Radio România Internațional

Tag: band

  • 5G strategy and policies

    5G strategy and policies

    A document concerning the implementation of the 5G strategy adopted in August by the Government, will soon be submitted to the Supreme Defence Council, the Romanian Communications Minister Alexandru Petrescu announced. He was invited by the National Liberal Party to a Question Time session in Parliament.



    The Liberals, backed by the other opposition parties, accused the Government of a lack of transparency with respect to how the 5G strategy for mobile communications will be implemented. The Liberal Deputy Sorin Dan Moldovan emphasised that failure to implement this strategy would lead to Romania losing a chance to create new jobs and to secure substantial economic gains:



    Sorin Dan Moldovan: “The Government delays with no excuse transposing the memorandum signed by Romania and the US with respect to the 5G technology. Another problem for the Government is the calendar for 5G frequency band bid, which was supposed to be launched in late September. There are also problems with the state budget. The government estimated 2 billion lei will come from this bid, but if the bid is not held this year after all, the consequence is that the state budget loses this 425 million euros.



    In response, the Communications Minister said the document regarding the 5G strategy was subject to public debate prior to being adopted, and that it had been drawn up in keeping with the suggestions of the National Communications Administration and Regulatory Authority (ANCOM), of telecoms companies and of public administration experts and academia:



    Alexandru Petrescu: “The 5G strategy has been the foundation, the stepping stone on which all the subsequent steps in implementing the 5G technology are based. It is only based on this strategy that a bid can be launched, and there are many other elements in this document which concern the national 5G coverage, first in urban areas alongside the main national roads, up until 2025 when we will have complete national coverage.



    In turn, the Social Democrat Dinu Socotar said the Communications Minister is heading a sector in which Romania is a European leader:



    Dinu Socotar: “Romania is acknowledged as a leader in Europe in terms of the internet speed provided to users. At the same time, the fact that we are the only EU member country where all the 3 telecoms giants operate, is tale telling of the development of the telecoms industry in our country.



    The 5G technology offers data transfer speeds for mobile telecommunications 10 times higher than at present.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • FiRMA plays “Selected Poems”

    FiRMA plays “Selected Poems”

    The most recent album by the band FiRMA, SELECTED POEMS, VOL. I, was brought out in late 2018 by the Casa Radio Publishers. The album includes nine songs composed by the band’s vocalist, Daniel Rocca Stoicea, on lyrics by Romanian classical and contemporary poets. SELECTED POEMS, VOL I is also one of the rare encounter points where rock music mixes with poetry, as poetry is sung by the band but also recited, thanks to rare recordings stored or made in Radio Romania’s Sound Archives, by the authors themselves, including George Bacovia, Leonid Dimov, Nina Cassian, Ana Blandiana, Svetlana Cârstean, Adela Greceanu and Elena Vlădăreanu. It was Cristian Marica who had the idea of the album, and who also wrote the foreword for the album, “FiRMA has the ability of to continuously experiment, until the best musical ideas are found. The Selected Poems album includes nine songs on the lyrics of classical and contemporary poets, aimed at giving a signal for the return of music and musicians to Romanian poetry”.



    Cristian Marica: “I had the idea of this album 5 years ago and then I realised the only artists who could bring Romanian poetry to the fore are artists from the underground/alternative zone. However, at the time there was still a very powerful trend that encouraged artists to sing only in English, so when I insisted that this type of music can be done in Romanian I was often met with irony. On the other hand, FiRMA is one of the very few lyrical-dramatic bands that make a kind of music I think is very suitable for the Romanian language. Dulce Romanie (My Sweet Romania), the bonus track on the CD titled Incantations, launched on December 1st, 2017 fully convinced me of that. I listened to the cut, then I spoke to the band members and we started working on the album. So in 2018 we got together, we did a bit of brainstorming and started working.”



    Many of FiRMA’s hits are in English, they were played in heavy rotation on radio and TV stations, and the video for Baby is crying has been included on the playlist of the very popular VH1 Europe music channel. Also, FiRMA was the first Romanian band to have been invited to perform at the MTV European Music Awards Gala in Munich in 2007. It was the first Romanian band to be nominated in the “New Sounds of Europe” category, after in 2004 FiRMA had been nominated for “Best Romanian Act” at the MTV European Music Awards, and for “Best Rock Band” at the MTV Romanian Music Awards a year later. FiRMA have made their last 3 albums in Romanian.



    Daniel Rocca Stoicea: “I like Romanian. I love the language and I find it very generous. And I believe these Romanian words encompass more meanings than English words, for instance. Romanian is a beautiful language which helps you express what you feel. We did indeed sing in English, about a decade ago, but what we had in mind at that time was an album to sell abroad. There are a lot of talented artists that seek to get into the international market, so it is only natural for them to perform in English, but to my mind in Romania one should ideally use the Romanian language. It makes it a lot easier to reach the people here.”



