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SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

"Vlad Hirlav-Maistorovici (b. 1985, Romania) is a no holes barred violinist. His technical assuredness is balanced by interpretive willingness to push boundaries that can, and often does, make sparks fly. Szymanowski and Ravel offered near ideal vehicles for him to show this. As was commented afterwards by the adjudicator, it might have been Paganini himself playing the Szymanowski, so much did both the Italian and Polish elements come through.  Ravel’s Tzigane was dispatched all the instinctiveness of a gypsy fiddler, and all the technique of a virtuoso. Both performances were also notable for producing the only genuine duo partnerships of the evening, Ellena Hale’s accompaniments being sensitive and telling."​

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ARTS TALK MAGAZINE

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"The New European Ensemble has created a musical/visual spectacle par excellence. (...) They created Metamorfosen in collaboration with Carolien Teunisse of Deframe, who did the visuals, and conductor Vlad Maistorovici.

The concert took place in the main central hall of the Kunstmuseum where a stage and the orchestra had been set up behind a huge gauze. The wonderful thing about the theatrical use of gauze is that if it is lit from the front it is opaque and appears solid but if lit from behind is totally transparent. Both these aspects were exploited in Metamorfosen with the orchestra dimly lit with soloists occasionally being in the spotlight. Meanwhile images by Ms Teunisse were projected on the gauze, all of which were based on, or inspired by, the work of MC Escher. A brilliant concept, brilliantly executed.

There was also work from D. Heinichen, Webern and Mr Maistorovici himself. His piece Metamorfose After MC Escher began with what seemed like the orchestra tuning up again as the images metamorphosed from chess board to tortoises and cats. The music became much more melodic, being almost Gershwinesque at times.

This was a really enjoyable concert. My only criticism, and one I don’t use very often, is that it was too short; I could have done with another half hour. Further performances are planned so watch out for those."

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SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

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"The first half ended with the trio arrangement of the second movement of Berg’s Kammerkonzert, which provided violinist Vlad Maistorovici with a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate his musicianship. His tone was rich and elegant, and was complemented by some beautifully sensitive piano and clarinet playing. Berg creates some stunning colours from this instrumental combination, and the work has a clarity of texture which came through well in this performance.

And so to the Messiaen, a performance which has so much to praise that it was disappointing that more of the residents of Croydon chose not to hear it. (...) The final movement, Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus was superbly played, with Maistorovici creating a stunning tone, full of rich expression. This was rapturous performance, raising to the heights in both pitch and passion."

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DIPLOMAT MAGAZINE

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"The special guest of the concert was the well-known Romanian violinist and composer, Vlad Maistorovici. The concert wanted to be an argument for Europe and its common values, 
starting from the cultural ones. The program incorporated reference works from the Romanian repertoire (composers George Enescu and Bela 
Bartók), European repertoire (composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), as well as a musical premiere for the Netherlands, the composition signed by 
Vlad Maistorovici, ”Transilvan Concert”, a spectacular rhapsody on Romanian themes and a tribute to the Romanian medieval melodies."

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MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

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"The opening is a tribute, as Vlad says, to “the great tradition of orchestral openings” which to me had something of Nielsen about it. In this case the composer was trying to describe a halo of light. The ethereal quality of the music certainly alludes to it."

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THE CLASSICAL REVIEWER​

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"A flowing melody with brass and strings opens ‘Halo’ by Vlad Maistorovici (b.1985), full of atmosphere. The brass increase in dominance as the movement gently flows until it increases in complexity and tempo. The brass make an outburst and a gong sounds, whilst there are ruminations in lower strings and the gong sounds again. The music fades before bells introduce a mysterious orchestral sound with slides on strings. The brass, eventually, lead the orchestra upwards again with the sound of bells and percussion, becoming more animated with interjections from woodwind and brass. There is a wonderful swirl of sounds until the music quietens with chimes bringing the piece to an end."

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CLASSICAL SOURCE

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"The final piece is Halo, a larger-scale work by Vlad Maistorovici (born 1985) of just over ten minutes. Initially underpinned by a low, sawing bass note the orchestral writing becomes chaotic and includes a glacial passage for far-off percussion to describe the circular band of light itself. The music then builds inexorably, harnessing power."

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BOULEZIAN

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"That said, Maistorovici, born in Romania in 1985, and by all accounts a fine violinist as well as a composer, certainly did benefit from the advocacy of the LSO and Clemens Schuldt, who seemed to me to conduct the work as if it were already a classic. (I very much hope to hear more from Schuldt before long.) Halo is in many ways relatively straightforwardly pictorial, opening with a light source (a reference, according to the composer, to Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, Mahler’s First, and Kurtág’s Stele) with musical motion quickly tending towards the halo’s glow. To say that it is pictorial does not mean that it is not tightly organised; far from it, for audible symmetries and reflections abound. Nevertheless, an audience versed in superior film music would at least have some point of entry. It seemed to me that Mahler and Messiaen were obvious points of comparison, whether ‘influences’ or otherwise. Particular things to listen out for – or rather, which one could hardly fail to hear – were a high-lying violin line, prominent tuned percussion, and low bass lines across the various instrumental families. Though Maistorovici did not mention Ligeti, I wondered whether the strings’ swarming was inspired by the Hungarian master. Whatever the ultimate fortunes of the piece – and it is a fool’s game to say too much after a single hearing – this composer is clearly one who already understands the craft of orchestration and who does not fear bold gestures. I suspect that we shall hear more from him."

