Radio România Internațional

Tag: Passion

  • The early days of photography in Romania

    The early days of photography in Romania



    Western foreigners who travelled to Romania and settled here brought the art and craft of photography with them. In the mid-19th century, photography became popular rather quickly. After the 1850s, actually, the Romanian photography market boomed, with photo studios cropping up in every major city, and with a clientele eager to benefit from the new services. Foreign photographers made history in Romania. Their legacy is an important documentary source about how the cities and the people looked like, at that time. Carol Popp of Szathmary, Franz Mandy, Franz Duschek, Adolphe A. Chevallier are some of the noted foreign photographers of the 19th century. However, the Romanians Ioan Spirescu and Iosif Berman are also among the pioneers of Romanian photography.



    One of the most prolific Romanian photographers was Stelian Petrescu. He left a great number of photo films and photographs. Petrescu was born in Giurgiu, in 1874, into a well-to-do family and died in Bucharest, on July 23rd, 1947. For his secondary education, Petrescu took a math and sciences track, being attracted by science in primary school. Then he graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry and Physics Sciences in Bucharest. Petrescu was appointed teacher with the Gheorghe Șincai high-school. In a couple of years time he went to Germany to get a second degree, in Geodesy. Stelian Petrescu returned to Romania in 1901. He resumed his teaching activity and had a stint with the Higher Vocational School in Iasi. In 1909 Petrescu was employed as an engineer with the Romanian Railway Company and kept his job until he retired, in 1930. Stelian Petrescu never renounced his teaching profession. Concurrently, he taught sciences in Bucharest.



    One of the greatest events in the early 20th century was the Jubilee Exhibition staged in 1906 in Bucharest. The exhibition was meant to pay tribute to Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringens four decades of reign, which began in 1866. The exhibition was mounted according to a French pattern. It benefitted from the attention of all domestic institutions, also enjoying international presence.



    The exhibition was also an opportunity for photographers to make themselves visible. Attending were renowned names of that time, such as those of Alexandru Antoniu, Franz Mandy or Adolf Klingsberg, the owner of the famous “Julietta” photo studio in Bucharest. Less well-known names also participated, such as Marko Klein, the owner of a photo studio in Braila. Petrescu also participated and even scooped the 1st prize and the gold medal, Based with the National Library of Romania, the historian Adriana Dumitran documented Stelian Petrescus passion for photography, as well as his presence at the Jubilee Exhibition in 1906.



    Adriana Dumitran:



    “His first presence in a major international exhibition was in 1906, at the Romanian General Expo, where he represented the School Department. His participation was noted by the media. He showed photographs with military themes, Romanian landscapes, portraits, animals. He had quite a large number of works on display, although we dont know precisely how many.” Stelian Petrescu rose to fame, his talent was in high demand and he started looking for more areas in which he could use his knowledge.



    Adriana Dumitran again:



    “He started working with the Committee on Historical Monuments. In 1908, when the Committee launched a Bulletin, he had his works published there at least until World War I, in several issues until 1912. He worked a lot with architect Nicolae Ghica-Budești and illustrated a number of books, including, in 1909, an album on the religious artefacts at the Probota monastery, and that same year another one on items from the Neamț and Secu monasteries. One of his most interesting contributions was photographing the paintings of Nicolae Grigorescu for a monograph by Alexandru Vlahuță devoted to this great painter, in 1910.”


    Stelian Petrescu remained a scientist nonetheless, and this was evident in his newfound passion for photography.



    Adriana Dumitran:



    “His interest in the railways converged with photography. In 1913 he published a visual guide of the Romanian Railways. At that time, România had 3,500 km of railways crossing the entire country. He travelled that distance, took photos, illustrated this guide with them, and for each railway hub he presented the cultural, historical and other landmarks. The guide features over 350 photographs.”



    He also continued to photograph major public events. On 16th October 1922, he took snapshots of King Ferdinand, Queen Marie and senior politicians at Bucharests Arch of Triumph.



