RO Version

In the heart of Paris, close to Notre-Dame Cathedral, in the Senne bank, we meet Ramona Hovarth, the most appreciated Romanian jazz pianist of the moment, living in the French capital for almost 15 years.

Her artistic journey begins in her family in Bucharest, with a cellist father and an art-restaurer mother, in a house with a piano. At only 3 years old, Ramona made friends with the keys and knew that she wanted to play that instrument, in spite of her family’s desire that she studied the violin.

Today she plays in the most important jazz clubs in Paris and biggest festivals in Europe, along with some of the most appreciated French musicians.

“My family (mother and grandparents) tried to push me toward violin, arguing that I had more chances, that in an orchestra there are more violins, but only one piano. But I wanted the piano. I started playing by ear at three and at six I started studying at school.”

She was a high school student when Irina Margareta Nistor, an English teacher, put her in contact with the director of the Cinematheque, to take part at a special event.

“A silent film had been restored , the first Romanian-French co-production – The Independence War, by Grigore Brezeanu, 1912, and there was a special screening at the Cinematheque. The director back then (Savel Stiopul) was looking for a piano player to musically illustrate the screening. Being a war movie, with a lot of battles, music was difficult to create.”

Being noticed since school for her musical spontaneity, Ramona was chosen for this cine-concert, which would be a turning point in her career. There was a famous French film producer in the audience that night, Pierre-Henri Deleau, co-founder of Quinzaine des Réalisateurs at the Cannes Film Festival.

“He thought it was a wonderful idea, that such a young girl would play music for this historical film, and decided to include the film in the Strasbourg Film Festival. That is how I got to France for the first time.”

“I had a royal welcome. Pierre-Henri Deleau became my friend and kept inviting me to other film festivals.”

At the time, the young pianist continued studying classical piano at the Bucharest Conservatory, and her leaving to France, which wasn’t on her mind yet, would only happen in a few years. Still, the connections that she made in France helped her meet a great jazz player, the Romanian piano player Jancy Korossy, who was an immigrant in the USA in the ‘60s, after being noticed by Ella Fitzgerald’s agent.

“He had just returned to Europe when I had finished school, he had settled in Germany. And I went there to take jazz lessons. I got to him thanks to the father of the composer Vladimir Cosma, Theodor Cosma, former conductor for the Electrcord Orchestra in Romania, who had Jancy Korossy as a pianist and arranger. 

Jancy Korossy was the severe teacher who would become her mentor and her best friend. Ramona and her mother welcomed him into their home and took care of him until his final days. Thanks to him, Ramona has decided to dedicate herself to jazz music, even though she had studied classical piano. 

“I am a mixture of many things and genres, I think that we all are made of many things.

My mixture is of all kinds of music that I love, that I played in my life. I have listened to a lot of traditional Romanian music, gypsy music, pop music, r&b, latin-american, jazz, classical, I am made out of all those things.

“I believe that it is important to have periods of searching, not to have only certainties that we are something and we only do that something. If you have that mentality, you might miss out on interesting things in life.”

Jazz suits me mainly because of the spontaneity. It’s created on the spot. No matter how much you practise at home, you only see the result on the stage. That is what attracted me most. I love life’s challenges and spontaneity.

And Jazz is harder as you not only do not know what you will do, you also do not know what the other musicians will do. That is where art, talent, and preparation come in, knowing how to match your spontaneity to the other one’s spontaneity.”

Having travelled to France only as a visit, as a young high school piano player, Ramona returned to Paris as a student of Jancy Korossy, for an artistic residence.

“I came here, not knowing anybody, I could barely speak any French. The residence should have lasted 4 months and was extended for 2 years. During those 4 months I tried to be active, to play some shows that seem to have made a mark. At the end of the residence, they proposed that I remain until the end of the year, to play a bigger concert then.”

That 4 month trip sums up today 15 years. 

“I made money only by playing. I don’t really know how to do anything else, other than music. Then, I came to a point where I already had some experience. It’s hard coming as an adult in France. France is a good country to raise your children.

You need to settle in as a child, when you’re in school. France is a country of connections. You can’t do anything if you don’t have connections.

When you come as an adult, the time it takes to do something is multiplied by 100. ”

In Paris she met some of the biggest jazz musicians in France, with whom she later shared the stage.

“I think that it is a sum of many things that make an artist be liked, to maintain, to win over an audience. It’s a unique recipe each time, depending on the artist, but there are some ingredients, such as charisma, luck, being in the right place at the right time.

There are many talented people, but who are not charismatic. There are many charismatic people, who aren’t really extraordinary at what they do. I think there has to be a balance of these ingredients.

