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Romania through international eyes

Two of Bucharest's leading orchestras ñ the Chamber Radio Orchestra and National Radio Orchestra ñ have once again been commissioned to perform with soloists Daniel Keintzy (saxophone) and Peter Handsworth (clarinet). Music ensembles from abroad such as Caput (Iceland), Leipziger Streichquartett (Germany) and Musica Danubiana (Slovenia) have been engaged to perform, and their acceptance of Lerescu's invitation

demonstrates, once again, the importance of this festival with new music performers across Europe.

Not only does the festival boost Bucharest's local economy with the arrival of performers and composers from across the globe but also the event enables constructive relationships to be formed between Romanians and performers from abroad. One such relationship has been between clarinettist Peter Handsworth, who is currently living in Melbourne , and composers Lerescu and Maia Ciobanu.

Some years ago Lerescu wrote a small solo clarinet work for Handsworth which has been performed in Australia on a number of occasions. Meanwhile Ciobanu is racing against the clock to finish her Clarinet Concerto, which will be premiered by Handsworth and the National Radio Orchestra at this year's festival.

And while I am on the topic of Ciobanu's music, Electrecord has recently released a CD of this important composer's work. The recording covers music composed between the late 1980s and the late 1990s, and features her Symphony no. 1 Journal '88, Three Sculptures for String Quartet and Journal '99 for violin and tape. It is a good representative sample as each piece represents a different stylistic approach and demonstrates the composer's desire not to be hemmed in by one musical influence. The symphony draws heavily on the impressionistic temperament and is by far the best work on the disc; while at the other extreme is Journal '99, which has an electronic soundscape that incorporates a good dose of film music tendencies.

The performances are also very impressive, particularly the professionalism of the student orchestra from Wuppertal. Equally as convincing is the sound engineering from Tudor Florin Cazan. The title of the CD is Journey through my Life (1), which indicates that a second volume is currently being planned. Let us hope Ciobanu's next CD comes out soon.

Joel Crotty lectures in music at Monash University, Melbourne and writes music reviews for Melbourne's foremost daily newspaper, The Age.