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THE ARTS DESK​

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"There was as much welly as you could wish for. Understandably, he had assigned the mastery of Maistorovici's Halo to an undertsudy, Clemens Schuldt. It's not a particularly complicated piece but still no doubt benefited from the undivided attention of this young man. Its ebb and flow, most of which takes place in brass, woodwind and percussion, undergirded by a regular arpeggiated beat on strings that both harries and rocks, was reminiscent of Sibelius. A brief languid passage gives way to a faster, more colourful one that brings in snatches of Bartók and Stravinsky but that ultimately fails to shake off the rather suffocating beat, which rang on in the head after the work ended."

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BACHTRACK

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"Sir Colin Davis is a man whose name has become synonymous with exceptional classical music. And after over 50 years with the London Symphony Orchestra, the nuances of performance have become second-nature to him. But audiences were in for a treat Sunday night: the LSO offered audiences a rare opportunity to experience new music by two exceptional young musicians.
Part of LSO Discovery’s Young Panufnik Young Composer’s Scheme, Vlad Maistorovici presented his new work Halo, a UK premiere. Conducted by Clemens Schuldt, a young conductor whose energy matched the vibrancy of the music, Schuldt moved with the orchestra to depict various layers of light. From the opening chord, which felt like a sharp burst of light—similar to the sensation one feels when they first emerge out of a dark room—to the pulsating sensations created with the use of timpani and flexatone, the audience felt the emergence of light."

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FINANCIAL TIMES

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"The Britten-Pears Ensemble, alumni in Aldeburgh’s biennial course in contemporary composition and performance (Thomas Adès and Julian Anderson are products), set the Jubilee Hall by the ears on Friday. Topped and tailed by masters (Lutoslawski and Lindberg), seven works by composers under 30 combined exuberant imagination with tight control to electrifying effect. Favourites were: vivid contrasts in Vlad Maistorovici’s Ocean Wing and Sasha Siem’s Virginia Woolf-inspired AfTeRsHoCk , ranging from tiny skitterings and scrabblings to jabbing, ungainsayable life force."

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ADEVĂRUL

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"There were about ten songs, dances and musical themes extracted from the codex. I quickly gave up on keeping count, because the music was simply captivating. A mixture of folklore with pre-classical music, there are vague influences of Monteverdi, we are on the edge of Western civilization, in Habsburg Transylvania (a stroke of luck, musically speaking). But also a simplicity, somewhat inevitable, generated by the era and the sources of inspiration. Everything is wrapped in an ingenious accompaniment: the strings of the chamber orchestra produce an unusually vibrant sound of an imaginary and huge cymbalom. The comments that the soloist and the orchestra make in turn are modern, but the dosage of contemporary sounds is not invasive, but contained within some limits so as not to stun the listener. I really liked this balance, which we are not at all used to, in a society always inclined to exaggerate language, and if I had to choose one among the songs, this would be the second (I think it was called "Another Wallachian Dance", but I can't be very sure, because in fact its theme evolved organically), of a simplicity that bordered on childlike, but which then developed, without haste and without pride, into a discourse that was rather subtle than crowded with ideas, voiced emphatically. Eugen Ţichindeleanu lived in this universe, adding to it a virtuosity based on the various techniques used in the repetitions of the main theme. This combination of Transylvanian folklore (archaic, rough at times, but also tragic) with the restrained joy that Maistorovici extracted from Western pre-classical music was, I repeat, very well ballanced. I would very much like to hear it again in the season of a Romanian chamber orchestra. It is, keeping the proportions, a new Romanian Poem."

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NATIONAL HERITAGE INSTITUTE​

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"The suite Carols Without Words, on themes from Romanian folk carols, for string orchestra (2020), by Vlad Maistorovici, bundles five melodies, whose refined instrumentation enhances their aura and conveys states of tranquility.

The Transylvanian Concerto, on melodies from Codex Caioni, for violin and string orchestra (2013), by Vlad Maistorovici, creatively applies to the cited source, manners specific to the traditional Transylvanian trio, Enescian procedures, in a unique multi-ethnic vision – through declared Romanian, Hungarian, Saxon, English, Jewish, Italian, Gypsy characters.

The Romanian Rhapsody, for violin and orchestra (2018; first Romanian audition), by British composer Mark Anthony Turnage, communicates nostalgia; it is a free-poematic piece, modifying the original meaning of the rhapsodic concept. The harmonies and orchestration have masterful iridescence, with sfumato effects and a result of immersion of the listener.

The interpretation of the Romanian Poem, op.1 (1897), by George Enescu, demonstrated, as always, that an orchestral ensemble surpasses itself when the conductor masters the letter and spirit of the score. The moments of violin, harp, and wind instruments were harmoniously integrated into the musical flow. From the male choir – prepared by István Boldizsár – I would have liked a hieratic sonority, appropriate to the Byzantine essences (but probably the sound engineering also exaggerated its intensity, capturing it from behind the scenes).

An exceptional concert, which surpasses other manifestations dedicated to this event and which were broadcast live by TVR. Bravo!"

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DAVID HALEN​

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"The very challenging commissioned work by Vlad Maistrovici entitled B.A.C.H. Passacaglia for solo violin was a fascinating piece with many unusual colors and special techniques. It brilliantly showcased the ability of these gifted contestants in learning new material in a very short time. It was remarkable how the work came to life both expressively and virtuosically, and was pivotal in helping us in measure the talent of the contestants in the Enescu Competiton."