PRESS RELEASE THE OPENING CONCERT OF THE INTERNATIONAL TOUR "CARMEN SYLVA – 180" AT PELEȘ CASTLE IN SINAI

On the occasion of the 180th anniversary of the birth of HM Queen Elisabeth of Romania, the Association for Music, Art and Culture, in partnership with the Peleș National Museum, the Carmen Sylva Cultural Center and Sinaia City Hall and the George Enescu National Museum in Bucharest, is organizing the opening concert of the international tour "CARMEN SYLVA – 180".

Sunday, October 1, 2023, at 4:00 PM, in the Music Hall of the Peleș National Museum in Sinaia (2 Peleșului Street), the opening concert of the international tour "CARMEN SYLVA – 180" will take place, a concert that will be performed by Rodica Vică – soprano (Austria/Romania),
Maria Bîldea – harp (Romania/Greece) and Silvia Irina Zimmermann – literary historian, translator and illustrator (Germany/Romania). The concert program will present pieces by George Enescu, Agathe Backer Gröndahl, Clara Faisst, August Bungert, Nicolae Bretan and George Stephănescu and readings from the literary work of Queen Elisabeth of Romania (Carmen Sylva) in a selection by Silvia Irina Zimmermann from the original German volumes and from the Romanian translations by George Coșbuc, Dimitrie A. Sturdza, Adrian Maniu and Silvia Irina Zimmermann.

The pieces in the concerts in Sinaia and Bucharest will be performed by harpist Maria Bîldea on the historical Erard harp, which at the beginning of the 20th century (approx. 1935) was in the music salon of the Romanian Royal Palace and was played by the Italian-born harpist Elodia Casseli Coandă. Passionate about historical interpretations, harpist Maria Bîldea followed the Romanian route of this unique harp in the world, acquired it and managed to bring it back to life, sending it to London, to the Pilgrim manufacturing workshop, for a complete restoration. Thus, thanks to the desire and perseverance of harpist Maria Bîldea, the historical harp will resound again in two of the most emblematic and prestigious salons in the two cities: Peleș Castle and the Museum of Art Collections.

Participation in the event is free, within the limit of available seats, with mandatory reservation of the place at the e-mail address: peles.ro@gmail.com. Public access to the Concert Hall is on the north terrace of Peleș Castle.

The international tour is co-financed by AFCN – Administration of the National Cultural Fund. The project does not necessarily represent the position of the Administration of the National Cultural Fund. AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the project results may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.

More information about the international tour CARMEN SYLVA – 180 can be found on the website www.carmensylva.musicarte.ro.

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About the tournament:
The year 2023 marks the 180th anniversary of the birth of the poet Carmen Sylva – Queen Elisabeth of Romania. Thus, on this occasion, musicians and people of culture have come together in this project to pay tribute to Queen Elisabeth of Romania: Rodica Vică – soprano (Austria/Romania), Silvia Irina Zimmermann – writer with numerous biographies about Carmen Sylva (Germany/Romania), Maria Bîldea – harp (Romania – Greece), Adela Liculescu – piano (Austria/Romania) and Mara Dobresco – piano (France/Romania). The project creates an extraordinary literary-compositional panoply, on a European geographical expanse that includes the countries: Romania, Hungary, Austria, France, Germany and Italy, this panoply being given by the location of the numerous composers who chose to compose music on the verses of the poet Carmen Sylva. Through intense and relevant research in the field, the project places itself at the forefront of soprano Rodica Vica's musical research projects, building, through her research at the Austrian National Library in Vienna and the "George Enescu" National Museum in Bucharest, a chronological thread of the works written by Carmen Sylva and set to music by the composers performed in the 5 concerts. The international tour CARMEN SYLVA – 180 starts in Sinaia, in the Music Salon of Peleș Castle, passes through Bucharest, in the elegant spaces of the Museum of Art Collections, makes a stop in Vienna – in one of the elegant music salons of the Old City Hall, continues at the Roentgen Museum in Neuwied – the birthplace of Queen Elisabeth of Romania and ends in Venice – the romantic city where the Queen was in exile. These locations were not chosen randomly, but are the places where Queen Elisabeth of Romania was born, lived, traveled or was in exile.

About the artists:
RODICA VICĂ is a guest soloist of many operas and philharmonics both in Romania and abroad, being considered one of the most interesting voices of her generation. The soprano made her debut on the stage of the Bucharest Opera in 2010, and later collaborated permanently with this institution, performing main roles in the operas The Magic Flute (Queen of the Night) and Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) by WA Mozart, Rita by G. Donizetti, Rosina in The Barber of Seville by G. Rossini, Alcina by G. Fr. Handel, etc. Rodica Vică is the winner of numerous awards at national and international competitions: 1st Prize at the International Baroque Music Competition "La Stravaganza" Cluj-Napoca, 2nd Prize at the Romanian Radio Competition "The Road to Fame", the Award for the Best Musical Interpretation within the Trophy
"Ion Dacian" for Young Performers, etc. Soprano Rodica Vică's current artistic activity includes the world premiere of the oratorio The Undead by George Enescu with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin at the Konzerthaus Berlin under the musical direction of Gabriel Bebeșelea, the OTP Bank Gala at the Bela Bartók-Müpa Hall in Budapest, Canto Barocco at the Teatro La Fenice, Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria with the Accademia
Bizantina conducted by Ottavio Dantone at the opening of the Varazdin Baroque Festival, La Lumiere Comique at the Budapest Early Music Festival and BaRockIN' Transylvania with the Musica Ricercata orchestra, Matthäus Passion by JS Bach under the baton of Cristian Măcelaru at the Romanian Athenaeum, Poemes pour mi by Olivier Messiaen with the Transylvania Philharmonic under the baton of Cristian
Mandeal, concert during the Oedipus Month in London, evening included in the events preceding the premiere of the Enescu opera at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Also, recent and upcoming engagements include the debut as Violetta Valery in La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, an innovative international JAZZT Vivaldi tour, special participation in the George Enescu International Festival, the international chamber tour designed to celebrate the genius of Romanian composers “Romanian Music Journey”, special participation in the baroque opera “Indiile galante” directed by Andrei Șerban, the launch of the production “only ONE Diva allowed” at the Kultursommer Wien festival, etc. Rodica Vică's discography includes two CDs, the first produced by the Capriccio record label with the absolute recording of George Enescu's oratorio The Ghosts (The Ghosts) and the second, Stars in the Sky released at the end of 2018 at the Musikverein Vienna – a multicultural and unique project that includes a collection of lullabies from around the world, alongside the famous zither player Barbara Laister-Ebner, soloist of the 2018 Vienna New Year's Concert. More information about the work of soprano Rodica Vica can be found at www.rodicavica.com

