On Friday, March 29th, pianist Adela Liculescu and Cristina Munteanu on harp will perform on the stage of the "Oltenia" Philharmonic, together with the Symphony Orchestra of the Craiova institution. We learn some important ideas about this event from the philharmonic's manager, Ivona Stănculeasa.

Adela Liculescu is invited to the Craiova Philharmonic for the concert on Friday March 29th. How would you describe the local reputation of this increasingly internationally acclaimed pianist?

Adela's return to the concert stage in Craiova is always a joyful occasion because Adela is coming home and the emotion of coming home is something very special. Practically, we know Adela since her early years of studies, because here she started to decipher the mysteries of the piano with the help of her teachers Mariana Ilie and Mihai Ungureanu. Then she continued her career with aplomb on the international stage, graduated from the University of Music in Vienna and we proudly learned that she was selected to become an official Bösendorfer artist. So, for us, Adela Liculescu is a successful example of the Craiovian piano school, which has produced over the years entire generations of artists appreciated at the highest level and not only on national but also international stages.

Maybe that's why we took this decision, that in September, a competition that started timidly in the 80s, the "Dinu Lipatti" International Competition, will come back in the musical life of Craiova in September.

Do you already have a jury? Do you already have some concrete dates?

Yes, we do. At the moment, we have also established the jury for this competition, which will include both Romanian pianists and legendary names of the international performing arts. I can tell you now that the jury includes Dana Borșan, Mihai Ungureanu, Csiky Boldizsar, together with Vincenzo Balzani - the president of the jury, Denis Pascal, Leonel Morales, Andreas Frölich. So, we are talking about big names in the performing arts, who will be on the jury of the "Dinu Lipatti" Competition in Craiova in September, and we are convinced that this project will have a beautiful echo among young performers.

Returning to Friday's concert, "From Baroque to Pop" is the title of the evening. How do you see these combinations of such different musical languages and how do audiences appreciate them?

The two soloists of the evening, both Adela Liculescu, our renowned pianist, and Cristina Munteanu, are part of the musical life of Craiova.

Cristina Munteanu has spent a lifetime on the stage of the Oltenia Philharmonic performing harp music both as a soloist and in the symphony orchestra. So this heartfelt project brings her to the position of soloist on Friday evening, and the proposed programme is, as you say, very generous. A romantic harp that crosses different eras of music history - from baroque to pop, from past to contemporary, because the harp is a beloved instrument with multiple expressive valences, which has earned a well-deserved place both on the concert stage and in listeners' preferences. In fact, if you think about it, a harp score at first glance looks very much like a piano score. And practically at the end of the evening, this Concert No. 1 by Liszt, which crowns the expressive possibilities and virtuosity of the king instrument of the concert stage, the piano, gives us the opportunity to listen to Adela Liculescu, in all her strength now as a young performer appreciated and applauded on great stages.