Although this is not the chronological order, I would like to start, please, with the New Year's concert organized by the CaleaVictoriei Foundation. I have read a remark from you that it is about female roles under the aegis of independence. I would like you to elaborate on that, please.

I don't know if it's a coincidence or the fact that these roles particularly appeal to me, but we are really dealing here with female characters who are very independent and who have, so to speak, the personality to be the center of attention and action. There is Isabella in Rossini's The ltalian in Algiers, who is, if you think about it, one of the most powerful women in the opera, because she goes off to travel the world in search of her lover, Lindoro, whom she finds, well, in Algiers, and manages to rescue him, to help him escape from where he was trapped as a slave in the court of an Algerian lord. We continue with Delilah, who is also an extraordinarily powerful person and aware of her charms, to use them to serve her people. Then we continue with Carmen. Of course, Carmen is for me the prototype of the modern independent, strong, uncompromising, woman, who, you see, is even willing to die for her principles.

So, here we are talking about famous arias that have this guiding thread.

Because it is a New Year's concert, do you think that the current historical context allows this kind of approach? For example, I think that a hundred years ago, it would have been a little bit more difficult to implement such a concept of such a concert, because I think it would have been a little bit less profound, a little bit more superficial, whereas now, after the whole history of the 20th century and the contemporary period, I think we realize that such archetypes - as you said yourself referring to Carmen - are as relevant as possible in modern and contemporary history.

I think maybe the way of looking at these roles has changed. I don't know if a hundred years ago, to quote you, people would have thought so much about the independence of female characters. However, they were written then, so they are not modern plays. I think it's about our freedom today to understand exactly the situations these characters were in. And it's our right today to look at them in that way and to outline them in depth, but of course on the basis of what was written and put on paper at the time.

As you rightly said, they were written a long time ago and they are still current. That is why they are masterpieces, obviously. Since you mentioned the score at the end, I would like to know - and here perhaps you could expand a little on current directorial conceptions, if you think it appropriate - what do you think the relationship is between the performer (stage designer, director... beyond the musicians on stage and in the orchestra) and the written score, with the actual indications? Do you think that we, as musicians, have a responsibility towards the text itself? Do you think there is more freedom than obligation? How do you view this relationship?

I think that for what is written in the score by the composer and possibly by the librettist - I say possibly, because there are operas in which the libretto is as valuable as the opera itself, as the music; there are other operas in which, let's say, the libretto is not as valuable as the music, but, in general, the opera is the result of these two creations, the text and the music - our responsibility as performers is to bring to life what is written in the score and to respect absolutely everything that is written there.

But on a different note, there are sometimes scores that have here and there various director's indications. These can be respected or taken as a hint, as... a sign of the author's intentions, but they don't necessarily have to be fully respected because, while the score is a classic that we interpret, the stage directions are often obsolete and the direction, the productions of opera performances have evolved a lot since a hundred years ago or two hundred years ago.

But if we want to ask about our obligations or our responsibilities or our freedoms as performers, I think that at the same time, once we have established that the score must be fully respected. The moment a creator has let his or her creation out into the world, it's basically the performers' terrain to, well, perform that work. So we also have the freedom to bring it to life through us, through who we are, through what we have to say. The performer must, in my view, also have the personality and the freedom and the intention to really give life to a score.

I am sure that there are creators who would agree with you, because otherwise it would have no life - you said it well, "we give it life". Another question, a little more pragmatic this time: what can you tell us about the concert on November 28th, which you will perform in Venice on Romania's National Day?

It's a concert I'm looking forward to. It's a wonderful opportunity to present voices that come from the wider Romanian area and that have already made impressions and careers abroad, but together with the Romanian Opera in Bucharest, and therefore with the opera orchestra, to present in Venice, in this magnificent "La Fenice" Theater, a gala to celebrate Romania's National Day, combining at the same time the idea of the "Puccini" Anniversary Year. I will be very happy to return to this theater where I have sung in the past with soprano Valentina Naforniță and tenor Ștefan Pop.

You started your answer with the idea of a career. As a young musician, I can't help but ask what advice do you give to young musicians who want to make a career in opera, for example?

First of all, I would say that the most important thing is to be absolutely dedicated, passionate, in love with your profession, your instrument, the music you want to make. This great passion that you must have for this belief of yours must be in line with a great confidence that you must have in this talent that God has given you. I believe that no one who knocks at the doors of this mastery would be there if they didn't have a talent, and talent, to me, equals calling. It is not just a set of skills, it is a calling. Basically, you have to answer that call with all your being and with all your belief that this is the way you have to go.

Having said that, I recommend patience to everyone. I find that our daily rush is becoming more and more pressing and there is a general desire to go high and far without realizing that there is a way there. To get very high very fast is not only improbable, it is also dangerous, because once you get to the top it is very easy to fall and much harder to stay there, and for that you need a foundation. We cannot build the house from the roof down.

So, I wish today's young musicians confidence, strength, hard work, passion, patience and, of course, a clear picture of what they want to do and where they really want to go.

Photo by Nicolae Alexa