Mr. Mihai Irimia, at the end of this week, the Brașov Opera presents to the public three performances of the "Rising Star" concert, all of which will be held behind closed doors. What did you think of the organizer of the traditional Christmas concert?

Let me start by saying that it has really become a tradition for our Opera House to perform absolutely all of its performances behind closed doors. This has been happening for almost two years and to our joy, it's a confirmation of the fact that what is happening on the stage of the Brașov Opera House is extremely beautiful and attracts th eattention of our audience. As you said, it is a traditional concert, a concert that combines Romanian carols with international songs specific to Christmas an dobviously, also with songs of the same genre from our repertoire. It is a concert designed in two parts, which will be conducted by maestro Andrei Tudor. Another thing that has become traditional is that in recent years, the Christmas concert has been conducted under the baton of maestro Andrei Tudor. It is also a concert in which, in addition to my colleagues - I will mention a few names: Mădălina Bourceanu, Aurelia Florian, Anda Pop, Carmen Topciu, Cristina Radu, Asineta Răducan, Adrian Dumitru, the under signed Mihai Irimia, Alexandru Chiriac, Valentin Marele, Marin Rește, Alin Anca - soloists from our institution and colleagues from the Ballet Ensemble - Ariana Marcu, Teodor Pătrașcu and Claudiu Dane will be present on stage. Adrian Nartea will be the host, and our special guests will be Marcel Pavel, Alexandra Crișan, Bogdan Ota and as always, the Brașov Opera has young people with us - our guest is Ioana Mîrți, a student of Anda Pop, who is in charge of the performance of our concert from a musical point of view with maestro Andrei Tudor. Also, the Unison Choir, conducted and managed by George Dumitrașcu, will complete this show together with the Orchestra and the Choir of the Brașov Opera House. Everything will take place in three evenings that we consider fantastic together with our beloved audience.

As you said, the program includes Christmas carols from the Romanian and universal repertoire. Does it include both traditional carol approaches and modern arrangements?

The carols are traditional, and the arrangements, the way they were rehearsed, are somehow close to the modern approach, where obviously, at this time of the year, the traditions and the traditional way of singing them will be essential. The arrangements belong to maestro Dan Pavelescu and maestro Andrei Tudor. I really want to tell your listeners: Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!