The 'Magic Summer' Festival, organised by Lanto Communication, continued at the Romanian Athenaeum yesterday night, on 24^th July, with a concert given by the 'Wave' Marimba Quartet, consisting of Bogdan Băcanu, Vladimir Petrov, Emiko Uchiyama and Christoph Sietzen. The ensemble was founded in 2008 by Bogdan Băcanu, marimba professor at the 'Anton Bruckner' University in Linz, and the other three percussionists are his students.

It was a special concert, both due to the novelty of the marimba sound, an instrument that does not feature on concert stages too often, and due to the innovative juxtaposition of four such instruments; everything was topped off by the musicality, expressivity and virtuosity of the four musicians. From pianissimo to fortissimo, from slow tempos to fast-paced ones, the members of the 'Wave' Quartet make up a very homogenous ensemble, whose performance exudes the joy of making music.

The programme included compositions and transcripts by Josh Groban, Rüdiger Pawassar, Carlos Gardel, Daniel Wirtz, Astor Piazzolla, full of harmony and expressivity, as well as a deeply profound work by Japanese composer Minoru Miki, 'Marimba Spiritual' for marimba and three percussionists, written between 1983-1984 as a wake-up call for the great number of people who had died in Africa because of famine.

As it happened during their performance last year in the 'Magic Summer' Festival, the audience at the Romanian Athenaeum applauded the 'Wave' Quartet and the Romanian Youth Orchestra conducted by Cristian Mandeal alike.

The festival continues on Wednesday, 31^st July, with a recital given by maestro Valentin Gheorghiu and his guests, pianists Roxana and Valentina Gheorghiu, violinists Gabriel and Simina Croitoru and cellist Marin Cazacu.