THE PROGRAM OF THE CONCERT:

Teodora Enache (voice)

Marius Mihalache (cembalo)
Lucian Maxim (percussion, steel saw, drums)
Arthur Balogh (bass)

Badly my heart hurts / O, ma doare inima

I am Barbu Lautaru /Eu sunt Barbu' Lautaru'

Doina from Dolj /Doina din Dolj

Bordeiasul / Bordeiasul

The clover Leaf Pond / Mocirita cu trifoi

Succumba /Succuba

You, Skylark /Lie ciocirlie

The tumble weed dance /Ciuleandra

Good is the amber wine /Bun ii vinul ghiurghiuliu

Listen, all /Lume, lume

Sweetheart, out of our love / Bade, din dragostea noastra)min .

Badly My Heart Hurts / Oh, ma doare inima

" Doina" as a musical genre of Romanian folk music captures the poetic sadness and longing often echoed in the American gospels and blues songs. This doina from Bucovina, a lament of haunting and melodic beauty, is presented by Teodora as a voice solo - a cry from the heart in indigenous simplicity.

I am Barbu Lautaru / Eu sunt Barbu' Lautaru'

This song, attributed to Barbu Vasile “Lautaru” -(d. 1858), the most famous of Romanian folk minstrels-, is used as a spring point for inventive arrangements, featuring vocal jazz improvisations and free-flowing highlights of steel saw, cembalo and percussion.

Doina from Dolj / Doina din Dolj

Gathered by musicologist Harry Brauner and made famous by Maria Tanase's recordings, this doina is presented in an original arrangement that pays tribute to the original text and melodic line in a creative rendition.

The symbol creatively blends with the voice line to create a lyric and contemplative mood, perfectly in harmony with the text. Teodora 's interpretation, though traditional, is both personal and enriching. The ending juxtaposes a jazz version in 11/8 rhythm, featuring Teodora's vocal solo with cembalo and percussion riffs.

The Clover Leaf Pond / Mocirita cu trifoi

A doina from Transylvania, arranged as a straight jazz ballad, alternates scat vocal improvisations with traditional , lyrical presentations of the original tune.

Succuba

Succuba is a mythological female demon believed since Summerian times to visit men in their dreams, to have sexual intercourse with them, and then give birth to faceless monsters. Succuba is the female counterpart to Incubus, who migrated into the Romanian mythology as the Flyer (Zburatorul) and as one of the fundamental myths that have modeled the Romanian culture and spirituality. Succuba is placed in folk myths as vampires’ queen.

In vampire lore, she is sometimes introduced as the daughter or the consort of Dracula. As Visakanya, in Indian mythology Succuba becomes a "poison woman" who causes the death of any man who couples with her. As envisioned by Teodora and Lucian Maxim, it’s composers, in this tune she starts by choosing her victim, seduces him, celebrates her coupling, then leaves him, rather than kill him. As it ends, her song signals the beginning of her renewed search for a man.

This very structured arrangement explores the lyricism of Teodora's voice, creatively supported by the rhythm section, with a brief contribution of the Sound choir.

You, Skylark / Lie, ciocârlie

A traditional rendition of this doina, the arrangement is a dialogue between the narrator's voice and cembalo as the skylark. Through Teodora's rich and lyrical sound, it succeeds in presenting a very personal version of the original recording.

The Tumble Weed Dance / Ciuleandra

Accompanying rituals carried over from antiquity on the territory of today's Romania, this dance was described by the Greek historian Herodotus as the Tia-Rantos dance. In antiquity, the dance could only be started by the high priestesses of the Sun, when the chosen victim was sacrificed and sent as an envoy to Zalmoxis, supreme god of the Dacians- precursors of the Romanian people.

The recitative call order ("Foaie verde siminoc, tine-ti Ciuleandra pe loc, si-nc-o data mai baieti,hop, s-asa, s-asa;") in the contemporary dance form probably replaces the ritual incantation that started the ancient dance in a slow, oracular rhythm, accelerating to a frenetic maelstrom towards the end marking the sacrificial moment.

In a simplified version of the original dance from the Oltenia region, used primarily as inspiration and background for jazz vocal improvisations, this creative arrangement features an inspired cembalo solo and fades to a lullaby feeling.

Good Is the Amber Wine / Bun ii vinul ghiurghiuliu

This jazz arrangement, of a drinking song from Moldova region, starts with a vocal improvisation over percussion and bass support and is followed by a simplified rendition of the original folk tune, in a very cheerful mood, dissolving into a musical intervention reminiscent of Buddhist chants. The remarkably creative percussion work creates a feeling of both timelessness and immediacy, adding drama to the vocal solos.

Sweetheart, Out of Our Love / Bade, din dragostea noastra

One of the best known doinas, originally made popular by Maria Tanase, is reborn in an original arrangement with archaic sonorities. The cembalo solo sets the contemplative mood for a traditional vocal presentation of the tune. This piece is a powerful and complementary blend of a folk love story and an expressive voice anchored in spiritual tradition.