Oana Catalina Chitu: Divine

Oana Catalina Chitu

"Maria Tanase (1913-1963) is loved in Romania like no singer that has followed her. 2013 marks the centenary of her birth, an anniversary that inspired Berlin-based Romanian artist Oana Catalina Chitu, to pay homage to the great singer with this new release. Even before the Second World War, Tanase performed folk songs, tangos, romances, couplets and cantece de mahala (music from the suburbs) in restaurants, in revue theaters and on the radio, usually accompanied by Roma musicians, the lautari. Tanase developed her own expressive way of interpretation, making songs of every origin her own. Then the iron curtain fell between Eastern and Western Europe, and Tanase was increasingly forgotten in Romania throughout the 1960s. Today, musicians from both countries are once again moving as easily between the two cities as they did in the 1930s, and music from the Balkans, and from Romania in particular, is better known in Berlin today than ever before. Chitu is a part of this vibrant scene and her diva-like on-stage persona is reminiscent of times long past, when bohemians and intellectuals met in Bucharest's salons."

Price: $23.98