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Florin Codre, the plagiarist sculptor who copied monuments by Ivan Mestrovici (the most well known being the recent King Carol scandal involving a statue destined for the Pta Revolutiei) is breeding race-horses in three different countries and living the life of Riley on the proceeds of his very mediocre art, thank you very much. See HERE from Adevarul.ro Cursă fără oprire Sculptorul Florin Codre creşte peste 200 de cai în patru ferme din Franţa, Germania şi România. Pentru prima dată, un român este pe cale să intre în liga... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) If Cosbuc had lived to tell the tale... superb parody of Iarna pe Ulita (!!): L’hiver sur la ulitzaPublicat de Laurentiu GhitaA-nceput de ieri să cadăCâte-un rrom, pe urmă doi.Franţa pusă e pe sfadă,Şi ni-i dă pe toţi grămadă,Înapoi.Nu e cuşer, dar e binePentru Sarkozy, acum;Taberele-s toate scrum,Dar năvalnic vuiet vineDe pe drum.Sunt ţigani şi balabuste,Vin la Otopeni, ţipând,Şi se-mping şi sar râzând,Şi se-mpiedică de fuste,Vrând-nevrând.Cei mai mari, acum, din sfadă,Stau, pe-ncăierare puşi,Cei mai mici, de... [Lire la suite]

NYTimes, TRAVEL | By ALEXANDER LOBRANO | NOVEMBER 8, 2010 Disappointed to find that much of central Paris now serves up the same street-level visual refrain as most American cities — Gap, Zara, Starbucks, Subway — friends visiting from Boston yearned for an urban adventure. Where could they go for a long weekend that hadn’t yet been subjected to the centrifuge of globalization? “Bucharest,” I replied, and they laughed out loud. “Bucharest!? Is there anything to see there? And what about the hotels and the food?” “Trust me,” I... [Lire la suite]

Here is an excellent analysis from EVZ on the Cenaclul Flacara I wrote about yesterday. Please go see.  

Now here is a man who should not have died in silence and yet his passing hardly made a ripple on 25th October. Does the average Roumanian even know who he is? His life should have been celebrated in unison loudly, clearly and proudly by the whole nation, for here was a man who strove throughout his life for the good of Roumania and latterly, for its children - the very future of the country. Please see this article below posted on Ronald's superb blog Carpathian Musings (see also right of this page under Ronald's Blog) One less... [Lire la suite]

Et la lumiere fut... a sudden illumination as the penny dropped today while chatting to a great friend in Bucharest. Having talked about the lunacy of the past few days, I asked her about the Flacari - had she ever been? "Sure," she replied, "I went a lot between 1974-9 before I left Bucharest for university." I pressed further. What was it like? Why did you go? She explained patiently, pedagogically, with an enthusiastic voice - and finally, I understood. Through all the difficulties of every day life - the greyness, the cold, the... [Lire la suite]

I never imagined the death of Adrian Paunescu would have such a profound effect on me. Don't get me wrong. I'm talking indirectly. Firstly, I have been following the news as carefully as a busy person can and spent most of that time with my jaw dragging on the floor - what a circus, what a pantomime. Total mediatic delirium - television channels grabbed for pathos to net their viewers. I am quite sure that some of the outpouring of grief we have been witnessing is very real. The problem is that one cannot differentiate between... [Lire la suite]

This is the best article I have read so far on the passing of Adrian Paunescu - between the real nostalgia, the anti-sentiment and the frankly nauseabond 'mancurzi' hypocrisy which has become an outwailing of fake grief, here is a journalist, Mihai Gotiu, who doesn't speak to offend nor to judge. He has an opinion, his own and he gives it, truly, honestly, succinctly. Bravo! From Vox Publica Păunescu, generația în blugi și adidași și sindromul Stockholm Unii i-au fost prieteni. Pe alții i-a ajutat. A înflăcărat imaginația... [Lire la suite]

Roumanian poet Adrian Paunescu died this morning from a heart attack (the third) at Floreasca Hospital in Bucharest aged sixty-seven. Reading FaceBook, I see friends posting his poems and plentiful comments of "Odihneasca-se in pace". Sorin Oprescu has declared that Adrian Paunescu shall be laid to rest in the Aleea Scriitorilor of Bellu Cemetery on Sunday with all the honours befitting a poet of his calibre. Considered a great poets of the post-war generation, he had political controversy attached to his name from the communist era,... [Lire la suite]

Enescu: Oedipe Enescu's Oedipe has always been something of a rarity outside his native Romania. Composition began as early as 1914 but it was only in 1936 that it was eventually premiered. (Photo: Renoir: 1st Art Gallery) To spend just a little time enfolded in this superb opera, here is an extract from ACT II with Marjana Lipovšek and José van Dam and a taster of ACT III sung by Brigitte Fassbaender, José Van Dam and Nicolaï Gedda (my hero). This beautiful intermezzo has such strong influences from Enescu's teacher, Faure, that... [Lire la suite]