At the National University of Music in Bucharest, a concert of baroque music is being held today, 21^st of November 2023, at 7:00 pm, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the birth of composer Carl Friedrich Abel (born in Köthen, Germany, on the 22^nd of December 1723). Find out more about the event from harpsichordist Fernanda Romila, with whom Sarah Natsis has spoken to:

Ms Fernanda Romila, perform in this concert dedicated entirely to Carl Friedrich Abel, one of the forgotten names of the Baroque. How did the idea for this event come about?

Tonight's event is the idea of a student of the National University of Music, namely Yuri Surguciov, who had the passion to take up the viola da gamba. He also chose the programme that will be performed tonight and he also had the idea that in the hall programme we will have a quote for each piece where the audience can learn about Abel's fame in his time and how much he was admired for his virtuosity.

Tell us about the musicians who will take the stage of the Enescu Hall with you and about the special instruments that will be played on this occasion. In addition to the harpsichord, we also talk about the violone, viola da gamba and baroque violin.

I am very happy to announce that the National University of Music finally has a gambist - Yuri Surguciov and a violinist - Iacob Panighiant, who is actually a double bassist in the National Radio Orchestra. He is passionate about baroque music. He comes all the time and he also helps us in our university's baroque orchestra.

So, you hear tonight, for the first time, the first students of the university playing these instruments - viola da gamba and violone, both with six matte strings, it wasn't easy for them to switch from metal to matte - and also Anastasia Pasat, who we'll certainly hear more about, also very passionate about baroque music, she also changed the matte strings very recently, with the undersigned, on the harpsichord, who just supported their project.

We are actually living a historic moment tonight. I've been waiting for it for a very long time and I'm very happy about it, so I invite everyone with the greatest pleasure to come and listen to a full Abel programme. It's a national premiere as well. This year there has been no Abel concert. And to tell you why, the level of difficulty is quite high, i.e. it is a music that is required in the gambists' license programs in the European community and why not to say, Yuri Surguciov is an extraordinary talent, because he has only started this instrument six months ago, thanks to Istvan Csata.

I would like to thank this wonderful gambist (Istvan Csata), who is also the principal double bassist at the Transylvania Philharmonic in Cluj. He also noticed Yuri's talent and immediately lent him an instrument, because he had no instrument at that time. My thanks go to then to the player, i.e. Mr Istvan Biro, who had the confidence to leave his instruments here at the National University of Music, then to the pro-dean, who supported this idea with great enthusiasm, to the lecturer Adrian Buciu, who is also the conductor of the baroque orchestra, and last but not least to the conductor Gheorghe Tănăsescu.

All these people have participated in what is happening tonight and perhaps the moral of the story is that it doesn't just take a good idea or an initiative - which is not lacking in Romania - but maybe sometimes there is a lack of people to support this idea.