I don’t think that it’s very hard to play on an important stage once. I think that for an artist, the hardest thing is to maintain. THere are new artists catching up daily. ”

Even though life in Paris has not been easy, Ramona Horvath has stood out as an artist and is in a constant evolution. Aside from concerts, many albums, the pianist has become a teacher at a Conservatory near Paris.

In her free time, she enjoys going to her friends’ concerts and takes every opportunity to meet musicians who she admires.

“If I were not here, I don’t think that I could ever play what I am playing now. When I first got here, I had the chance to see in the jazz clubs some great artists that I listened to on records. To hear them, speak to them, to me it was extraordinary and I knew that I couldn’t have that anywhere else.

Paris is a key destination for all world renown jazz musicians.

In Romania I would never have that. Surely, many things are changing in Romania, for the better, maybe in a few years it will be like this. But, geographically speaking, we are not in the same area of interest for American jazz musicians. They make a few hours by train between places of interest like Belgium, France, Germany, etc. It’s a lot easier for someone organising a tour when the roads connect logistically.”

To the French she has become known as an excellent player of Duke Ellington’s music, but she doesn’t like labels and remains open to the variety of musical genres that she loves.

“Duke Ellington means a lot to me, because he represents two worlds that I am fond of, a crossroad between jazz and classical music. These things speak to me, I hear and understand them.”

When we speak about Romania, Ramona shows a big smile and speaks with warmth. She says that she will forever remain connected to her roots.

“I am tied to Romania mainly through my mother. I miss my mother a lot, she doesn’t come so much to visit me, last year she came for the first time. I visit her as often as I can.

My mother gave me my love for France, she is a francophile, she had never been to France, but she loved French culture – films, music, literature. I wasn’t a francophile as a child, I liked America.

On the other hand, I Have always believed that when you are a musician, you are a universal citizen, it doesn’t matter where you are from. But I think I am the only one who believes that, haha. When you are born and raised in a country, that will never disappear, you are bound to it whatever happens.

Then, it depends on each individual how they position themselves regarding this, if they want to cultivate some of the things that they liked, or if they want to forever shut down things that they didn’t like. What I love most about Romanians is the human warmth. Romanians are friendly, open, and warm from the first. You don’t have to wait 2 or 5 years to befriend a Romanian. ”

After a few hours spent together, Ramona fits the description above perfectly. She shows us a recently opened jazz club, on a luxury boat on the Senne, where she will play a concert on the 13th of july, French National Day.

For her it will be a summer full of events, such as The Barcelona Jazz Festival, The Serbian Jazz Festival, and in autumn she will put out a new album. 

“- What would you say to Ramona from 20 years ago?

– I’d tell her to come to Paris faster.

One one hand, my musical education from Romania was very helpful. I think that is what sets me apart from the musical landscape here, that I have such a diverse musical background.

On the other hand, I would have loved to study here, but if that had happened, I would have never met Jancy Korossy, and that would have been the greatest loss of my life. Everything I learned from him was like a school at home. He handed me everything about jazz, playing daily, me standing next to him, stealing his craft.

That was the most important education that I ever received.”

***This story is part of the “France Week” series, a Cultura la Dubă project supported by BNP Paribas.

The post Ramona Horvath, pianist: „A musician is a universal citizen. It doesn’t matter where you’re from.” appeared first on Cultura la dubă.

He has won numerous international contests, including a scholarship at the famous Royal Concertgebow in Amsterdam.

This fall he was named main conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic, in the same time being the main conductor at the “Transilvania” State Philharmonic in Cluj-Napoca. His career began shining as far back as 2011, when he was named main conductor of The iași Opera, becoming the youngest head of orchestra to occupy such a position in Romania.

He has conducted important orchestras, such as Rundfunk Sinfinieorchester in Berlin, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC), Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, The Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic, The Russian National Philharmonic Orchestra or Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

In Romania he gained the title of doctor in music at the age of 31, summa cum laude.

He lives in Vienna, but he wishes to give back to Romania what he has learned overseas.

The passion with which he speaks about music is contagious, and his youth can be a breath of fresh air in a field widely regarded as “old”.

Where does your passion for classical music and conducting come from? How did it all start?

I was fortunate to be born into a family in which classical music was very important. Both of my parents have studied music, my father is a music professor, my uncle a cello player, my aunt is a pianist, so a family of musicians.

So, even before I was born, I believe, my road had been paved in this direction, even though my parents didn’t necessarily encourage me to chose this. I was free to chose whatever profession I wanted.

Only, surrounding myself by the world of music, I felt more attracted to this.

Did you first start by studying a certain instrument or were you attracted to conducting?

“There’s an anecdote that my mother told, that when I was a small child, around the age of 3, I was conducting the records played by my parents using knitting needles.”

Gabriel Bebeșelea, conductor

But I first studied the violin, from the age of 7, for 12 years, I’ve also studied piano, but then I concentrated on the path of conducting.

