abroad.

Cristina Comandașu:

"What does 'The Heirs of Musical Romania' mean? A public radio station displaying its support of young talent. Most European public radio stations dedicated to classical music have such programs, because one of the purposes of public radio corporations is to discover and support national cultural values. Because national cultural values define a nation and give meaning to society, and because excelling in high culture requires a lot of hard work, rigor, emotional and intellectual investment, and a public company in service of the Romanian people must support the values that represent us all. It's important to support our authentic cultural values, which, in fact, means supporting an undisputable talent, supporting a huge, invisible effort. An international performance level is obtained through a great amount of work and it means a degree of representation that puts all of us, here, in Romania, on a map where a Romanian pianist, Alina Bercu, performed, places where only the greatest musicians in the world have access to - Carnegie Hall in New York, the Vienna State Opera, or Tonnhalle, in Zurich, among others."

The event was a great success. Last evening, at the Romanian Athenaeum, Alina Bercu received standing applause from an entire hall of people, and repaid them with an encore, Danzón No. 2, a piece by Mexican composer Arturo Márquez.

Now that we're at the end, I propose reading some reviews from the audience at Alina Bercu's recital last night.

"Beautiful! We're glad that we can see Alina Bercu on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum again after so many years and I think this is very important for all classical music enjoyers!"

"I liked it a lot! It was my first time seeing Alina and it was incredibly beautiful! I think every one of us feels and lives music in a certain way and Alina felt like she lived it to it's fullest extent. Judging by her movements and gestures, you could see how she lives music, doesn't just play it. She really lives it and she passed the feeling on to us. It was all on another level!"

"It was extraordinary and I loved the 25 minutes of uninterrupted playing. It was extraordinary! But what I liked the most was the song at the end, from Mexico. It was very dynamic and it made me imagine a dance with a lot of people."

"Extraordinary, wonderful! Last night, I was listening to an interview at Radio Romania Musical and I heard about the concert. I thought the tickets would be sold out, but I was happy to discover that there were a few seats left. I came here with my son and husband and it was an extraordinary concert, I loved it! I admit that I hadn't heard of Alina Bercu, but she was deeply impressive! I thought the repertoire was well chosen and the performance was extraordinary!"

"I thought it was a very hard performance and she prepared for this moment for a long time to impress the entire Romanian Athenaeum, and I think she succeeded. It truly was a memorable evening for me and, probably, for the rest of the audience as well."

"It was beautiful, I loved it! I'm from France and I come to Bucharest once a year. It's a great honor to come to the Athenaeum to see a musician, a famous artist. And I really managed to hear and picture the images and effects she described before every piece."

"I loved the way her hands moved. They were so fast, but at the same time made a very beautiful song. Somehow, she made me think music captures images, too!"

Photo: Ioana Hameeda Chiriță