The National Opera in Bucharestishosting on Tuesday, December 12th, 2023, the concert-show entitled "Music of the Romanian historical film". Nicolae Gheorghiță, vice-rector of the National University of Music in Bucharest and vice-president of the Union of Composers and Musicologists from Romania, gave us more information about this event, in a discussion with Sarah Natsis:

Mr. Nicolae Gheorghiță, a film music performance will be held on the stage of the Bucharest Opera House in which the Representative Orchestra of the Ministry of National Defense will perform, led by Colonel Aurel Gheorghiță and Captain Daniel Metea. Tell us about the program prepared for this occasion.

Thank you very much for the invitation to present this wonderful project that the National University of Music in Bucharest in partnership with universities of music and arts in the country, but also with the Union of Composers and Musicologists from Romania and ANF, is running this year. It is the first time that we had the chance to identify in the film music archives music composed before 1990. On this occasion, we managed to organize, not only an international symposium attended by important personalities from the field of European film music research and The United States of America, but also, to organize this very special event related to Romanian film music.

The event will take place on December 12th, at the National Opera in Bucharest and, as you rightly mentioned, the Representative Orchestra of the Ministry of National Defense will be invited - it is the leading orchestra of our army. And the music that this orchestra will present are soundtracks from six Romanian historical films - Pe aici nu se trece, Noi, cei din linia întâi, Ștefan cel Mare - Vaslui 1475, the well-known, Mihai Viteazul, Osânda și Pistruiatul. Basically, we are talking about six soundtracks that belong to important musicians such as Tiberiu Olah, Adrian Enescu, Theodor Grigoriu or Horia Moculescu.

I would add one more very important thing - these soundtracks will enjoy screenings from the mentioned films and on the stage of the National Opera will perform, apart from our guest musicians from the army orchestra, musicologists and actors. I would like to list them because these people will make it possible for the event to be very special in the landscape of cultural and artistic activities of the capital. I am referring to Mrs. Ioana Pavelescu, maestro Vlad Radescu, Cristian Șofron, Ștefan Velniciuc and the composers and musicologists Valentina Sandu-Dediu, Olguța Lupu, Horia Moculescu, George Natsis and me.

How will public access to this concert-show be achieved?

Public access to this concert will be based on invitations. And as the entire event is educational, which will serve the universities' research activities, these tickets will not be sold. So, based on the invitations.

In conclusion, I would like to ask you why do you think it is important to reintroduce Romanian film music composed before 1990 in the concert circuit?

First and foremost, I consider it an important step in the recovery of a treasure that has been, for more than several decades, ignored. And, secondly, for the fact that we manage on this occasion to reintegrate ourselves into international research in the musicological area, to present completely remarkable things that our musicians and members of the Romanian Composers Union produced before 1990. It is a fertile ground, and I believe that in this sense both the concert and the research that took place this year will make Romanian music, in general, much better known, not only in the country, but also outside our country.