A disc released by the Dutch label Pentatone on November 3rd, 2023, on the cover: conductor Lawrence Foster, the Transilvania Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra from Cluj-Napoca.

On this disc: Transylvanian Dances, creations by Bela Bartok, performed by the Transilvania Philharmonic Orchestra from Cluj-Napoca, conductor Lawrence Foster. A formidable Romanian orchestra, together with an emblematic American conductor with Romanian origins, on an album released by an ambitious Dutch house, multi-awarded internationally - here is a real success, which brings together on the same album works by Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok, who talk about Transylvania from a Romanian and Hungarian perspective, so music becomes a bond for two communities with a common history.

From this perspective, what is the highlight of this recording is the recording of Bela Bartok's Profane Cantata. Bela Bartok's only vocal-symphonic work, written in 1930 following the lyrics of two Romanian carols from Mureș. Conceived inRomanian from the beginning, Hungarian and German, it was published in Vienna in 1934, however, only in Hungarian and German - and the Hungarian version is the one known today. Bartok wanted to write a triptych of works that would capitalize on the richness of the traditions of the three peoples - Romanian, Hungarian and Slovak - music he himself had collected and exploited. However, he only wrote the work of Romanian inspiration - this profane Cantata, which we can listen to on this disc in a rare version in Romanian. You will recognize Bela Bartok's deeply personal language - a synthesis between traditional and universal - but also a text of a philosophical complexity reminiscent of Miorița. We also have a performance of great days, which highlights this complex score, with numerous polyphonic moments and distinct sound planes: the Cluj Philharmonic Choir, prepared by Cornel Groza, and the Transilvania Philharmonic Orchestra from Cluj, soloists: tenor Ioan Hotea and baritone Bogdan Baciu, the latter, a product of the Cluj singing school at the GheorgheDima Music Academy. Conductor: Lawrence Foster.

An excellent idea: recordings made by one of the best Romanian orchestras nowadays - the Cluj Philharmonic, under the baton of an internationally renowned conductor, Lawrence Foster, for an important international house. The discography projects of the Cluj Philharmonic under the direction of Lawrence Foster debuted in 2021, with the release of the complete opera "La Fanciulla del vest" by Giacomo Puccini. In August 2023, a new album appeared - "Remembering Tebaldi": arias with soprano Melody Moore, an album nominated for the International Classical Music Awards. And on November 3rd, this Bartok-Kodaly album, already reviewed, among others, by the Sunday Times: "an obvious but at the same time inspired pairing, beautifully performed by the Transilvania Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, together with a team of superb soloists, under Lawrence Foster's baton. Kodaly's Te Deum is lush, turbulent and spiritual, while the expertly performed Psalmushungaricus has both universal and deeply local undertones."

The Budavari Te Deum was composed in Latin by Zoltan Kodaly in 1936; along with the Transilvania Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, soprano Luiza Fatyol, mezzo-soprano Roxana Constantinescu, tenor Marius Vlad Budoiu and baritone Bogdan Baciu participated in this recording.

The last work on this album released on November 3rd by Pentatone is Psalmus hungaricus op. 13 by Zoltan Kodaly, on a text in Hungarian based on a biblical psalm, which resonated with the state of mind of Hungarians in 1923, after the effects of the First World War.

A high-calibre interpretation, which relies on the excellent choir and the wonderful orchestra of the Transilvania Philharmonic from Cluj, with tenor Marius Vlad Budoiu as soloist, and the Junior VIP Children's Choir, which operates alongside the Romanian Opera of Cluj, as a guest. Marius Vlad Budoiu is, among others, a real creator of the vocal singing school at the GheorgheDima Music Academy in Cluj, from which he graduated; I believe that today the Romanian singing school in Cluj is a real nursery of talents who make careers on big international stages - soprano Luiza Fatyol and baritone Bogdan Baciu, also present on this disc, are the products of this school.

Top Romanian performances on a disc with important international circulation, which talks about Transylvania from a multicultural perspective, highlighting the various facets of the cultural heritage of this area with a troubled history - music becomes a link between cultures and a witness of history, and we, participants in a Romanian interpretative success to be proud of.