In December, when all our thoughts are directed towards our loved ones, more now than in any other period of the year, they also merge with our childhood and youth memories. Maybe this was the mood that inspired the concerto held in the evening of December 30^th 2010 at the Romanian Athenaeum organized by the Lanto Arte Association. The musical programme entitled December Music Flavours - conducted by Cristian Mandeal - was performed by the members of the Youth Romanian Orchestra, the same orchestra we've recently applauded at The National Piano Contest Gala organized during the Lipatti Days events.

The ouverture of the opera, The Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini opened the evening - with a festive atmosphere suitable for the event. The communication between the conductor and the orchestra was felt throughout the entire concerto - from Hungarian Dance no.5 by Johannes Brahms and Dances of Galanta by Zoltán Kodály to Radetzky March by Strauss and the orchestral arrangements under the title Christmas Festival - orchestrated by Leroy Anderson from famous American carols, works that meant- through the vision of the performance - symbols of youth, expressed through an alert tempo, great enthusiasm and energy.

We have admired the sensibility and the variety of the timbre of violinist Ioana Goicea - the soloist performing The Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso op.28 by Camille Saint-Saëns and of soprano Iulia Maria Dan who interpreted the bolero The Cadiz Girls by Léo Delibes and the aria O mio babbino caro from the opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini. But the final moment of the December Music Flavours concerto was also the most applauded : a musical, semi-choreographed version of Tritsch Tratsch Polka probably inspired by the concertos of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel.