Exclusive Concert, Ioachimescu & Butcaru

Yesterday I had the honour to be invited by the Romanian Embassy in Vienna at the extraordinary concert held by two of the most talented and finest musicians of their generation: Matei Ioachimescu, flute and Catalina Butcaru, piano.

Matei Ioachimescu was born in Bucharest, Romania into a musical family and started playing the piano at the age of five. Later he studied the flute in Vienna with prof. Barbara Gisler-Haase at the University of Music and Performing Arts, where he graduated with honours. Matei was also influenced and supported by outstanding teachers like Pierre-Yves Artaud, Ion Bogdan Stefanescu, Renate Armin Greiss and Heidi Peter Indermuhle. He holds the Magister Artium - Soloist Diploma of the Music University in Vienna and is prize winner of several awards and grants worldwide. One of them is Yehudi Menuhin Foundation (Vienna).
More on: http://www.mateiioachimescu.info/

Catalina Butcaru was born in Constanta, Romania and started to study piano at the age of five with professors Victoria Nitu (Constanta) and Olga Szel (Bucharest); later being promoted by the prominent Romanian pianists Aurora Ienei and Dan Grigore.
At the age of sixteen she was accepted at the Music and Art University in Vienna where she studied with Prof. Jürg von Vintschger and won her performers diploma. Important stimuli were provided by her extensive work with the pianist Meira Farkas. She continued her studies with the famous Russian teacher Alexandr Satz at the Music University in Graz where she received her Master’s degree in 2006. In addition she has attended master classes with such musicians as Dmitri Bashkirov and Prof. Andrzej Jasinski and has won many competitions such as the “Golden Lyra” competition, the “Mozart” competition in Romania and was a finalist in the international “Steinway” competition in Vienna.
More on: http://catalinabutcaru.com/en/

I never had the chance before to see a similar live concert; it was such a delight, a transition to another world! Despite my poor knowledge in this musical field I could feel the technical perfection combined with the great sensations that the composers wanted to transmit. Airs de Ballet d'Ascanio by Camille Saint-Saens, The Flute Sonata by Francis Poulenc, for flute and piano or Robert Schumann's Three Romances were few of the compositions that brought delight to the ecstatic audience.

I couldn’t help but notice that Catalina was so gracefully dressed and styled, simply flawless. Her baby-belly was her best accessory; in the third semester it had such a perfect shape and size!