    After his retirement in 1930, he published his photos in technical magazines. He switched to a modernist style, with photos of railway construction hall interiors, engine components, bearings and other pieces used in the railway industry. He photographed the Malaxa Plant and published an album with the products made there. He was regarded as a “niche” photographer, and his work remains to this day of exceptional value for the history of industry in Romania. (EN, A.M.P)




  • Clara Cernat

    Clara Cernat

    Clara Cernat respire la musique. Elle forme un couple avec le pianiste et compositeur français Thierry Huillet, à la vie comme à la scène. Ensemble, en cette période de confinement, ils se laissent inspirer par la musique roumaine et lancent des Rhapsodies dune grande sensibilité et dune grande virtuosité quils vous invitent à découvrir.







  • April 29, 2019

    April 29, 2019

    EASTER Orthodox and Greek-Catholic believers, including from Romania – a
    country with an Orthodox majority – are in the second day of Easter and the
    beginning of the Bright Week, when they greet each other with the traditional
    formula, ‘Christ is risen’ ‘He is risen, indeed’. The formula is aimed at
    publicly expressing the Christian belief in Christ’s resurrection. Today
    Romanians are also celebrating St. George, under a decision by the Orthodox
    Church that this holiday be observed in the second day of Easter. The decision
    was made because St. George’s Day this year happened to be during the Passion
    Week, which for the Orthodox Christians should be a period of sobriety and
    repentance. St. George was a Christian martyr who is also the patron saint of
    several Romanian cities as well as of Romania’s Ground Forces.








    CAMPAIGN A campaign for the European Parliament elections on May 26th
    has been underway in Romania since Saturday. The Romanians are to cast their
    ballot for 33 MEPs. The 33rd mandate is to commence only after
    Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc has yielded judicial effects. 13 political
    groups and three independent candidates are vying for seats in the European
    Parliament. 411 poling stations have been set up for the Romanians abroad; 76
    in Italy, 50 in Spain and 25 in Germany. Concurrently with the European
    Parliamentary elections, the Romanians will be participating in a referendum on
    legal issues initiated by the country’s president Klaus Iohannis.








    DIALOGUE French president Emmanuel Macron and Federal Chancellor Angela
    Merkel, currently attending a summit on Balkan issues, are expected to try to rekindle
    a dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, whose relations are at the lowest ebb
    after 20 years of conflict, France Press Agency informs. The French-German
    initiative comes after a series of talks unfolding under the EU aegis aimed at
    creating rapprochement between the two state entities. The dialogue between the
    two sides has been in a deadlock for several months now after a period of
    revival based on the idea of territory swap backed by presidents Aleksandar
    Vucic of Serbia and Hashin Thaci of Kosovo.








    ELECTION Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has
    proclaimed the victory of his PSOE party in the legislative election on Sunday,
    at the same time showing his readiness to forge a coalition with all political
    groups to rule within the Constitution limits. The Socialist Party has won the
    election with roughly 7 million votes, a victory, which brings it 123
    Parliament seats almost double than the conservative People’s Party. The
    Liberal centre-to-right Ciudadanos came third with 57 mandates, while far-left
    Podemos mustered 42 seats. Secessionists of the Catalan left have also obtained
    15 seats. According to Radio Romania correspondent to Spain the turnout was at
    an all-time high, reaching 75%.










    FREQUENCIES Dear friends,
    Radio Romania International operated new changes into the frequencies of
    its transmissions, which came into effect on April 27th. So, the RRI
    broadcast at 3:00 UTC to North America, (the West Coast) can be received on the
    frequency of 7375 kHz in the analogue system, while our programmes to India are
    carried by 13630 kHz in the DRM system.

    (translated by bill)



  • Le vin roumain – passion et business

    Le vin roumain – passion et business

    Razvan Adam et Stefan Ionescu travaillent dans l’industrie vinicole depuis 2007 quand ils ont ouvert leur premier bar à vin. Devenus par la suite propriétaires de vignobles, les deux hommes d’affaires ont ouvert une cave à vin avant de se lancer dans la distribution. On les a invités au micro pour apprendre davantage sur l’histoire du vin roumain des dix dernières années.

