The Radio Children's Choir will perform on Saturday, the 9th of December 2023, on the stage of the Radio Hall. The concert is dedicated to the most beautiful time of the year, the Christmas holidays. We find out more details about this event from Răzvan Rădos, the bandmaster of the Radio Children's Choir in a dialogue with Ioana Țintea.

Mr. Răzvan Rădos, the Radio Children's Choir will perform on Saturday, on the 9th of December, their traditional concert dedicated to the Christmas holidays. To begin with, I would like to ask you to tell us about the guest musicians that will go on stage of the Radio Hall with the children.

Saturday highlights the moment of the year when the Radio Children's Choir invites its audience to the Radio Hall for Christmas carols and songs. This year's edition is more special than others because we have a special guest; I am talking about a big name in children's choral music. I am talking about the "Symbol-Jean Lupu" Children and Youth Choir of the Romanian Patriarchate, led by Mrs. Luminița Guțanu-Stoian. You see, two important names - the Radio Children's Choir and the Symbol Children and Youth Choir - coming together. I believe it is a first in the history of these ensembles that they will be together on the stage of the Radio Hall in a large-scale concert. It has been sold out for over a month.

The joy is even greater as, in addition to the musical component, the children from both ensembles have created a very special musical partnership during this month of joint rehearsals. The members of the Boys' Ensemble of the Radio Children's Choir are also very enthusiastic. The Boys' Ensemble is the creation of my colleague Magdalena Faur, the pianist of the Radio Children's Choir. This very young choir evolves with each appearance and also evolves in terms of choral behaviour, as it is well known that in the choir we acquire more than music, we gain friendships, the joy of performing on the stage and, why not, progress in terms of both musicality and behaviour.

How will you describe Christmas, by the means of music, to the audience at the Radio Hall? What works have you included in the evening's programme?

We are going to include two covers for our colleagues from the Symbol Choir and the Boys' Ensemble, I mean the Radio Children's Choir. At the beginning of the concert we will include Romanian music and by the end of the concert - international music. Of course, there will also be well-known works and less famous ones. I am thinking about the famous Sus, boieri or După datini colindăm by Alexandru Pașcanu. And finally, Behold that star - a wonderful American carol and fragments of Britten's great A Ceremony of Carols. In the middle of the concert, some very special titles show up, that will be sang by both the Boys' Ensemble, which has a very special repertoire this year - excerpts from Viorel Munteanu's Christmas Suite - and the Symbol Children's and Youth Choir, which has accustomed us to a wonderful Romanian repertoire inspired by Christmas traditions.

I imagine that it is a much-anticipated event for children. How are the rehearsals going and how the emotions of approaching Christmas feel like?

We went through with the general rehearsal at the Radio Hall. The excitement is indeed at an all time high, but it is important to say it is positive. The month of December for the Radio Children's Choir means, with a few small exceptions, daily concerts, sometimes two concerts a day. So it is a complex and complicated month, why not admit it! But I think every artist who has prepared himself intensely experiences the joy of sharing as much as possible with the audience what they have worked for. The children are happy and look forward to all the recitals, especially Saturday night's at the Radio Hall. And, we think, it's all going to be just fine!

At the end of the concert, the latest album of the Radio Children's Choir will be presented. It is entitled "A Forest Story", published by Casa Radio. What titles does this compact disc include?

First of all, the work "A Forest story" that gives the title and which is a Gold awared recording in the Fonoteca Radio. It is a recording that was made by Mrs. Elena Vicică alongside the bandmaster Ludovic Bacs and the Radio Chamber Orchestra in 1981. Happiness is even greater as Mrs. Alexandrina Halicat, the one who is the reciter of this treasure recording, is invited to the release of this CD. In fact, the disc brings together works from the archive of the Radio Children's Choir, from the Radio Sound Archives, namely reference works, ones that involve nature, animal and plant life, and it is a very special disc both in this regard and as well as in the extraordinary level of the recordings.