On Saturday, November 23rd, 2024, the Romanian Athenaeum hosts a chamber concert performed by Trio Alpha, an ensemble made up of violinist Valentin Șerban, cellist Ștefan Cazacu and pianist Ioan Dragoș Dimitriu. Ioan Dragos Dimitriu talks about this event in an interview with our colleague, Ioana Țintea.

Ioan Dragoș Dimitriu, you will perform on the big stage of the Romanian Athenaeum with violinist Valentin Șerban and cellist Ștefan Cazacu. How was this chamber formula, Trio Alpha, created?

I think that the foundations of our trio were actually laid in the world capital of music, in Vienna, because there we met after a very long time and since then we have started to collaborate in the true sense of the word.

What does the name Trio Alpha mean and what are the main artistic values that define this chamber ensemble?

We thought a lot about a name for our trio, but we wanted to move away from the classical norms where we took a name of a part such as adagio or allegro or the name of a composer. And then we thought that what we want to convey is excellence and the fact that new beginnings resound in people's hearts and minds. That's why we chose this name of Alpha, to symbolize innovation and...we set a certain standard in the chamber music world in Romania.

In the program you propose to the audience there are opposites of Rahmaninov and Ceaikovski, creators between whom there was a deep artistic and human relationship. How is this link reflected in the selection of opposites?

Regarding the program, we realized even during the rehearsals that, in fact, Rahmaninov quotes Ceaikovski a lot in Elegiac Trio no. 1, first of all by the fact that both trios also contain that funeral march, which is the main theme of these two trios and, in terms of structure, they are very similar to the two trios; of course, the Rahmaninov trio being a little shorter.

Elegiac Trio no. 1 was composed in Rahmaninov's youth and, although it is a short work, it is extremely intense, anticipating the strong lyricism that would define his style. How would you describe this opus?

As you said, it is a certain lyricism, it is a depth that Rahmaninov highlights. It is a score, although short, extremely loaded, reaching some heights... it goes to extremes. We start from a very quiet state and we reach the paroxysm, a terrible despair, and then this Rachmaninoff trio ends, as I said, with a funeral march that brings everything back on a very quiet line and says goodbye to something that once was.

It is known that the Trio in A minor by Ceaikovski was composed in memory of Nikolai Rubinstein, and the manuscript features the dedication "In Memory of a Great Artist". From your perspective, how do you perceive the piano section in this work and what challenges does its interpretation bring?

From my standpoint, it seems to me that it looks a lot like a piano concerto, if I may say so, because it is indeed a difficult score and it took an extremely long time to prepare. But at the same time, it's so rich and so diverse - at one point but we have a mazurka, we have a waltz... That's my personal opinion. I think Ceaikovski tried to touch a great deal of aspects of the life of the artist to whom he dedicated this work and to highlight the many facets of this artist's life. And that's why we have a very rich palette. It reflects very much this spirit of friendship between the two and the sadness that remained behind, but also the celebration of life, of the beautiful moments during the life of the two artists.

Finally, what is the atmosphere you intend to create for the audience at the Romanian Athenaeum?

As I said, we want to launch this trio with the idea of innovation, new, something beautiful but quality. At the same time, I think the three of us enjoy very much the fact that we can also make music together in this wonderful, absolutely phenomenal hall.

What we want to convey first of all is that we enjoy life, we enjoy music and everything that is most beautiful every day of our lives.