B1 TV website
Enjoyable. On a second thought.. even more than that. Of the interviews on Romanian tv I’ve seen lately this one gets the first place. For the atmosphere, the tone, the smile, the questions (with some exceptions).
I appreciated that the interviewer, Robert Turcescu, did some research and managed not to be intimidated. He said only one “wow”. We forgive him. He led the conversation from the point of view of the person who knows some things and wishes to find out more. This invited to long and explicit answers.
There were some ideas worth sharing, especially in the second part. The first hour or so was mainly about childhood, years at the conservatory in Bucharest, cancellations, 5 year planning, experiments…
Starting from her meetings with presidents and other famous people, Angela was asked if she was really impressed by somebody. They are two Romanians, the baritone Nicolae Herlea and the soprano Eugenia Moldoveanu. Good to know she experienced that where’s-the-closest-wall-to-lean-on-in-order-not-to-fall-down feeling when meeting the person she admired most, situation that most of us had to deal with along the years in her presence.
She said she’d like to sing Orthodox religious music in a concert, with orchestra, in a church. Agree. If you saw "The Romanian Journey", that's the idea. Catholics are open to such things and it’s always a pleasure to attend the Sunday service at Stephansdom when I visit Vienna precisely because of the concerts that take place there. Why wouldn’t the Orthodox church do the same?
Then the topic of not having a proper concert hall in Bucharest showed up. Many people performing at George Enescu Festival this Fall complained about the acoustics of the Palace Hall. Angela said she fully supports the idea of building a cultural center and will do her best to raise awareness. Great idea! Lots of luck, as the start will be tough knowing my fellow Romanians.
"Would you consider performing at the National Opera Bucharest?"... silence... silence. "Maybe...". Not very convincing.
Oh, it's always a pleasure listening to Angela talking about the Royal Opera House and the people working there. She has sparks in her eyes. She mentioned the smell of the dust on stage. I only know the smell of the stage spread in the venue when the curtain raises. Gosh, I sooo miss it.
A friend of mine asked me: “did you notice the audience? Lost in time and space. Why were they there?” Having the exercise of watching tens of her interviews, in between the lines I pay attention to details. So I asked her in return: “did you notice her shoes?” Couldn't help it. My favs ;)