|
|
Valentin Radu: Baptism By Fire Vox Ama Deus presents Handel’s Acis And Galatea
Friday, February 17, 2006
Kimmel Center
"Today is Mozart’s 250th birthday", declares Valentin Radu, Founder, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Ama Deus Ensemble and Vox Renaissance Consort. The recognition of January 27 is coming from the musician who in 1984 inaugurated the newly re-built organ of the Imperial Chapel of Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna. The original organ was built in 1721. During Mozart’s twelve years as Vienna’s Court Musician, Mozart himself performed on the instrument. In 1985 Radu recorded the first and only LP on the famous organ with Presidential approval by Rudolph Kirschlager.
Valentin Radu’s accolades go as far back as his
debut concert at age six. "I am not bragging, but in
my homeland I am a very famous person" says Valentin
behind a veil of smoke from his cigarette. On
December 20, 2005 the Romanian artist received the
title and cross of "Grand Officer of The Cultural
Merit" (Romanian equivalent of the French Legion of
Honor or British Knighthood) in recognition of his
life achievement in the arts and his efforts as
"Cultural Ambassador" of Romania. Radu became the
seventh and youngest recipient of this most
prestigious award in the history of Romania. "They
now call me "Sir"", says Valentin with pride in his
voice.
Valentin’s credits not only land in classical music.
In December 1998, he conducted the 97-member
Bucharest Philharmonic in a Gershwin Centennial Gala
concert, featuring the Rhapsody in Blue (Dan
Grigore as soloist), An American in Paris and
Porgy and Bess. Since May 2000, Radu has
conducted sold-out jazz concerts with his jazz group
Sound, featuring singer Teodora Enache and
Romanian jazz legend Johny Raducanu. "Back in
communist Romania under Ceausescu jazz was not
allowed at all. Anything American was decadent, jazz
is American and was not permitted in any form. I
could only learn it from audio tapes we would get
from the underground. You always had the fear of
being heard in a basement" Valentin explains.
During his masters program at Juilliard he was asked to fill in at the last minute for the pianist in the Manhattan Quintet lead by Wynton Marsalis. Having never played in a "real jazz" situation before, Radu armed himself with his Fake Book and sat down to play. He did so well that he was asked to replace the pianist that he filled in for. Radu calls it his "Baptism by fire".
"To me music is a kind of professional faith. I do
music not just for entertainment purpose but with a
mission to teach young people who only listen to
Rap, for example, they have no clue that other music
exists. The reason why it is called classical
music is because it has been around for hundreds
and hundreds of years. Unfortunately, what I see in
this country, and it bothers me greatly, is that
interest in classical music is declining. It’s a
real crime. The value of music rests with the
classical."
"There were a lot of bad things about communist
Romania. But the one good thing that the governments
of all communist countries did was their heavy
support for sports and arts. Why? Those were the two
areas that transcend politics, regional, and
historical boundaries, and they could brag about it.
They couldn't brag about economic factors because
they were in deep trouble; they couldn’t brag about
a political system - they were a dictatorship. They
couldn’t brag about tourism because of the
restrictions on the West. What was left?
"I was fortunate when I lived there, I was famous
and they were showing me off. I started the only
privately organized chamber orchestra which was a
strange concept. I had to put it under the auspices
of the Bucharest Philharmonic. I did that, and the
money was flowing. The only problem was the choice
of music I could perform. Everything had to be
approved by the authorities. We weren’t allowed to
perform sacred music because God is taboo in
communism. So there was never Handel’s Messiah.
In this country I can do as I please but I don’t
have the funding. I have to do a lot of fund
raising."
From the age of communism to the age of fables... On
February 17, 2006 under the direction of
Maestro Valentin Radu, the Ama Deus Ensemble
presents "Acis and Galatea" by G.F. Handel at
the Kimmel Center. This presentation will be the
first time the Baroque opera is performed in the
city of Philadelphia and at the Kimmel Center. In
1997 Maestro Radu also led the Romanian National
Radio Orchestra in its premiere of "Acis and
Galatea" in its original English.
"I would like to see the classical music tradition in Philadelphia rise to the level of the fame reputation that the City of Brotherly Love has as being a cradle of Liberty" says Valentin. How could you not agree?
Richard Greene
Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers:
A Reference Guide
Richard
Greene is an educator
(public policy and social
statistics) along with being
the creator and webmaster
for
Classical Music Recordings
of Black Composers: A
Reference Guide. A
resident of Ardmore, he has
developed one of the most
comprehensive lists of
accomplished Black composers
whose achievements are, for
the most part, ignored in
the classical world.
We are sitting down to lunch at Azure Restaurant in Northern Liberties on what turned out to be the one year anniversary of philadelphiaclassicalmusic.com. One of Richard's passions is classical music. "There was always music in our house growing up. My father’s choice of music leaned towards classical; he listened to Scheherazade a lot and to the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.
I started piano lesson when I was five and went through a positive rebellion when I was twelve and started playing the violin. There was just something about the sound of strings".
Classical
Music Recordings of Black
Composers has been online
for almost eight years. It
now includes recorded works
of 130 composers. In the
1970's, CBS released a
collection of nine records
of Black Composers. The
impact from this music had a
profound affect on Richard.
"All of my years of playing
strings, I’ve never heard of
these guys. In terms of the
late 50's and 60's, the
civil rights movement is
part of who I am. I never
thought of extending it into
my musical life. It opened
my eyes". This new awareness
exposed Richard to the work
the Detroit Symphony was
doing with composers like
Hale Smith, T.J. Anderson,
and Nigerian composer Fela
Şowándé,
in the late
1980's.
Researching and collecting information about the composers and their work, in this information age is not easy or readily available. "Most of the information I find is through detective work in libraries". While he admits that he didn’t do this to take on the cause of Black classical musicians, he finds himself in that role at times. "I recognize I am a rare individual with this focus. I get calls from musicians asking if I could help them. I am also exposed to a lot of new talent. This season, for example, the Chamber Music Society will present a concert by Imani Winds. I like them very much. There is a lot of talent in that group. I also have composers send me information on recordings I didn't know about".
The decision to call the site Classical Music Recordings of Black Composers wasn’t an easy decision. "It’s unfortunate that composers have to be labeled as Black composers as opposed to just composers. The label is a necessity, however, to bring attention to the work of these musicians in classical music. Most of the composers are European trained and carry on those traditions. You don’t hear this music and say "he must be a black guy." Instead, you hear the period of Bach, of Mozart or the period the composer is from".
