Old recordings, made 1906-1930s, of Romanian orchestras and singers, including Alexandru Mata, Niculae Raducan, Stefan Julian, Nitza Codolban, Jan Goulesco, and Th. Iliescu. Some were favorites of the White Russians.
Nicolae Botgros, leader of "Lautarii," of Chisinau, Moldova, plays a solo, in a 1991 appearance in Detroit. The tour was historic, as it was a joint Moldovan-Romanian tour. For 50 years, there had been no contact between the Moldavian SSR and Romania.
Valeriu Hanganu, trumpet player with "Lautarii" from Chisinau, plays a solo on the joint Moldovan/Romanian tour to the U.S. made in 1991. Unfortunately, he died shortly after he returned home.
Nelu Ploiesteanu (accordion), Nicu Gigantu (accordion), Nicolae Feraru (cimbalom), and Aurica Turcitu (bass) play a hora lautareasca (Gypsy musicians' hora) while the guests dance.
A resident of Chicago since 1990, Pavel Cebzan, from Timisoara, Romania, plays two doine following by dance tunes from his native Banat. He is accompanied by a mixed Romanian/Serbian Gypsy ensemble. There isn't much taragot (tarogato, torogoata) on YouTube, so here is some, played by a master.
At about 5 a.m., Gicu Petrache sings a classic version of the _cintec miresei_ (bride's song), while the bride exchanges her veil for the scarf of a married woman.
At a rehearsal for a 1998 TV appearance, held in the Bucharest restaurant Sarpele Rosu, Nicolae Feraru (cimbalom) plays a hora accompanied by a large ensemble of Gypsy musicians.
Formerly with Zamfir's group, clarinetist Pavel Cebzan, originally from Banat, Romania, but in Chicago since 1989, plays a doina and dance tunes from Moldova and Banat. He is accompanied by Romanian and Serbian Gypsy musicians who live in Chicago.
On the day of the weekly "bursa lautarilor" at the Monte Carlo Restaurant in Cismigiu Park in Bucharest, 1998, Marian Cioroplea (violin) plays muzica lautareasca, accompanied by Gigi Melodi (accordion) and Costel Iordache (bass).
Milo (Gjula Milosavljevic), formerly of Romalen Ensemble, in Belgrade, now of Chicago, plays in a mixed Serbian-Romanian Gypsy ensemble at the Chicago World Music Festival in 2001. He plays "Gypsy Yearning" (his own composition), Mor Borije, Vracarica, and Pargar Kolo.
Recordings and images of Romanian musicians made between 1937 and 1941, including Fanica Luca, Nicolas Matthey, Grigoras Dinicu, George Stefanescu, and Iancu Borcea Cārlig. Instrumental solos feature violin, nai (pan flute), and cimbalom
Laurentiu and Nicolae Feraru play "Turceasca" (Turkish dance), a cimbalom showpiece traditionally played at the end of a wedding party. They are accompanied by Romanian and Serbian musicians in Chicago.
Ninel de la Braila (violin), Nicu Dorel (Paun) (accordion), and Luis Iordache (cimbalom) play outside the apartment of the bride (Fanica Feraru) before the wedding ceremony.
At the Chicago World Music Festival in 2001, father and son Nicolae and Laurentiu Feraru, originally from Bucharest, Romania, but living in the U.S. since 1988, play "Foaie verde untdelemn." They are accompanied by Gypsy musicians from Romania and Serbia, including Juliano and Danilo Milosavljevic (father and son), Bane Georgevic, Pavel Cebzan, and Mihai Gutulan.
Nelu Ploiesteanu (accordion), Nicu Gigantu (accordion), Nicolae Feraru (cimbalom, the bride's father) play the traditional "cintec de nunta" (wedding song).
The mixed Chicago Romanian and Serbian Gypsy group, under the name "Pralas Rroms," features Nicolae Feraru played variations on "Ioane, Ioane," at the Chicago World Music Festival in 2001.
Marian Bucur (violin), Nicu Gigantu (accordion), and Ritsa Gheorghe (bass) play pre-World War II-style Dinicu melodies in one of Bucharest's classic restaurants (1998).
At the famous Bucharest restaurant, Caru cu bere, Radu Simion plays the old song "Ce mai foc si ce mai jale," creating an authentic pre-World War I atmosphere.
A concerto originally composed for the Italian psaltery (salterio) around 1750, played by Paul Gifford and Ars Musica in 1986. The performer made a copy of an instrument made about 1770 in Venice. This clip is of the first movement.
Dan Armeanca and his group (who are credited with introducing the *muzica orientala*/*manele* style around 1985, play outside the bride's apartment while the girls dance the manea.
Here, in a 1997 video, this dulcimer ensemble ("Smile," in English), led by Larissa Levkovich, plays an arrangement of Byelorussian dance tunes. Their remarkable style is a legacy of the school developed by Iosif Zhynovich in Minsk during the 1940s. Best wishes to them if any of them see this.
A Communist-era-style song-and-dance ensemble from Constanta performs at a restaurant in the Black Sea resort of Eforie din Nord in 1998; the soloist here plays bagpipes (cimpoi), ocarina, folk clarinet, and jew's harp (drimba).
At the World Cimbalom Congress in Mogilev, Belarus, on Oct. 1, 1997, Larisa Rydlevskaya performs the premiere of V. Kourian's Concerto for Tsimbaly and Folk-Instruments Orchestra. She is accompanied by the Belarus State Academic Folk Orchestra "I. Zhinovych," conducted by Mikahil Kazinets. This contains only the first two movements.
![Marian Cioroplea, violin, at Restaurantul \"Monte Carlo\"](http://img.youtube.com/vi/amQkuDPJZ2E/2.jpg "Marian Cioroplea, violin, at Restaurantul \\"Monte Carlo\\"")
![Nicolae Feraru plays \"Ioane, Ioane\"](http://img.youtube.com/vi/Y-_WL96_mGw/2.jpg "Nicolae Feraru plays \\"Ioane, Ioane\\"")
![Children\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/XevLyYPVjpQ/2.jpg "Children\")
![Bagpipe, jew\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/0WfznA8JkkQ/2.jpg "Bagpipe, jew\")
