I strongly believe that music is the universal language of mankind. Through it we can communicate our feelings, aspirations, ideas. Nothing can build bridges between different peoples and cultures like music.
With my wife Giovanna, here in Romania we try to attend as many concerts as possible, and we are looking forward to enjoying the rich program of this years’ Enescu Festival.
One performance we will not miss is Gustav Mahler’s Titan Sy mphony with the San Francisco Orchestra under the baton of the great MTT ( Michael Tilson Thomas), who in my opinion is the best living interpreter of Mahler! I had the chance to enjoy his concerts when I was posted in California, and his presence in Bucharest is a real gift for all music lovers.
One of my most vivid musical memories is actually linked to Romania. It was February 1990 and I was spending my holidays in Vienna, when I had the chance to attend a special concert at the Opera: a charity event dedicated to the Romanian Revolution, with the participation of Gheorghe Zamfir and “la Diva Divina” Mariana Nicolesco, conducted by Claudio Abbado. I would never have guessed that, after 25 years, life would give me the privilege to call myself a personal friend of Mariana Nicolesco and to be Ambassador in Romania.
