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CARPATIKA
ROMANIAN MUSIC
"... A unique musical journey. Passing with equivalent delight
from a traditional register to early 20th century Romanian
composers, Ana-Maria Bell and Paul Staicu brought the
audience warm fulfillment, thanks in particular to the
forthcoming joy which animates them in their interpretations…"
La Dépêche du Midi
Ana-Maria BELL & Paul STAICU
The program they propose
structured in three sections.
is
First of all the genuine countryside
music, about which Bartok said "it
teaches us the unparalleled density
of expression".
The second part is dedicated to
brilliant pieces based on folk
inspiration which were played by
the greatest interpreters (Jasha
Heifetz, Ginette Neveu).
The route then quite naturally
leads to the works of G. Enescu
and B. Bartok – an elaborate
synthesis between folk music and
formal composition.
Skilled in these musical styles and entertainment, Ana-Maria Bell and Paul
Staicu conquer their public by their commitment, virtuosity and creativity.
Trailing the route of secular migrations, they embark us on a journey through
Transylvania, the Carpathian Mountains and down to the Black Sea. They
momentarily stop over in cities along the way to revive the atmosphere of
oriental general stores, alive with the scent of Baklava and Sachertorte one
could taste in these old-fashioned, Parisian-like cafés.
A high-level, entertaining concert by two virtuoso interpreters highly
welcomed at each of their appearances
Contact : Philippe POUZET 06 85 83 30 23
ARTHEMUS CONCERTS 01 43 74 96 91
[email protected] Site : http://www.arthemusconcerts.com
Entertainment entrepreneur license n°2-1003446
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PRESENTATION
Major historic events sometimes entail unforeseen results. The 1989 fall of the
Berlin wall has triggered a series of startling consequences all over Europe – socially,
politically, economically but also culturally. Actually, this proved to be the starting point of
a new trend : rediscovering the cultural treasures of the Eastern half of a continent which,
although part of who we all are, may have remained at least partially unknown.
From a musical standpoint one of its single most interesting characteristics is an
incredibly abundant ethno musicological legacy that has been preserved, virtually
unchanged, over several centuries. A remarkable oral tradition thrives unabashedly from
generation to generation of exceptionally gifted eastern populations. Diverging from
Western habits that have long favored writing in just about everything – music included –
East European tradition has efficiently preserved oral purity.
There are Bulgarian types of folklore, Serbian, Romanian, Hungarian, Russian types
etc., not to mention a range of variants and nuances according to each region of these
countries. Incredibly pure, they all carry the unmistakable pathos of authentic creative
vigor. The ensuing, truly distinctive fertility remains alive in the genes of successive
generations. No wonder that for more than 15 years now these forms of musical creation,
so close geographically but so surprisingly different are being delectably recognized and
appreciated. After centuries of independent evolution and a few decades of forced
alienation, they are finally properly reinstated as chief European forms of culture. As
Romanians, we are thoroughly thrilled – if remotely amused – that these treasures should
be rediscovered : they are only new in the West.
Our goal here is to present a certain number of popular forms and then to scrutinize
their influence on formal musical creation ; while at it we will uncover a number of
personalities of the Romanian school of composition. "Serious" repertoire (Bartók’s
Romanian Dances, Enescu’s Sonata in Romanian folk character) is balanced with lighter
pieces : Hora Staccato, Pacsirta, Alouette, as well as genuinely traditional themes (chants,
violin and piano). This will provide the audience with an occasion to get in touch with
parallel realities of Romanian music and fully appreciate its rhythmic, melodic and
harmonic depth.
Contact : Philippe POUZET 06 85 83 30 23
ARTHEMUS CONCERTS 01 43 74 96 91
[email protected] Site : http://www.arthemusconcerts.com
Entertainment entrepreneur license n°2-1003446
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THE ARTISTS :
Ana-Maria Bell-Deveselu, violin
A violinist with multiple facets, Ana-Maria Bell is similarly at ease in classical
music, world music and singing. Born to a family of musicians, she studies violin
in Bucharest in the practice of George Enescu and David Oistrach. She plays her
first recital at age 13 at the Bucharest Philharmonic and participates in several
national and international contests. She pursuits her studies in Paris and then at
the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with a postgraduate solo course
cycle. Ana-Maria Bell performs regularly as a soloist in France and abroad : Salle
Gaveau, Théâtre de la Ville, Toulouse Capitole, Flâneries Musicales in Reims,
Amsterdam Bachzaal, Massy Opéra, Musée d'Orsay, Théâtre Mogador, Radio
France, Théâtre de la Criée in Marseille, Salle Poirel in Nancy... Her engagement in the arts connects her
with other artistic fields (Shows, Theater and Contemporary ballet). She performs as a soloist in dance and
theater shows such as Alfredo Arias’ "Le Faust Argentin" or Christine Bastin’s "Siloé".
Featured on various media (France Musique, France Culture, France Bleue, France3, TV Roumanie TVR1
and TVR Cultural) she authors the musical conception and interpretation of a France Culture broadcast
later awarded the "Grand Prix de Radio-Scam" distinction. Recorded as a duo with Dorel Fodoreanu
(Enescu Quartet cellist), her last CD is dedicated to works inspired by central Europe folklore (Kodaly,
Bartók, Schulhoff).
Paul STAICU, piano
Hailing from a family of musicians of which he represents the third generation,
his studies begin at age five: piano, harmony, counterpoint, musical analysis,
composition and arrangement, classical as well as jazz. He pursues these studies
at the highest level, at the Bucharest Academy of Music – piano and composition
– as well as CNSM in Paris – composition and jazz. Here he obtains the
Composition First Prize in 1994 and the Jazz Superior Diploma in 1996.
Miscellaneous activities include, among other things, internationally touring the
musical comedy show DUEL (featuring Laurent Cirade on cello), concerts with
the Montbéliard Orchestra under conductor Paul Staicu, with the Gironde
Orchestra under Scott Sandmeier, touring the JMF Gershwin Rhapsody show (with soprano Anne Guinaud) ;
first performances of works at Radio France, the Grand Palais, at the CNSM, touring the Carpatika duo
(with Ana-Maria Bell on violin) specializing in Romanian music, concerts and entertainment all over France
as well as abroad (Romania, Italy, Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lebanon, the US,
Mexico, Venezuela, the Philippines…) Concerts and master classes with Michel Portal, Martial Solal,
Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, André Ceccarelli, Daniel Humair, Didier Lockwood, Dave Liebman, Steve
Coleman, etc. He participates in several editions of the festival Banlieues Bleues, as a soloist with George
Russell and his Living Time Orchestra, at the Cité de la Musique, at the Halle That Jazz festival with
François Jeanneau and the jazz big band of the CNSM, at the Villette Jazz Festival with the Carla Bley Big
Band. In 1996 he records George Russell and the Living Time Orchestra's album "It’s About Time" for
Label Bleu ; solo piano on "Living Time", the first version of which was originally recorded by G. Russell
with Bill Evans in 1972. Albums "Miage" and "Soul Role" of the Stéphane Guillaume group, as well as the
"Days of Composition" CD (CNSM/SACEM) are a few of his recordings. That same year he establishes his
two groups - a trio and a septet with which he tours since. The CD recording of these groups, "VALAH",
came out in 2001 under Crystal Records/Melody. He also is the initiator of the jazz class at the Ecole
Normale A. CORTOT of Paris.
Contact : Philippe POUZET 06 85 83 30 23
ARTHEMUS CONCERTS 01 43 74 96 91
[email protected] Site : http://www.arthemusconcerts.com
Entertainment entrepreneur license n°2-1003446
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AMONG THE WORKS IN THE PROGRAM :
- Medley of traditional melodies/dances (Sîrba, Doina, Hora…)
- Traditional chants from Transylvania
- C. DIMITRESCU : Peasant Dance op.15
- C. PORUMBESCU : Ballad
- G. DINICU : Hora Staccato (arrangement by J. Heifetz)
- G. ENESCO : Third Sonata for Piano & Violin in Romanian folk character op.25
- Béla BARTÓK : Six Folk Romanian Dances op. 56
* * *
Contact : Philippe POUZET 06 85 83 30 23
ARTHEMUS CONCERTS 01 43 74 96 91
[email protected] Site : http://www.arthemusconcerts.com
Entertainment entrepreneur license n°2-1003446
5
Constantin DIMITRESCU (1847-1928) Romanian composer, cellist and professor.
After his studies in Bucharest he travels to Vienna for postgraduate work under Carl Schlessinger (cello)
and subsequently to the Paris Conservatory under Auguste Franchomme (cello also). His entire career as a
performer and professor takes place in Bucharest.
As an instrumentalist he performs in the National Theater and Romanian Philharmonic symphony
orchestras and teaches the instrument at the Bucharest Conservatory. He is an active promoter of chamber
music – in 1880 he founds the first permanent string quartet in Bucharest.
As a composer he is best known, among other things, for his seven string quartets, several instrumental
concerts, musical comedies, operettas, vocal music and choir arrangements, etc.
- Originally written for cello, Peasant Dance op. 15 is directly inspired by folklore and enjoys immense
echo among Romanian musicians. Sometimes referred to as scholastic and sometimes conversely as easy
music, the piece has been abundantly transposed and adapted for miscellaneous instruments – to become,
in a sense, one of the hits of this repertoire. Compositional treatment here remains minimal, thus leaving
the ethnic source of the two main themes noticeably audible – in what would be a kind of "level one" of
popular inspiration. Here it is rendered in its violin and piano version.
Ciprian PORUMBESCU (1853-1883) Romanian composer, choir conductor and philosopher.
A bit of a wunderkind, he begins studying music very early on, continuing in Suceava (Northern Romania),
and then at Konservatorium für Musik in Vienna. Here, his harmony master is Anton Bruckner in person.
At the same time he continues to study philosophy, in Romania as well as Vienna.
