The National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin" and the Roton Music Label release "The Holy Week" album - a moving music collection of orthodox inspiration, dedicated to the Easter Holiday.

The discographic project "The Holy Week" bears the famous sound imprint of the National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin", conducted by Cezar-Mihail Verlan. The repertoire chosen by the second conductor of the ensemble consists of compositions meant to express the symbolism specific to the Easter Holidays and particularly, the spiritual message of the week before the Resurrection.

"We are happy that, together with our Roton Music partners, we can offer a new musical and spiritual respite for this Easter, an important holiday in the musical memory of our choir of over 58 years. After the release of the Ave Maria album, which proposed masterpieces of Western sacred inspiration to the listeners, we now come up with a new discographic proposal consisting of works by Romanian composers, especially selected from the orthodox genre, extremely moving musical moments. From an artistic perspective, we wanted to create a bridge of hope and rebirth by joining the two generations of choristers from Romania, those from the Madrigal Choir and the children from Cantus Mundi, and thus to receive together Resurrection of the Savior, just as it should be, humbly and faithfully." - said Emil Pantelimon, manager of the National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin".

In addition to well-known works from the Easter-inspired musical bibliography, "The Holy Week" also contains a series of scores recently introduced into the repertoire of the National Chamber Choir "Madrigal Marin - Constantin".

"The selection of works for the "Holy Week" album - which contains music written by Romanian composers exclusively - had at its base the chronological thread of the events that took place during the period before the Resurrection of the Savior. We're starting this journey from Palm Sunday with the work "Axion on Palm Sunday" by Ioan D. Chirescu and end with the hymn "Christos anesti! Christ is risen!" by Gavriil Musicescu. We hope that through the sonority and the emotion of the Madrigal Choir, together with the voices of the children from the choirs of the Cantus Mundi National Program we'll reach the souls of the listeners and manage to stop for a moment together to reflect on the symbol of salvation." - said Cezar-Mihail Verlan, second conductor of The National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin".

One of the most profound and moving musical moments captured on this album is that of the Requiem - which is traditionally chanted on the Good Friday and which is symbolically recreated by joining the sound of the National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin" with that of the voices of children from the choirs of the Cantus Mundi National Program, as a musical and emotional bond between generations.

The "Holy Week" album is part of the discography series prepared by the Madrigal Choir for this year's Easter Holidays. The "Ave Maria" album was released in March together with the Roton Music Label, an album dedicated to the Easter celebrated by the Catholic and Protestant believers.

The "Holy Week" CD is available for orders on the Madrigal Choir website, in the Shopsection, and starting from April 15th it can be purchased from the Cărturești Bookshops, the Muzica Store and the OMV and Lukoil gas stations all over the country, on the digital platforms Spotify and Apple Music, and soon on the YouTube channel.

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The National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin" is a symbol of the Romanian and universal musical life. Since its establishment in 1963 by the conductor Marin Constantin (1925-2011), the Madrigal Choir performed in over 4.500 concerts acclaimed in the whole world, imposing itself as a real "national brand". It is one of the global standards of chamber choral music, with a repertoire directed towards the European Renaissance, Byzantine music and the Romanian and universal contemporary creation.

In November 2016, the National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin" was officially recognized as Ambassador for Liberty, Hope and Peace, receiving the "Jean Nussbaum and Eleanor Roosevelt" award at the Palace of Nation in Geneva, within the Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security. This year, the Madrigal celebrates 58 years of uninterrupted activity, being one of the most long-lasting and appreciated European choral ensembles.

The Cantus Mundi National Program is the largest program of social integration through music from Romania, initiated by the renowned conductor Ion Marin and carried out with the involvement of the members of the National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin". After 10 years of activity, The Program reunites over 1.660 choirs under its umbrella. Almost 60.000 children and young people, together with their conductors participate in the promotion of choral singing throughout the country, overcoming barriers of ethnicity, social status and physical or mental abilities, thus building complex cultural cores, so necessary for the revitalization of our society.

Roton Music is one of the first and most successful independent record labels in Romania, established in 1994. Artists such as Compact, Mădălina Manole and Laura Stoica joined shortly afterwards, and in 1996 Roton Music was already a well-known brand recognized in the Romanian musical industry.

The first international collaboration came in 1996 with ToCo, being followed by foreign artists such as DJ Bobo, Sylver, Ingrid and the young Armin Van Buuren, who first achieved success in the Romanian charts. Between 1996 and 2004, a lot of Romanian artists started their careers at Roton Music. Among these are Akcent, Simplu, Voltaj, Hi-Q and Proconsul, just a few of the great names who stood out in the Romanian musical world.

In 2010, Roton Music artists such as Akcent, Inna and Fly Project were already famous names on the international market. This trend continued with Antonia, Amna, Alexandra Stan, Radiokiller, Manuel Riva, and by 2016 the Romanian artists have conquered more international charts than those from other Eastern European countries in the last 15 years. Starting with 2020, Roton Music has been collaborating with the National Chamber Choir "Madrigal - Marin Constantin", with whom they already produced three albums dedicated to the Winter Holidays which had great success with the public.

Roton Music continues to deliver quality sound to the public and "to set the tone" not only in Romania, but also abroad.