The exhibition series "Musicians in the N.C.S.S.A. Archive", proposed by Ioana-Raluca Voicu-Arnăuțoiu, continues in Constanța until the end of May 2025.

Mrs. Ioana-Raluca Voicu Arnăuțoiu, the exhibition "Romanian musicians in the archives of the former Securitate kept by N.C.S.S.A.", which you have organized, can be seen until the end of May at the National Military Museum "Regele Ferdinand I", Constanța branch. Who are the artists featured in the photo-documentary exhibition?

The exhibition is in fact a selection of a series of three exhibitions that I have done over the years for the George Enescu National Museum. This selection came in the context of the 9th of March, the Day of Former Political Prisoners. So we meet in the exhibition panels, alongside George Enescu of course - who is a central figure in Romanian music and in my exhibitions and who had a file on him kept by the Foreign Intelligence Service while he was in exile in Paris until his death - and other names, such as Mihail Jora, Paul Constantinescu, the great figures of Romanian music, but also people whose destinies were changed because they had been convicted and had served time in prison, such as the group of opera singers, which included Dinu Bădescu, Șerban Tassian, Valentina Crețoiu - great names of Romanian opera. They were the stars of the opera scene and, at some point, they ended up being arrested and convicted and of course, they had to withdraw from their artistic activity because their names were banned. In this way, their lives ended, in fact, in undeserved anonymity.

A special case is Antonin Ciolan, who, because he was the General Artistic Director of the Odessa Opera, was arrested and kept in the prison of the Ministry of the Interior for more than 6 months, being suspected of being a war criminal, which was ridiculous for an artist of his stature and considering the work he had done. Dimitrie Cuclin is also a special case. He was arrested at the age of 65 and sent to hard labor at the Danube-Black Sea Canal. These are very special cases, very special names in Romanian culture. People probably didn't know for a long time what happened behind the laudatory articles.

I would also mention the pianist Mîndru Katz who, because he chose to live in a country other than Romania, something that we cannot imagine today - that a man can be punished for wanting to live in another country - was sentenced in absentia for 15 years, which is why he could not return to Romania and his name was banned. He had an exceptional international career, but nothing has been known about him in Romania since 1959 when he left.

Among the musicians in the exhibition are Dinu Lipatti, Sergiu Celibidache, Constantin Silvestri, and Ionel Perlea - people who left Romania at various times, not necessarily during communism and not necessarily because of communism. Dinu Lipatti never came back to Romania, as did Silvestri, but Ionel Perlea came back to Romania with difficulty and conducted when he was at the end of his career. As for Sergiu Celibidache, we may remember his exceptional concerts in Romania in the late 70s. But the Securitate documents show that they were under constant surveillance, either abroad or when they were able to return to the country for their concerts.

What, in your opinion, is the role of information about the destinies of musicians during the communist regime in preserving the memory of these artists and what has been the public response to the previous conferences on the same subject that you have given?

I think that the information that I wanted to show through my articles, books and, obviously, through the exhibitions organized for the Enescu Museum, is important to understand that for more than four decades Romanian culture has not been present in the world's major stages because of restrictions that were part of an ideology that wanted to have absolutely everything under control, that suspected any gesture of freedom in people's creation, even in their interpretation.

It is very hard for us today to understand how difficult it was for people to move around and what it meant not to get an exit visa from Romania to go and perform. This visa was given directly by the Securitate. So, absolute control over the lives and activities of artists is something we have difficulty understanding. But perhaps if we look carefully at the documents which have been kept in the archives and which are now available to those who are interested, we can better understand what happened, why our place in world culture is, in my opinion, still today much diminished by the fact that for decades we were unable to appear internationally with the best people we had.

Last but not least, musicians have managed to create a high level of musical art in Romania and we know this today. Yes, so people who have had to face daily hardships, but also this exaggerated control over their lives, have nevertheless managed to carry out their artistic destiny to the best of their ability. And we have to admire them very much for their human side, for their courage, for their determination not to give in to the pressures that were put on them. And I think that they are an example for the younger generation of musicians and not only, for those who love music, who are up to date with what is happening in our musical and cultural life.

I can say that what I've written so far and the exhibitions have been of great interest, because people could not imagine how the Securitatesaw the lives of these musicians, how they were suspected as if they were villains, just because they did not want to share the ideas of the communist ideology. These things are hard to understand, but I think they also have an educational role. I mean, when we see these things, we realize that living in freedom is a very important thing and that freedom must be defended. Also, we have to be very attentive to what is happening around us and we have to have this vision of the recent past that we have overcome and of the exceptional examples that have existed in Romanian music.