    On January 15th, the National Culture Day, the band FiRMA gave a concert at ARCUB Gabroveni. They played singles and pieces from their latest album, “Selected Poems vol. 1,” released by Casa Radio Publishers, and invited the poets Adela Greceanu, Elena Vladareanu and Svetlana Carstean on stage, to read out the lyrics that inspired the album. Writers Adela Greceanu and Elena Vladareanu spoke about the importance of this fortunate combination of poetry and music.



    Adela Greceanu: “I believe that with this album, the band FiRMA managed to prove that there are contemporary poets in this country, as well as poets who wrote decades ago, who are wonderful people, worth being discovered. I’ve seen the response of those who listened to the album Selected Poems, and I’ve read comments on youtube. Some of the listeners were delighted to discover Leonid Dimov, for example. And the fact that people discovered or rediscovered poetry by means of this album is, in my opinion, extraordinary.”



    Elena Vladareanu: “This is my first experience of this kind, my first time on stage in a rock concert, like a rock star. I am thrilled. Some may say that I am thrilled because I am subjective, given my involvement in the project. But even if I hadn’t been involved, I would have been as delighted about it, because events like this happen very rarely in Romania, and this is something I’ve been saying for at least 15 years, since my debut as a writer and journalist. Such art intersections like the one accomplished by FiRMA today are very rare, these areas seldom come together, writers mind their own business, musicians do their thing, visual artists have their separate ways. And the fact that this project managed to bring together rock music, more specifically the work of a very popular band, FiRMA, and classical and contemporary poetry, Romanian poetry, is precisely why I am so enthusiastic.”


  • Die Buchmesse Gaudeamus ist zu Ende gegangen

    Die Buchmesse Gaudeamus ist zu Ende gegangen

    Die 21. Auflage der Internationalen Buchmesse Gaudeamus — Das Buch zum Lernen, die jedes Jahr in Bukarest veranstaltet wird, ist am Sonntag zu Ende gegangen. Die diesjährige Auflage stellte mehrere Rekorde: fast 117.000 Besucher und 750 Events (Buchvorstellungen, Debatten, Konferenzen, Lesungen) in nur 5 Tagen. An der Buchmesse beteiligten sich mehr als 320 rumänische und ausländische Verlage, Druckereien, Lehranstalten und Kulturinstitute. Ehrengast der Gaudeamus-Buchmesse 2014 war die Russische Föderation, die mehr als 30 Events im Rahmen der Buchmesse und an anderen Bukarester Standorten veranstaltete.



    17 Schriftsteller, Literaturkritiker, Verleger und Journalisten stellten ihre neuesten Werke vor, sie gaben Autogramme und beteiligten sich an Rundtischgesprächen. Am letzten Messetag wurden die Gaudeamus-Trophäen verliehen. Der Publikumsliebling war auch dieses Jahr der Verlag Humanitas. Das beliebteste Buch war der Band Pas cu pas” Schritt für Schritt”, die Autobiographie des gewählten Staatspräsidenten Rumäniens, Klaus Iohannis. Von diesem Buch wurden auf der Messe mehr als 8.000 Exemplare verkauft. Der Übersetzungspreis Antoaneta Ralian” ging an Virgil Stanciu für seine Übertragung des Buches Beloved” von Toni Morisson aus dem Englischen ins Rumänische und an Letitia Ilea für die Übertragung des Gedichtebandes Melci aborigeni” Indigene Schnecken” von Ioan Pintea aus dem Rumänischen ins Französische.



    Die 90-jährige Literaturübersetzerin Antoaneta Ralian erhielt einen Exzellenzpreis anlä‎ßlich der 120. Literaturübersetzung in ihrer Karriere: Es handelt sich um eine neue Übersetzung des Romans The Portrait of Dorian Gray” von Oscar Wilde. Antoaneta Ralian:



    Ich bin sehr glücklich über diesen Preis, er ist eine wunderbare Krönung meiner 60-jährigen Karriere als Literaturübersetzerin. Können Sie sich vorstellen, was diese 60 Jahre bedeuten? Das ist meine gesamte Jugend, die ich den Literaturübersetzungen gewidmet habe — aber das ist auch meine Leidenschaft. Der heutige Preis ist, wie gesagt, eine wunderbare Krönung dieser 60 Jahre, aber das bedeutet keineswegs, dass ich Schluss mache. Ich sage nicht Punkt”, sondern Punkt. Neuer Absatz.”



    Der zweite Exzellenzpreis ging an den rumänischen Verlag Trei, für sein erfolgreiches Programm mit Veröffentlichungen in den Bereichen Psychologie und Psychanalyse. Das Dauerprojekt der Buchmesse Gaudeamus Bücher kehren wieder nach Hause” war auch dieses Jahr ein Erfolg. Durch Schenkungen von Besuchern und Messeausstellern wurden mehr als 2.500 Bücher gesammelt, die an öffentliche Büchereien in die benachbarte, mehrheitlich rumänischsprachige Republik Moldau geschickt werden.