Last Friday, on February 27th, the English conductor Timothy Redmond stood at the rostrum of the Romanian Radio National Orchestra and the audience at Sala Radio also had the opportunity to welcome back pianist Alexandra Dariescu.

The evening's program opened with the symphonic poem The Noon Witch, Op. 108, a work from the final creative period of Antonín Dvořák, in which the composer creates a cinematic atmosphere, the transformation of the orchestra's sonority following the story of the Czech folk ballad that underlies the program of the work.

In the solo part of the beloved Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 by Edvard Grieg, Alexandra Dariescu once again impressed with the virtuosity and grace for which she is appreciated and known by the public. Expressing her joy at returning to a Romanian stage, Alexandra Dariescu offered three encores, The Elf and the Mosquito by Florence Price, Prelude No. 7 in A major by Frédéric Chopin, and Polichinelle by Heitor Villa-Lobos.

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, it feels so good to be home!"- AlexandraDariescu

After the intermission, music lovers enjoyed a performance of the Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 by Johannes Brahms, in a version with tempi that were often somewhat too fast and with several imbalances between sections of the ensemble, yet one in which the dramatic scope and the expressiveness of the Brahmsian melodic constructions restored for us the beauty of Romantic symphonism.

Finally, here is how the audience present at the concert received the entire program:

"I liked it very much, it was very successful, there was a lot of emotion from all sides, at least that's how it seemed to me. I really liked both the soloist and the conductor. I'm coming back after a long time and I think I will return."

"We like Alexandra very much and the concert was very beautiful, wonderful."

Did you come especially for her?

"Not especially, but whenever she performs, it's an event."

"I'm not a typical listener, so I concentrated quite a lot. Honestly, in the first part I really entered a kind of magical zone. I immersed myself in the music and it carried me away."

"The encore program was very lovely and I think it suits her personality. And the concerto was very beautiful, of course, with a feminine touch compared to other interpretations we know. But it's beautiful, her personality is there."

"Exceptional! I liked it very much, and especially her presence, which is enchanting."

"What I liked very much is that she honors the country she left, that she often returns to Bucharest and especially to Iași, her hometown. I really appreciate that and you can see her joy."

"Extraordinary! I came here exactly for this concert. I love it immensely, and what I like most is the middle part, that adagio and those few minutes of rippling waters which are extraordinary. I don't know how Grieg had such inspiration it's hard to understand, but genius is genius and geniuses don't need to be understood, they only need to be appreciated. And in addition, Brahms's Fourth Symphony is again something special, especially the first movement, which I like the most."

"I thought it was very good. I'm a big fan of Brahms, especially the Fourth Symphony, which I like very much, and there were moments when the sound truly reached its peak today I liked it a lot. And the concerto before Grieg, of course, Alexandra Dariescu, what more can you say than that: sensitivity the last four or five minutes were absolutely fantastic."