Between the 7th of October and the 29th of November takes place the international event Stradivarius Opera held by the violinist Răzvan Stoica accompanied by his sister, the pianist Andreea Stoica.

On the 7th of October, the first recital is scheduled for the national tour Stradivarius Opera performed by the violinist Răzvan Stoica accompanied by his sister, the pianist Andreea Stoica.

We find out more information from the interview the young violinist gave to our colleague, Ioana Țintea.

Mr. Răzvan Stoica, may you tell us why Stradivarius Opera? How you have come to the idea of presenting some pages from well-known opera works in the chamber variant?

It is a project which we thought about many years ago, but because of the pandemic situation, we could not accomplish it. We had thought to bring together on the stage the two worlds that generally never meet, respectively the opera and the chamber music. I believe that over time, opera`s arias have represented an important source of inspiration for the composers who wrote virtuoso pieces for the violin and piano, and I believe that in a way, they have tried to lend from the sonority of the human voice to the violin. In this way, wet hought to bring these arrangements of opera works on to the theater`s stage.

How is broadly the musical program of the recitals shaped?

We will have representations from famous works of Rossini such as "Tancredi", "Bizet: Carmen-Suite, "Eugene Onegin " by Tchaikovsky, the famous " Meditation from Thais" by Jules Massenet, and, at the end of the recital, we will also perform a ballet - "Pulcinella-Suite" by Igor Stravinski.

Who stays behind the musical arrangements?

Behind the musical arrangements are distinguished violinists, such as Jascha Heifetz at Bizet-Carmen or Leopold Auer at Tchaikovsky and, of course, Niccolo Paganini, who was in love with the opera and tried to make these arrangements by being good friends with Gioachino.

Tell us what the tour itinerary will be.

We start on October 7th in Brăila, at the "Maria Filotti" Theater; then, October 12th in Bucharest, at the Bragadiru Palace; we leave in western Romania, toward Satu Mare at the State Philharmonic on October 20th; next is Sighet, Galati - October 29th, at the "Nae Leonard" Theater. And then we will make a short break in Spain, in Gandiniand Valencia on November 11th and 12th, before returning to Iași, to the Romanian National Opera, on November 14th. We will end the tour at the Luxembourg Philharmonic on November 29th, just near the Romanian National Day. We are also trying to finish the tour and celebrate national day in advance by two days.

Since 2009, you have been playing on a Stradivarius violin valued at over 5 million euros. What's its story?

It is an extremely beautiful story. I won the right to use the Stradivarius 1729 ex-Ernst violin, as a result of winning the Stradivarius Prize competition in Salzburg, and at this time I have the right to play the violin for more than 15 years. The contest was won twice. It is a beautiful story because the first play of the recital, "I Palpiti- Introduction&Variations " by Rossini, I understood that it was performed or even premiered on this violin played by Paganini. It's an original and beautiful story.