Why did you chose this path?

If I think about that anecdote, I believe this path chose me.

It was something that attracted me for a long time, I was very interested by composition, conducting, by 11-12 years old I had already started reading many treaties, books in this direction.

I was very interested by what happens inside the musical phenomena and more than being inside like this, I don’t believe there is a way.

It was somehow a natural step to directing.

Could you point out a moment in your career when you took steps abroad, when you stood out overseas?

It wasn’t a single moment. I consider myself lucky for having a lot of professors.

In Romania I studied with the master Petre Sbârcea and the master Horia Andreescu, after that, outside the country I had a scholarship at Royal Concertgebouw, where I saw all the great conductors. And this changed me radically, because seeing great conductors work day by day is something absolutely fantastic.

Could you give us some examples, conductors whom you saw working during these studies in Amsterdam?

I was very much influenced by Mariss Jansons. He was the chief conductor of the orchestra and I was fortunate to watch him many times during rehearsals.

But, actually, what was more interesting was that week by week, I would learn something new, absorb something new, information that ended up being useful to me in the music that I made down the line.

Some I only observed rehearsing, and with others I was fortunate to work actively.

Then, one of the conductors that have influenced me a great deal was Bernard Haitink, with whom I also worked.

Seeing a great conductor daily, one can only model one’s self and become better, because such musical colossuses simply transmit the energy and desire to make better music.

Did it matter, in any way, the fact that you are a Romanian? Perhaps coming from a country that has produced many important conductors?

It didn’t matter neither in a positive way, nor in a negative way. But, truly, it is highly important to have a basis, a culture, not only musically.

The conductor must be highly engaged in anything regarding art, conducting doesn’t mean only music and getting a composer’s message across. This message can be better transmitted, the richer life experience you have.

What else makes a conductor complete?

I tend to believe that the role of the conductor isn’t that of dictating the interpretations, but that to inspire.

That of doing a very complex analysis of the composition, of discovering the key in which that message can be transmitted to the public.

It’s a rather complex path, if we think about it.

“The conductor converts the musical score into sound, in his head, and the, together with the orchestra, plans the interpretation so that everything reflects towards the audience.”

So, I think it’s more an exchange of energy.

I believe in the inspirational role of the conductor, not that of dictation and convincing by force.

Regarding musical studies, do you think it is essential for a young musician to have access to international education, in order to evolve?

Absolutely. And not only regarding conducting. I would advise everyone to travel as much as possible, to see as many systems, not only educational, to observe as many aspects as possible, to absorb more.

This could lead to the improvement of the system, not only educational, in Romania. And regarding a musician, a musician that doesn’t travel, cannot be up to date, does not have access to all the information.

A musician that does not travel, doesn’t have terms of comparison. Without these terms of comparison, it’s difficult, if not impossible to persevere.

Then, how important does the financial aspect become in the development of a musical career?

It is and it is not. There are many scholarships, many possibilities. Anytime a young conductor asks me what to do, I point him toward those scholarships, the ones I had access to.

I was fortunate to be able to apply to some grants and thus get to follow these conductors, to watch them, to ask the, to get modeled by.

Could you describe your vision as a conductor? How would you like the concerts you conduct to be like?

Firstly, the composer’s message is the most important. But, during this pandemic, I have reflected on our role as musicians. Why do we do this?

Especially as this is the only period in time in which concert halls have been closed. Even during world wars they were not closed, because they were comforting the spirit of people affected by the war.

An I have arrived at the conclusion that, in fact, we are the ones who should create a sanctuary for the concert going audience.

I believe that the audience comes to the concert hall to isolate themselves from the mundane. And then, the more responsible and honest our interpretation, the more it’s based on musical analysis, the more we succeed in creating this sanctuary.

There is this misconception that classical music is especially appreciated by the elderly. Are you thinking about the repertoire that you will chose at the George Enescu Philharmonic to attract the youth?

I’m not a believer in hook works. There’s an expression in The United States – crowd pleasers – meaning these well known works, that if they are in the poster, the concert is sold out.

I believe this is a cheap and easy recipe. On a short term it can bring audience, but on the long run it doesn’t create anything but a chain of weakness – you’ll end up doing only crowd pleasers.

I believe in something else. I believe in conceptualization. I believe in the concept-concert, in the whole story behind the concert and I think that if the work is well bound, regardless of it’s genre, it’s style the composer or the period it was made in, these can attract young audience, but it’s important that the message of the concert is directed toward this.

Is there a migration phenomenon in the musical field, one of musicians leaving the country, to join bigger orchestras? For example, at the Enescu Festival, in almost all of the invited orchestras there are Romanian musicians, some even heads of orchestra.