MARIA BÎLDEA was born in Bucharest and began studying the harp at the age of 8, at the George Enescu Music High School. At the age of 12, she already gave her first recital and at the age of 18, she gave her first concert as a soloist at the Romanian Athenaeum. After graduating from the Bucharest Academy of Music, in 1986, she obtained the position of principal harpist at the Ploiești State Symphony Orchestra. In 1988, she was invited to Greece by the Thessaloniki State Orchestra. She was a member of the Thessaloniki orchestra until 1990, after which she went to Athens, invited by Manos Hatzidakis, and hired by the Orchestra of Colours. Since 1993, she has also been principal harpist at the National Symphony Orchestra of the Hellenic Radio and Television. Maria Bîldea established, in 1988, the first harp class at the Thessaloniki State Odeion (Thessaloniki Conservatory), and in 1992 at the Athenaum Odeion (Athens Conservatory). She has performed with the largest orchestras in Romania and Greece, has given recitals and master classes in Romania, Serbia and France, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, USA, Spain, Cyprus, Slovenia and in Greece, at the archaeological sites in Athens. Throughout her career, she has collaborated with Sir Neville Marriner, Michel Plasson, Vangelis, Horia Andreescu. She performed the music of Eleni Karaindrou for the film "Dust in Time", together with her husband, violinist Sergiu Nastasa, and "Alexander" (directed by Oliver Stone, music by Vangelis). She also founded the "Aeolian Harps" quartet and is a founding member of the "KYKLOS ENSEMBLE". She participates in the "Armonia Atenea" orchestra, performing on historical harps, recently recording Lv Beethoven's "Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus" with Decca. More information about the artist Maria
Bildea can be found on https://harpadepoveste.ro/maria-bildea/ SILVIA IRINA ZIMMERMANN studied German philology, English, art history and sociology at the universities of Sibiu and Marburg and is a doctor in German literature from the University of Marburg with a doctoral thesis
about the literary work of Queen Elisabeth of Romania (Carmen Sylva). In 2012, she initiated the establishment of the Carmen Sylva Research Center of the Princely Archives of Wied in Neuwied, which she heads honorably, and is
editor of the Carmen Sylva Research Center collection (11 volumes published until 2022). In 2013 she received the distinction of the Royal House of Romania: "King Michael I. Medal for Loyalty". She has published numerous volumes in German, English and Romanian about Carmen Sylva and the time of the Old Kingdom, including monographs in German and Romanian about the literature and life of Queen Elisabeth of Romania (Carmen
Sylva), coordinated scientific volumes and translations of specialized articles from Romanian into German about the Old Kingdom period, the complete German critical-scientific edition of the correspondence of the royal couple Carol I and Elisabeth, the complete German critical-scientific edition of the correspondence of King Carol I with his father, Prince Karl Anton of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1866-1885), anthological editions of literary texts with critical bibliography (in English and Romanian) from the work of the writing queens of Romania, Elisabeth (Carmen Sylva) and Maria. She is the author of the volumes in Romanian: Regina poetă Carmen Sylva: Literatura în serviciul Coroanei (ed. All, 2013), Regele Carol I în opera Reginei Elisabeta (ed. Curtea Veche, 2014), Reginele scrieitoare ale României, Elisabeta (Carmen Sylva) și Maria (ed. Corint, 2021). She has edited the Romanian editions of Carmen Sylva's work: The Peleş Tales (ed. Corint 2016, 2nd edition added, 2018), Mr. Pulcinel (ed. Vremea, 2017), From the Ages. Historical Stories and Popular Legends (ed. Humanitas, 2018), Words of the Soul (with illustrations by SI Zimmermann, ed. Humanitas, 2022). She is the translator and editor of the volumes of correspondence: "With tender love, Elisabeta". "Always yours, faithful, Carol". The correspondence of the royal couple (together with Romaniţa Costantinescu, ed. Humanitas, 2 volumes, 2020–2021), Beloved Father and the Most Faithful Friend. The correspondence of King Carol I with his father (with illustrations by SI Zimmermann, ed. Corint, 2023).

Organizer: Association for Music, Art and Culture

Project co-financed by: AFCN – Administration of the National Cultural Fund In partnership with: Peleș National Museum – Sinaia, Carmen Sylva Cultural Center in Sinaia and Sinaia City Hall, George Enescu National Museum in Bucharest, National Museum of Art of Romania – Museum of Art Collections in Bucharest, Austro-Romanian Society in Vienna, Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna, Romanian Embassy in Austria and Amtshaus Hietzing – Vienna, Romanian Institute of Culture and Humanistic Research in Venice and Italo-German Association in Venice

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