Reaching its fifth edition, the Organs of Romania National Tour returned in 2023 with twelve concerts throughout the country given by young organist Eduard Antal, continuing his exploration of the history of this fabulous instrument in the regions that make up Romania past and present, and inviting us to discover and rediscover a hidden cultural heritage via special recitals in Bistriţa, Jassy, Bucharest, Deva, Arad, Vinga, Reșița, Drobeta Turnu Severin, Cluj, Brașov and Chișinău.
In Romania’s churches there are more than one thousand organs. These represent a cultural heritage and tradition that is as rich as it is unfamiliar to the general public. The repertoire chosen by Eduard Antal offered a colourful panorama of how music has been composed over the centuries for the ‘Queen of Instruments’, including works originally written for the organ or adapted for it, drawn from both the Romanian and the universal repertoire.
This year, the repertoire had two essential elements: first of all, an emphasis on contrast—old/new, familiar/unfamiliar—and secondly the organ as a vehicle for sacred music. The programme of the concerts included works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Rheinberger, Duruflé, Jean Langlais, Jan Janca, Charles Tournemire, and Sergey Rachmaninov, as well as a unique arrangement of Freddie Mercury and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
I am extremely grateful that this project is continuing, I’m delighted at the popularity that the organ in general has gained thanks to these concerts, and the audience’s joy reinvigorates me and inspires me to tackle new repertoires.
Eduard Antal
Itinerary
14 May – Bistrița, Evangelical Church (preview)
2 July – Jassy, Roman-Catholic Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God
6 July – Bucharest, St Joseph’s Cathedral
8 July – Deva, Uniat Church of the Immaculate Virgin
9 July – Arad, Roman-Catholic Church of St Anthony of Padua
10 July – Vinga, Roman-Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity
12 July – Reșita, Roman-Catholic Church of Mary of the Snow
14 July – Drobeta Turnu Severin, Roman-Catholic Church of the Holy Virgin of the Immaculate Conception
31 July – Cluj, Roman-Catholic Church of St Michael, as part of the KlausenMusik season
26 august – Brașov, the Black Church, as part of the Organ Nights season
Organs of Romania Tour summer 2023
