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An Interview with Radu Chișu, the Concert Master of the 'Royal Camerata' Ensemble
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
, ora 9.27
‘The talent and passion for music of the members of the ‘Royal Camerata’ ensemble, performing in a dignified Romania, represent a great calling card.’ – His Royal Highness, Prince Radu of Romania
The Royal Camerata is a symphony ensemble consisting of young musicians, whose presence on the Romanian stages is more and more significant. They have created and developed original projects, such as ‘Royal Sound’, ‘Great Soloists, Great Conductors’ and ‘Romanian Cultural Values’.
The Royal Camerata is on a tour in Switzerland these days. It will give two concerts (one in Zürich and one in Basel) within a fascinating project – ‘Romanian Cultural Values’. The Royal Camerata is one of the promoters of the Romanian creation, of the Romanian culture. For this event, the violinist and conductor Ștefan Horvath will play together with the Royal Camerata. Mr. Radu Chișu, could you please provide a few details regarding this tour?
What are the works included in the two concerts given in Switzerland?
Could you tell us what they are?
What will come next on the agenda of the Royal Camerata after this tour in Switzerland?
The Royal Camerata is a symphony ensemble consisting of young musicians, whose presence on the Romanian stages is more and more significant. They have created and developed original projects, such as ‘Royal Sound’, ‘Great Soloists, Great Conductors’ and ‘Romanian Cultural Values’.
The ‘Royal Camerata’ was invited to perform in numerous international festivals: the International Festival of Francophonie in Albania, the ‘Little Paris’ International Festival, the ‘Sergiu Celibidache’ International Festival, the ‘Musical Craiova’ International Festival, ‘Mărțișorul’ International Festival in the Republic of Moldova and ‘Musical Holidays’ International Festival in Piatra Neamț.
The Royal Camerata is on a tour in Switzerland these days. It will give two concerts (one in Zürich and one in Basel) within a fascinating project – ‘Romanian Cultural Values’. The Royal Camerata is one of the promoters of the Romanian creation, of the Romanian culture. For this event, the violinist and conductor Ștefan Horvath will play together with the Royal Camerata. Mr. Radu Chișu, could you please provide a few details regarding this tour?
First of all, I would like to speak a little about the project ‘Romanian cultural values’. This project is a partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute and the Romanian Embassy in Berne; its main objective is to promote the values represented by the Romanian musicians abroad. Our guest for this tour is the violinist Ștefan Horvath who is also the concert master of the Symphony Orchestra in Basel; it’s an honour that he accepted to collaborate with us for these concerts. In the future, we are going to invite other Romanian musicians such as Bogdan Zvorișteanu, Liviu Prunaru… and all those who hold important positions in orchestras abroad or are soloists, and who, in our opinion, should be promoted because they are true values of the Romanian people and we should be proud of them.
What are the works included in the two concerts given in Switzerland?
We’ll begin the concerts with St. Paul’s Suite by Gustav Holst; then, the soloist will interpret Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saëns in an arrangement for strings and soloist, Zigeunerweisen by Pablo de Sarasate. In the second part, the orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, in an arrangement for strings. Of course, we have prepared some special encores for the audience here.
Could you tell us what they are?
Yes, certainly. We have prepared Unison Prelude from Romanian Folk Dances by Bartok – the last three dances that the chamber orchestras usually play as an encore.
What will come next on the agenda of the Royal Camerata after this tour in Switzerland?
When we return to Romania, we’ll start rehearsals for our concert on Good Friday, 18th April: we’ll perform Mozart’s Requiem at the Romanian Athenaeum, in an extraordinary concert together with the Acoustic Choir and we hope that people will come to listen to us. On 10th May, the Royal Day, we’ll give a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum, when the pianist Andrei Licareț will be invited. Their Royal Highnesses Prince Radu and Prince Nicolae, as well as other members of the Royal family will attend the concert.
Irina Hasnaș
Translated by Mihaela Olinescu and Elena Daniela Radu
MTTLC, The University of Bucharest
Translated by Mihaela Olinescu and Elena Daniela Radu
MTTLC, The University of Bucharest
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