Traditional music
A vast country with strong regional identities, Romania's musical folklore varies greatly from one region to another. For example, in Dobrogea - ethnically very mixed - the music is marked by the cultures of Turkey, Bulgaria and the Tatars of Ukraine. In the land of Oaș, we hear unique, highly strident songs cultivating archaic melodic elements. Or, in Moldavia, we see brass bands similar to those in Serbia. On the whole, Romanian traditional music is still very much alive and practiced. They share a common core of Hungarian, Balkan and - to a lesser extent - Turkish influences, and are generally lyrical, epic or dramatic. In the lyrical genre, the music communicates sadness, love, nostalgia, romanticism, boredom or passion... It's in this family that we can classify the most widespread folk style, the doina ("nostalgia"), a type of song with improvised melodies. The epic genre consists mainly of free-form songs. These are ballads with heroic, fantastic or tragic themes, always adapted to the social context (such as wedding feasts). Finally, in the dramatic genre, we find all the music reserved for puppet theater and wakes.
But one of the most striking aspects of Romanian folklore is undoubtedly the taraf. Small ensembles of Romani music, popularized worldwide by the famous Taraf de Haïdouks group, tarafs produce intoxicating, spirited music that's hard to resist. Traditionally made up of a vioară (violin), a nai (Turkish panpipes) and a cobză (a kind of guitar-lute), they now also incorporate quite a few accordions. In recent years, traditional Romany music has been blended with modern sounds and rhythms of various influences, with vocals taking over from the music (loves lost, plaintive monologues...). This festive music, known as manea (plural: manele), is very popular with young people and has completely outgrown the simple Roma community. A popularization for some, a massacre for others... In any case, it is now common to hear this type of music in music videos or at parties. If manea is for Romany music, the equivalent exists for Romanian folk music:etno. Also known as "etno dance", the genre adds modern dance rhythms to ancient melodies and, unsurprisingly, the cocktail is a big hit, especially in summer.
Modernized or in their original form, traditional music and song are still very popular with Romanians. So much so, in fact, that Etno TV, a dedicated cable channel, broadcasts songs and dances on a permanent basis. It's an opportunity to see singers and groups perform in costumes typical of their region, and to hear most of the traditional instruments: the famous tambal (also called cymbalum), whose strings are struck with small felted hammers, the nai, theocarină, the bucium (whelk), the cobză, the taragot (the iconic conical clarinet) or the pavilion violin (a violin with a "funnel" that amplifies sound on the same principle as the gramophone).
Of course, traditional music isn't confined to cable channels. The Enchanted Springs festival, for example, is held in February in Târgu Jiu. But the big event in Romanian music is the Maramuzical festival, four days of folklore and celebration in July in Vadu Izei. Otherwise, a lot of traditional music is played during religious festivals such as the St. George's Festival in April, or in Bucharest restaurants such as Hanul lui Manuc, one of the capital's oldest inns offering almost daily concerts.
Classical music
Before the second half of the 19th century, music in Romania was either folk or religious (Byzantine religious music). These two musical forms, still very much alive, subsequently inspired - and continue to inspire - Romanian composers of art music. In the 1850s, the arrival in the country of foreign artists (musicians, opera troupes) brought with them Western sounds. Conservatories soon opened in Bucharest and Iași. In 1866, theBucharest National Opera was founded. Romanian artists soon distinguished themselves, particularly in opera, with Hariclea Darclée (1860-1939). But it was George Enescu (1881-1955) who gave Romanian music its letters of nobility. This composer, conductor, virtuoso violinist and pianist is famous for infusing folk music with art in his Romanian Rhapsodies. A symphonic music idol who inspired numerous Romanian artists, some of whom have become benchmarks in their field: Sergiu Celibidache (1912-1996), illustrious conductor of the Berlin and Munich Philharmonic Orchestras, Cristian Mandeal, Celibidache's (and Karajan's) pupil who spent twenty years at the helm of the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, the country's most important (and resident of the magnificent Romanian Athenaeum), Cristian Măcelaru, an up-and-coming conductor who will succeed Emmanuel Krivine at the helm of the Orchestre national de France in 2021, or Radu Lupu, an outstanding pianist, and even Vladimir Cosma, who produced some of the finest soundtracks in French cinema. This prestigious musical family would not be complete without mentioning the country's immense lyrical talent. These include Angela Gheorghiu, one of the world's finest singers, and Mariana Nicolescu, a soprano who followed in the footsteps of Hariclea Darclée, as well as Ștefan Pop, one of today's leading tenors, Ruxandra Donose, a mezzo-soprano adored by the public, and Valer Barna-Sabadus, who from an early age ranked among the world's finest countertenors.
