On Friday, March 22nd 2024, the pianist Toma Popovici will be able to be seen on the stage of the Radio Hall, in a concert he will perform together with the National Radio Orchestra. The artist tells us about the event, in an interview with our colleague, Sarah Natsis:

Mr. Toma Popovici, you have collaborated with the National Radio Orchestra in the past. How would you describe this ensemble and what feelings do you get from meeting the members?

There would be a lot to say. There are many of my colleagues from college and high school whom I found in the National Radio Orchestra. It was the first orchestra I played with when I was in high school in the 11th grade with the late maestro Paul Popescu, Bach - Concert in D minor, then during college I played the Imperial and I am happy and honored that in recent years I have been invited with a large enough presence to perform with the National Radio Orchestra.

The conducting will be ensured by maestro Gheorghe Costin. Have you ever been on the same stage at a concert in the past?

No, we were not together and I am very happy that I manage to collaborate with one of the most important Romanian conductors.

Please talk about the music program. What can you tell us about the works that make it up?

I was asked for the Paul Constantinescu concert. I got a call in November if I had the concert in the repertoire and I said no, but it can be done. And that's how I learned it, and I'm very happy to play it, because it's a concerto probably less known than others in the universal repertoire. It is a very beautiful concert, very melodious for the audience. I could say in one sentence to include it, a flower bed of Romanian spirituality. The beloved play and rhythmicity of the Romanian game, the nostalgia of the doina compositions the indefinable Romanian longing is painted with an almost cinematic vision in this piano concerto.

Beethoven's Eighth Symphony, a gem that lacks the monumentality of its neighbours, the 7th and 6th, but is a particularly beautiful symphony, a look back if you will to the minuet. It is the only symphony with a minuet, and of course that candor - filled tribute to the invention of the metronome in the second part of the symphony. I think the public will be won over and will be able to hear music perhaps not as frequently performed as other works, but just as valuable.