Paganini - Angel Or Demon?

We are proudly promoting Alexandru Tomescu’s exquisite violin recital which will be held at Auckland Town Hall. The event is organised by “Romanian Cultural Institute” and our magazine “Romanian Pages in New Zealand”. The artist will play all 24 Paganini’s Caprices on a 309 year old Stradivarius violin which belongs to the Romanian State Patrimony. The show will screen a multimedia presentation in high definition. The ticket prices are more than affordable, so please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity by buying yours now at www.the-edge.co.nz or www.buytickets.co.nz (sale starting 5 October). There are also special discounted prices for senior citizens, students, children and groups.

Alexandru Tomescu is one of the “great violinist in the world” according to “Le Monde de la Musique” from Paris, “he is a violin superstar” (Berliner Morgenpost, Berlin), “a wonder indeed” (De Gooi-en Eemlander, Amsterdam). “This Romanian has everything to become one of the violin greats of tomorrow: technique, grand sound, noble style” according to “Classica” from Paris. “Tomescu is a great artist, an ambassador of Romanian culture. Together with his violin he went throughout the world and changed people’s views of Romania” (Kansan Uutiset, Helsinki). “The difficult passages are played with an ease of technical perfection, his immaculate bowing technique bringing a sparkling clarity to the spiccatto passages” (The Strad, London).

Born into a family of musicians, Tomescu started playing the violin at the age of 6 and was accepted to “George Enescu” Music High School where he studied with his mother, professor Mihaela Tomescu. His musical education has been further enhanced in Salzburg, Berlin, Amsterdam, Sion and Dallas where he studied with Ruggiero Ricci, Igor Oistrakh, Tibor Varga and Eduard Schmieder. Since then, he won top prizes in famous competitions, such as: Marguerite Long Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu, Tibor Varga, Nicolo Paganini, Pablo Sarasate. He won over 20 awards from national and international contests, with over 200 concerts. In 2007 he was the winner of the contest for the Stradivarius violin. In this position he won the rights to play it for the next 5 years. He is regularly playing with Bucharest Philharmonic and National Radio Orchestra, as well as with orchestras in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Holland, Italy, Poland, USA, UK, Hungary, Finland, Costa Rica, Ukraine, South and North Korea, Philippines, Turkey, Japan and Israel.

“The 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Op. 1” was written by Niccolò Paganini between 1802 and 1817 and published in 1819. The caprices have an étude-esque structure, with each caprice studying individual skills, like double stopped trills, extremely fast switching of positions and strings. Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique.

The Romanian Cultural Institute is tasked with raising the profile of Romanian culture around the world. In order to achieve this, it spreads information and spearheads cultural projects involving Romanian artists and writers. Furthermore, the Romanian Cultural Institute acts as means through which foreign audiences can experience the products of Romanian culture. Cultural exports from Romania are, for the most part, facilitated by the institute’s 19 branches, from Bucharest, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Seghedin, Chisinau, Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Venice, Vienna and Warsaw. Romanian Pages in New Zealand is a monthly magazine, edited by Adina and Cristi Dumitrache. In 7 years of existence, the magazine has issued 75 newsletters, full of information about the Romanian community in New Zealand. Contact: romanianpages@yahoo.co.nz. Also, The Edge has an important contribution in making of this event.

Thank you!