Yes, such as at Royal Concertgebouw, Liviu Prunaru is a concertmaster. A lot of the orchestras all over the world have Romanian musicians. This only cements what I said earlier – musicians travel.

Their mobility is an absolutely natural and necessary aspect. Because their development depends on this journey.

But do you think that Romania has got a problem in keeping it’s talented youth? That it doesn’t offer enough financial and professional support?

This is where I wanted to get to.

“There’s an exodus of Romanian musicians, not just a mobility. That is absolutely necessary, but here, things are happening at an accelerated pace. Because here, culture is highly underfinanced.”

It is extraordinarily and painfully underfinanced.

We can talk about the greatest orchestras in Romania, they will never compare, financially, to the orchestras of Hungary, let’s say. They can not become competitive in this regard.

The artists’ international circuit reaches Romania through The Enescu Festival, that has an immense contribution.

And as to the artists, the critical aspect, this is also a problem of the educational system, that in numerous ways has, and I’m sorry to say this, many flaws.

And it’s a key point, upon which I would insist, because all of these musicians have left Romania during their studies.

They have left to perfect their art and have found an artistic direction. Then, it is difficult to return to Romania, where the educational system is underfinanced, culture is underfinanced.

And the, what keeps you, a young conductor, motivated to conduct two Romanian orchestras, especially given that you are living in Vienna.

I am very much preoccupied as to what is happening in Romania, because this is where I started my studies.

I think that it is important that those who managed to study abroad, to bring something back to Romania. And I’m not the only one. There are a lot of Romanian conductors having a career abroad and returning with love. And o lot of players, but not to work in an orchestra.

I hope that Romania will reach the point of attracting young musicians back, after their forming in prestigious universities abroad.

Do you think that Romania also has a problem regarding the infrastructure of the concert halls?

To say the least.

“It is very painful that Romania hasn’t built a concert hall from start to finish, after the second World War”

All of the halls have been built for something else and then transformed, or there were changes brought to cinemas.

Romania has not built a hall and I say this with great pain – it is the only country in the area that has managed this counter-performance.

There are countries that are not part of The European Union that have built concert halls to respect their own culture and to respect their guests.

In fact, the instrument of an orchestra is the hall. Without a good hall, it doesn’t matter if they play very well, they will never reach their full potential.

And The Palace Hall has got only one advantage – it’s very large, that’s it.

Do you think that we have come to this situation also because of the lack of good cultural management?

What I can say is that there is a lack of a cultural politic, the lack of a coherence between cultural management and what is happening at the highest level.

Normally, minding the level reached by The Enescu Festival, we should have had a concert hall of international standards.

I would love for somebody to come with a strategy in which they have in mind the benefits of a multi-functional concert hall, one that could be used intelligently from event to event.

During this pandemic, do you agree with the recording and transmitting online of the concerts? There have been many musicians that have said that music should only be listened to live, in a concert hall.

Here I, myself, am split.

On the one hand, I agree with Sergiu Celibidache, he was totally right. Once the music leaves the concert hall and the audience is not there, they do not experience these things we were talking about.

Music is not like the other arts, you can not paint some more lines or shoot another take.

On the other hand, Nobody has ever lived something like this until now. We were forced to put a stop to our activity and try to find some survival mechanisms in these times, as do all the other fields.

It’s about survival.

“If we stop completely and wait for the moment in which we can make only live music, only in front of an audience, we might have to wait so long that the art will die completely.”

And then, I believe that survival of the art, of the musicians and the audience – these come first. Obviously, by respecting all of the current rules.

You were saying that being a complete conductor is also about life experience. What other passions do you have, other than classical music?

I like jazz music, I even have a concert ticket in Vienna, but it got canceled. I love traveling and reading. In fact, one of the best aspects of my profession is that I get to travel a great deal.

And I love going into the archives and studying manuscripts. Discovering lost works of doing somewhat of a musical detective work, following a theory, seeing if it confirms or not.

And some of the greatest satisfactions I’ve had in libraries, when I’ve discovered works that I had searched for years.

Is Vienna the city in which you’ve decided to settle down?

I’ve studied in Vienna and then it was somehow natural to stay here, because it’s very easy to travel.

Other than the fact that it’s one of the perfect cities for a musician.

How do you see yourself in the future, what would you like to do and where?

I don’t have a where, but I have a what: music, as well as I can.

I want to be the best version of myself when I’m in front of an orchestra and in front of an audience.

As an ending, do you have any advice for the youth wanting a musical career and for their parents?

For the youth – be brave, because that will open many paths, and to the parents – if they see their children dreaming, encourage those dreams.

The post Gabriel Bebeșelea, conductor: “There is an exodus of Romanian musicians because culture is highly underfinanced.” appeared first on Cultura la dubă.