It's summertime, it's hot outside and the people who haven't left Bucharest, at the Romanian Athenaeum, on Thursday, 22^nd August, 2012, were able to listen to a new concert during the Magic Summer Festival, a festival which all through the summer season delighted us with increasingly tempting recitals and concerts.

A Pianist of Extraordinary Maturity

I was happy to see our very young friend, pianist Cadmiel Botac, on the playbill of the event, as the soloist of the Romanian Sinfonietta Youth Orchestra, which is assembled and conducted by maestro Horia Andreescu. You certainly know Cadmiel Botac - the winner from two years back of the 14-18 years old age section of the Piano Competition during the Lipatti Days. I have never listened to him live before, but the recordings I have listened to gave me the reason to believe from the start that we are dealing with a very talented pianist. And I wasn't wrong in my conclusion on Thursday night, when Cadmiel presented to the audience of the Romanian Athenaeum, the 'Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 25 for Piano and Orchestra' by Felix Mendelssohn. Even if I don't believe him to be more than seventeen years old, Cadmiel Botac showed in his performance that he is a gifted artist with an extraordinary maturity: the way he tackled the piece showed a great intelligence in capitalizing every possible connection on the keyboard. Perhaps I should first talk about his impressive technique, which inevitable lead to a distinctive touch, capable of portraying the glamour but also the delicacy of Mendelssohn's score. The young man's involvement was so obvious that it was impossible not to live together with him the beauty of that piece.

He obviously conquered the audience, who demanded an encore. He chose 'Étude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12' by Frédéric Chopin. Here too the young pianist's technique was a winner. He chose a very quick tempo for this last piece. Still, I feel that the dynamic palette was a little monotonous, perhaps because he started with a very powerful forte nuance that did not give him the chance to rise afterwards. Anyway, Cadmiel Botac, the pianist from Sighet about whom we can say that was discovered in Bucharest by Radio Romania Music, is a young man with a promising future ahead, and who we will be watching with great interest.

Romanian Sinfonietta - Worthy of Praise

The other two operas that framed Mendelssohn's Concert was the 'Hebrides Overture' by the same composer and 'Symphony No. 2' by Ludwig van Beethoven. I nervously watched the young men and women who make up the Romanian Sinfonietta. First of all, I'm glad that the number of youth orchestra is growing in Romania and I truly hope this phenomenon catches on. Despite some slight, unavoidable slip-ups, they were commendable. Their first steps in orchestral music were firm and energetic and as they gain more and more experience, they will be better and better. It's clear to the naked eye that they want to learn, which was obvious in the way they were watching their mentor, Horia Andreescu. The scores tackled gave some of them the opportunity to shine and I really want to mention it: I'm talking about a young clarinettist who distinguished himself with a highly expressive timbre and with some excellent solo moments. The same happened with two young women, an oboist and a flute player, who had an excellent connection between themselves and the orchestra. The brass band, especially the one with the horn, also had a very good performance.

Once again there were encores, which the young people conducted by Horia Andreescu eagerly offered: the overture to the 'L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers)' by Rossini and 'Libertango' by Ástor Piazzolla.

A well played programme, one more reason for you to go and watch, next week, the next event from the Magic Summer Festival, which will bring violinists Gabriel and Simina Croitoru on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum.