✨ From Vienna to Iași – The Elegance of Music, in Romanian Style
If Vienna welcomes the New Year with the splendor of waltzes and the refinement of its Philharmonic, then Iași – the historical, cultural, and spiritual capital of Romania – responds with the same nobility, through a gala concert dedicated to the soul of Romanian music.
🎻 “New Season Concert” – an international premiere with Romanian waltzes, polkas, marches, and quadrilles, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra Iași, under the baton of conductor Aurel Bălae.
🌟 And at the same time, during this historic moment, the Iași Philharmonia Orchestra is officially born – a new, ambitious orchestra composed of artists dedicated to excellence, aiming to present the Romanian musical heritage with the brilliance it deserves.
👑 Ion Ivanovici – The King of Romanian Waltz, is at the center of the evening. A genius composer, whose creations rival in elegance and depth with those of the Strauss family.
His emblematic work, “The Danube Waves,” has been erroneously attributed over time to Johann Strauss, although it is entirely Ivanovici's creation.
📯 This confusion only underscores his value: such refined music that it has been “confused” with that of the Viennese.
Unfortunately, neither this masterpiece nor his vast compositional work has been promoted commensurate with its merits – though for us, Romanians, he is what Strauss is for the Austrians.
In 1880, at the age of 36, he published in Bucharest the famous “The Danube Waves," a work that would be published by over 60 international publishers, included by Eduard Strauss in the repertoire of the Vienna Court Orchestra, and awarded in Paris in 1889.
📚 He composed over 350 works of dance and marches, yet after his death,
Ivanovici was unjustly forgotten.
Geopolitical isolation, his ethnic origin, and the lack of constant promotion have caused his legacy to fade.
👤 His biography has also not escaped oblivion: the year of his birth is not known precisely, and the place is vaguely described as "a forgotten village" near Timișoara.
He died on September 16, 1902, at the age of 57.
His name betrays the intertwining of identities in Banat, and in the earliest manuscripts, he signed as “Ioja” or “Ioța.”
🎺 It is not known how he became a band boy in the Band of the 11th Line Regiment in Galați, but his talent was quickly noticed. A self-taught musician, he had only one mentor: Emil Lehr.
🎼 His style, close to Strauss, is however unmistakable: full of Viennese ornamentation, but with deep roots in Romanian melodies – a combination that offers freshness and identity to each piece.
🎻 Alongside Ion Ivanovici, Ciprian Porumbescu – the soul of Romanian music – completes the picture of an evening of artistic reverence.
📜 Composer of the immortal “Ballad” for violin and orchestra and of the operetta “Crai Nou,” the first Romanian operetta, Porumbescu was a lyrical spirit, with an overwhelming talent, cut tragically short by illness.
🕊️ At just 29, he left behind a profoundly Romanian creation, inspired by folklore, the beauty of the Bucovina landscape, and national aspiration.
🎶 His music, warm, emotional, and filled with nobility, reveals remarkable artistic maturity for such a short life.
📯 Unfortunately, like Ivanovici, Porumbescu has not been valued to his true measure, being reduced in public perception to a few well-known works, while the rest of his oeuvre remains, still, undiscovered.
✨ That is why this concert is a historic moment:
In international premiere, the audience will have the opportunity to listen to “Coloane Romane” – a cycle of quadrilles composed by Ciprian Porumbescu, rediscovered and brought back to life on stage.
🎼 The quadrille is a European musical dance form, derived from French court dances, with a clear rhythmic structure and an elegant, festive character. In Porumbescu’s vision, the quadrille attains a specifically Romanian nobility, combining Viennese grace with rhythms and inflections inspired by the popular tradition.
🎶 “Coloane Romane” evokes, through its title and structure, a feeling of cultural verticality and historical roots, yet maintains the charm and ease of classical salon dance.
🎼 And the third notable name of the evening is Alexandru Flechtenmacher – composer, conductor, and educator, a fundamental figure in the formation of Romanian musical life in the 19th century – perhaps the most unjustly forgotten of the pioneers of Romanian music – completing this sonic triptych of the evening.
📜 Born in Iași in 1823, with studies in Vienna, Flechtenmacher was the first director of the Conservatory in Iași, founder of Romanian musical education, and author of the first Romanian operetta, Baba Hârca (1848).
He wrote symphonic, choral, and stage music, official and religious works, also acting as a conductor, educator, and cultural organizer.
🕊️ Although decorated by King Carol I, he died in 1898, forgotten and marginalized.
The New Season Concert revives his essential legacy today and reaffirms his place in the history of Romanian culture.
✨ And in international premiere, a series of quadrilles composed by Alexandru Flechtenmacher will be performed, works of remarkable elegance, influenced by the style of European salon dances, yet bearing the specific imprint of Romanian sensitivity.
This rediscovery completes the picture of an evening that not only honors the past but brings it with emotion into the present.
🎼 Most of the orchestrations presented in this concert bear the signature of composer and musicologist Ioan Dobrinescu, who painstakingly reconstructed these forgotten scores, restoring their orchestral splendor for today’s audience.
🌸 Just like in the tradition of the New Year's Concert in Vienna, the event will conclude with two special encores, meant to celebrate this historic evening with pomp:
“The Danube Waves” – in festive, emblematic interpretation, a waltz that connects the Danube of Vienna, Iași, and all of Europe.
“The March of Carol I” – presented in international premiere orchestrated for classic symphonic ensemble, a work written by Ion Ivanovici as a Romanian reply to the Radetzky March, vibrant, solemn, and filled with national pride.
🖼️ Also in premiere, the audience will have the chance to admire artistic reconstructions of the portraits of the three great composers, crafted expertly by Master Graphic Artist Bogdan Petry, based on the few existing historical photographs.
It is a gesture of visual reverence, meant to complement the sonic tribute paid to their memory.
🌸 This concert is not just a musical show.
It is a recovery of cultural memory, a celebration of hope, elegance, and continuity —
A musical toast for the renewal of nature and the soul, with the coming of spring.
📅 Friday, April 11
🕖 7:00 PM
📍 The Grand Hall of the National Theatre “Vasile Alecsandri” in Iași – in the heart of Romania's cultural and spiritual capital.
🎟️ Join an evening where Romania celebrates its own masterpieces with the dignity and charm of an evolving tradition, in the same manner in which Vienna honors its heritage.
🔗 Reserve your place and witness a tradition that is beginning to take root – right here in Iași, the historical, cultural, and spiritual capital of Romania
🎶 Be part of Iași's new cultural spring.
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