The RESTITUTIO CANTEMIR project was presented in Krakow

On the occasion of the 350th anniversary of the birth of the great man of culture and prince of Moldova, Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), Computerland Romaniain partnership with Romanian Cultural Instituteorganizes the Project RESTITUTIO CANTEMIRwhich emphasizes both the academic and the cultural side of Dimitrie Cantemir’s encyclopedic personality.

At the opening of the event, more than 150 people visited the photo-documentary exhibition with images from documents and artifacts from the period of Dimitrie Cantemir’s life, more precisely from the 17th-18th centuries, organized by the National Archives of Romania, in partnership with the Romanian Academy, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova and the National Museum of Romanian Literature.

The RESTITUTIO CANTEMIR exhibition includes reproductions of the main Cantemir works, literary writings, including musical manuscripts, map reproductions, stamps and validation marks (seals) that cover both the period of Prince Cantemir’s stay in Istanbul, the years of his reign on the Moldavian throne, as well as the period of refuge in Russia.

In the second part of the event, Mr. Ovidiu Miron, the Director of ICR Warsaw, gave a brief presentation of the project at the opening of the RESTITUTIO CANTEMIR concert, supported by the “Anton Pann” Early Music Chamber Ensemble. The audience was really delighted by the 7 musical compositions performed, which are known with certainty to have been created by Dimitrie Cantemir. The compositions are taken from his work “Book of the Science of Music according to the letter form” and are sonically contextualized with the help of the musician-researchers from the “Anton Pann” Ensemble and guest musicians from the USA, Canada, Turkey and Lebanon.

The uniqueness of the performance was given by the use of period-specific instruments and interpretation, along with the holographic video projection of Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, who personally presented his musical creations.

The RESTITUTIO CANTEMIR project will continue in Berlin, on May 17, 2023, at 18:00, in the concert hall of the State Library.

Project Partners: Romanian Academy, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Romanian Cultural Institute, National Museum of Romanian Literature, National Archives of Romania, Association for Culture and Tradition Anton Pann, City Hall of Iasi, National Athenaeum of Iasi, Metropolis of Moldova and Bucovina, Society Romanian Television, Radio Romania, Trinitas TV, Simavi, Prodal 94, Carpatina and Romfilatelia.

The project is registered in the Events Calendar of the Ministry of Culture, which also accepted its patronage. The organization of the project tries to reflect the encyclopedic dimension of Dimitrie Cantemir’s life and work.

About the Anton Pann Early Music Chamber Ensemble

The Anton Pann Ensemble (est. 2003), named after the 19th-century Wallachian composer Anton Pann, is the first and only professional group in Romania that has chosen as its mission the rediscovery of the beauty of old Romanian music and sharing it, with joy, to the public, generating a revitalization of this repertoire and subsequently a stream of inspiration for other groups.

The rediscovery and promotion of music from the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century, by the Anton Pann Ensemble, aims to increase the cultural value and the Romanian musical tradition. It is the only Romanian ensemble that has recorded, for the first time in the world, all the compositions with definite authorship of ruler Dimitrie Cantemir in a single volume.

As a sign of recognition of their effort and professionalism, the Anton Pann Ensemble was invited to play in the Europalia Festival in 2019, being the representative of Romanian classical court music. During the years of activity, the ensemble performed hundreds of concerts in countries such as: England, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Moldova, Belgium, France, Poland, Germany, Ukraine and at the national level: Bucharest, Timisoara, Brasov, Sibiu, Pitesti, Iasi, Constanta, Galati, Târgu Mureş, Cluj Napoca, Vaslui, Piatra-Neamţ, Drobeta Turnu-Severin, Focşani, etc.

The musicians who make up the ensemble are professionals in the field, awarded in countless competitions, doctors in music and university professors. All these elements converge to an exceptional concert result.

Composition of the Anton Pann Ensemble:

1. Răileanu Constantin- orchestrator, kanun, voice

2. Alexandru Stoica- oud

3. Andrei Niţescu – cello

4. Sabin Penea- violin

5. Ghassan Bouz- bendir, riq

6. Ziya Tabassian- tombak, bendir

7. Emmanuel Hovhannisyan- sitting

8. Murat Salim Tokaç- tanbur, ney

Sound Engineer:

Leonidas Palaskas