Birthplace of György Ligeti and Iannis Xenakis, Romania is also famous for the quantity (and quality) of its avant-garde composers such as Ștefan Niculescu, whose approach is close to Ligeti's, Horațiu Rădulescu, a great name in spectral music, Iancu Dumitrescu, with his singular practice of acousmatic music, and Ana-Maria Avram, who explored electronics.
One of the best ways to enjoy classical music in Romania is to attend the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest. This is the country's most important classical music event. Initially centered on the work of composer George Enescu, the program has expanded over the years to include symphonic and chamber concerts, opera and ballet. It's an opportunity to see artists of international stature and great performances, while discovering Bucharest's most beautiful concert halls (the Romanian Athenaeum, the National Opera, the Palace Hall...). Otherwise, the Automne musical de Cluj, held in October, is just as well programmed as the Philharmonie de Timișoara throughout the year.
Jazz
Jazz fans know that jazz is at home in Romania. Introduced to the country between the wars by musicians such as Sergiu Malagamba, jazz was banned after the Second World War by the Communist regime, before becoming authorized (and widely played) again in the 1960s. Spurred on by the influential jazz drummer Cornel Chiriac, a whole Romanian scene sprang up, producing a host of excellent musicians such as pianists Eugen Ciceu, Richard Oschanitzky, János Kőrössy and the amazing Johnny Răducanu. Although somewhat extinct after the fall of the Wall, jazz is still very much alive in Romania, and a few names continue to make the country shine internationally, such as saxophonist Cristian Soleanu, pianist Mircea Tiberian and Harry Tavitian's ethno-jazz.
If we had to pick just one place to listen to jazz in Bucharest, it would undoubtedly be Green Hours. This excellent club in calea Victoriei, nestled in an underground cellar, offers a solid program of jazz, blues and funk. Otherwise, the country organizes a number of very big dedicated festivals, starting with the Gărâna International Jazz Festival, generally very well programmed, the Sibiu Jazz Festival or the Transilvania Jazz Festival.
Dance and house music
In addition to dance, a very superficial marketing product, Romania boasts a truly fine electronic music scene, particularly house, which is renowned the world over. Minimal and stripped-down, Romanian house (or micro-house) has its own signature - which fans call "rominimale" (a contraction of "Romanian" and "minimal") - driven by artists who have become stars: Raresh, Rhadoo and Petre Inspirescu. The country is even experiencing niche tourism, with clubbers from all over the world coming to dance to this purely Romanian electronica at the Sunwaves festival (on the shores of the Black Sea) or in Bucharest clubs such as Control (one of the very best in the capital), Kristal Club (with an international program) and Kulturhaus, a very fashionable address.
The dances
Popular with Romanians and travelers alike, Romanian dances are fun to watch and practice, especially at the dedicated festivals held around the country. Among the most frequent are the hora, a round dance formed by at least three people moving to folk music at a moderate tempo, or the căluș, a traditional fertility dance that only a few initiates can perform... In regions such as Wallachia, you can also see dances associated with tarafs such as the brâu, geamparale or sârbă.
An important event is the folk music and dance festival held in August in odd-numbered years in Tulcea, a town on the Danube delta. This is an opportunity to see local and foreign folk troupes from Central and Eastern Europe.