Key features of his music – melodic transparency, folk character and accessibility – are the ingredients of
the large success he was met with while still alive. Major sources are folklore – from villages as well as
cities – but also romance and Austrian operetta which he integrates in a unified whole.
- In 1880 he writes his Ballad for violin and piano, one of a handful of 20th century Romanian works to
defy time and become a classic. The piece combines elements of typical Romanian chant doina with those
of contemporary romance in romantically driven instrumental writing, lyrical and very emotional. It also
presents a higher level of creative intervention on the part of the composer, thus transcending a little more
the initial purity of the specific ethnic source.
Grigoraş DINICU (1889-1949) Romanian violinist and composer.
In Romania the name Dinicu is a synonym for all forms of music. No less than three major personalities of
that family have contributed equivalently in the classic and folk realms. Grigoraş is the second brother in
the dynasty. A natural genius prominently gifted for concerting and improvising, he masters the violin with
the perfection of a Carpathian Paganini for whom everything seems so inconceivably easy. Throughout his
life he collects, transforms and reshuffles popular themes which he then sublimates into novel forms. His
long international tours help popularize this folkloric inspiration in the entire world. In the process he
stuns some of the great classic interpreters of his time – for example Jasha Heifetz vows him timeless
friendship.
- His most famous composition, Hora Staccato, was composed in 1906. With its strong popular
inspiration the piece is immediately interpreted by countless Romanian and foreign musicians of all walks
of music. Two illustrious versions stand out : Jasha Heifetz’s arrangement for violin and piano and Pancho
Vladigherov’s orchestration for large symphony orchestra. Today, without exaggeration the tune is part of
the Romanian national psyche much in the vein of count Dracula’s legend… The composer here
extensively and rather freely applies personal stylization to a number of musical phrases and ideas truly
typical of southern Romanian folklore.
Contact : Philippe POUZET 06 85 83 30 23
ARTHEMUS CONCERTS 01 43 74 96 91
[email protected] Site : http://www.arthemusconcerts.com
Entertainment entrepreneur license n°2-1003446
6
Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945) Hungarian composer and pianist.
One of quintessential personalities in the Eastern European national music stream, Bartók formally trained
at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest. A committed nationalist, his name is a synonym for constant,
thorough and systematic study of the musical folk heritage in Transylvania as well as the East-West
crossroad laden with musical treasures, the Mediterranean Basin. This ethno musicological collection
became the foundation of one of the most original 20th century bodies of work. In it he transcends and
refines the ethnic sources of the material into the purest, most skillfully recreated musical essence. In this
respect Bartók is a timeless pioneer. Among the repertoire of Romanian inspiration one would primarily
cite Oriental Dance op. 54, Twenty Romanian Christmas Carols op. 57, Nine Romanian Popular Chants
op. 59, Five Melodies op. 61 and of course the
- Six Romanian Folk Dances op. 56. Originally written for piano, the piece symbolizes the work of
Bartók. Apparently very simple, it takes close analysis to expose its characteristics : respect of the original
structure, use of an open harmonic system, individual inventiveness sprinkled between the lines of original
melodies, intact freshness of the sound root. It would be hard to find a subtler balance between a given
source and its compositional rendition. It perfectly illustrates Bartók’s credo: «popular music is the exact
opposite of art as seen from a personal standpoint ; its manifestations are by definition eminently collective».
George ENESCO (1881-1955) Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, professor and conductor.
According to Pablo Casals, Enescu is a genius of music as much as Mozart. An authentic, naturally gifted
and hard working wunderkind, he studies successively in Romania, in Vienna and then Paris. His masters
are Ambroise Thomas, Massenet and Fauré, to name a few. Internationally acclaimed as a virtuoso
interpreter, Enescu also shines as the unchallenged leader of Romanian composers. Profoundly influenced
by, and fond of, folklore he tends to commandingly sublimate rather then directly evoke it (his two 1901
Romanian Rhapsodies for symphony orchestra are prominent exceptions). His entire work essentially aims
at a superior form of synthesis in European music. The angular stone of this, mobilizing all resources
during 30 years, is his opera Oedipus. The highly original syncretism he attains in his creation
unfortunately as yet doesn’t seem to have been entirely assimilated.
- In 1926 Enescu composes his Third Sonata for Piano and Violin, op. 25, in Romanian folk
character. Doubtlessly this is where his genius springs unchained. Folkloric influence is sublimated to a
point where themes, entirely invented, simultaneously integrate the ethnic prosody and the structural
rigors of the classic sonata form. While sound is profoundly Romanian, form is as universal as it ever gets.
Almost improvised in appearance, the musical material is nonetheless rigorously elaborate. The result is
nothing less then unprecedented amalgamation between two seemingly incompatible musical concepts,
unified by the composer in a coherent, organic and profoundly musical whole.
Contact : Philippe POUZET 06 85 83 30 23
ARTHEMUS CONCERTS 01 43 74 96 91
[email protected] Site : http://www.arthemusconcerts.com
Entertainment entrepreneur license n°2-1003446