    Razvan Adam : «A l’heure où l’on est, le marché du vin est à la baisse en Roumanie, comme dans le reste du monde. Pourtant, chez nous, le volume des vins de la gamme premium est à la hausse par rapport à celui des vins médiocres. A présent, 85% du marché vinicole est représenté par des vins mauvais, tandis que le reste de 15% revient aux grands crus dont le prix dépasse les 15 euros la bouteille. C’est une grande performance pour un pays comme la Roumanie qui, il y a dix ans, ne produisait presque pas de vin premium.» En fait, ce n’est qu’après l’adhésion du pays à l’UE que l’on commence à constater un développement du marché vinicole de Roumanie. Pourtant, la crise économique a eu son mot à dire.

    Razvan Adam : «Le marché du vin s’est écroulé lui aussi sur fond de crise économique, car entre la nécessité d’acheter quelque chose pour la maison et le désir de s’acheter une bouteille de bon vin, la nécessité a primé. Le vin n’est jamais une priorité. A présent, les choses s’améliorent petit à petit et l’on constate une relance du marché. Les caves à vin se modernisent, elles se voient doter de technologies de dernière génération, ce qui implique des investissements directs. Le taux d’utilisation des fonds communautaires est de 100%. A ce que je sache, c’est le seul secteur de Roumanie à se vanter d’un tel pourcentage. Cela s’explique aussi bien par la concurrence que par la qualité, les deux en rapport direct avec un environnement sûr. Parmi les multiples conditions imposées par l’UE, rappelons la modernisation du secteur. En tant que producteur, il faut se doter de toute la documentation nécessaire, avancer un programme très bien mis au point et obtenir le feu vert pour le financement. Comme vous voyez, tous les pas à franchir respectent les normes européennes.»

    Pour sa part, Stefan Ionescu met en évidence les bénéfices de l’intégration européenne sur le marché roumain du vin : «Au fur et à mesure que le niveau de vie augmente en Roumanie, les besoins du consommateur se multiplient eux aussi. Malgré un marché envahi dans un premier temps par des produits importés d’une qualité plutôt douteuse, les Roumains ont fini par apprendre à apprécier correctement un vin. Du coup, les producteurs ne peuvent plus présenter des vins bas de gamme comme étant de produits d’une qualité extraordinaire.»

    Quel est le bilan des exportations du vin roumain? Stefan Ionescu : « La Roumanie est plutôt un pays importateur de vin qui consomme presque toute sa production nationale. Nous avons un faible pourcentage destiné aux exportations surtout en raison de notre renommée communiste qui faisait que sous Ceausescu le pays ait exporté beaucoup de vin, mais de mauvaise qualité. En plus, cette image, on l’a alimentée dans les années 1990 quand on a lancé des vins de contrefaçon sur le marché. Il nous a donc fallu pas mal d’années pour reconquérir les marchés et si on ajoute à cela la consommation interne importante, on comprend pourquoi notre présence est si faible sur les marchés extérieures. Les meilleurs vins appartiennent aux grands producteurs qui en vendent des volumes importants.» Depuis quelques années, le vin originaire de République de Moldova s’enorgueillit d’une bonne renommée parmi les consommateurs roumains. Une évolution des plus intéressantes, selon Stefan Ionescu:Son: « La République de Moldova a bien éliminé les écarts de qualité. N’oublions pas qu’initialement, ses vins étaient destinés au marché russe. Du coup, on avait à faire à des vins légers, sucrés, qui plaisaient aux Russes. Au moment de la fermeture de ce marché, les producteurs moldaves ont décidé de changer de cap. Mais comment faire pour s’adapter aux nouvelles technologies dans un pays sans capital? Ce fut grâce aux efforts de quelques producteurs que le niveau qualitatif a commencé à augmenter petit à petit. Pourtant, le fait de considérer, il y a dix ans, le vin moldave comme ayant une grande qualité s’explique plutôt par l’absence, à l’époque, d’un vin roumain de haut-de-gamme.»

    Selon les deux entrepreneurs, les subventions destinées au marché vinicole seraient à même d’améliorer la qualité du vin roumain. (trad. Dominique)