At 22, Alexandru Cantea has found the equilibrium between education and tradition.
“Music starts from the heart and addresses the heart” (george Enescu) is written on the squared window from the last floor of the Music Conservatory in Bucharest. It is Friday afternoon, five o’clock, and out of the 14 study rooms on the fourth floor of the Conservatory classical music can be heard, with stops and repetitions. The students walk between the rooms, to change the scenery. They buy coffee from the coffee machines, they gather in the hall and discuss this and that, and in the end they go back to their instruments.
The students practice at least four hours a day on top of the obligatory hours at school. Some study from morning till evening, and most do that for 17-20 minutes in the “judgement” room for the national Music Olympiad. Alexandru Cantea is one of them, a third year student at the Conservatory who has been passionate of music since he was 4.
“Father, put me in the suitcase.”
Alexandru comes from a musical family. His father, Nicusor Cantea (Cristi Tractor) was a member of Zece Prajini band (trumpeter) and his son has caught the music bug since he was 4 or 5. “I really wanted to become a musician too”, tells Alex. Cristi did not agree for his son to study trumpet because of the blowing difficulties. Alex did not have strong lungs yet, so he started first grade with piano as his main instrument. From the third grade, Alex discovered the clarinet and his aunt played an important part. She has guided his footsteps for eight years and has showed Alexandru the beauty of the clarinet. His first success came six months after he started studying the instrument, when he won second prize at the Music Olympiad, at the county level in Iasi.
He remembers the controversies started by his participation: what was a third grader who was holding a big and heavy instrument for such a young age doing in front of the jury of the county Olympiad? Has anybody seen something like this before? What is it with this kid? He can’t even hold the instrument!” Alexandru played excellent, so that everybody were mesmerised. The committee members were disputing if Alex played by heart or by the ear since a child in the third grade cannot possibly remember so many notes. They were coming back to the idea that “this kid is amazing, can’t you see how he played?” The discussion would end: No, he could not possibly know the notes”.
On 8th of February 2004, on Alex’s birthday, the Rotary Club of Vaslui announced a concert where the Philharmonic of Iasi was going to attend. It so happen that this concert, and especially what happened at the end, would be the best present Alex could have received for his birthday. On the stage of the House of Culture in Vaslui, Alexandru Cantea, at the age of 13, won an award for his extraordinary results and received a scholarship for 800 RON.
That is when Alex decided: “As long as I can earn my own money, there is no need to call upon my family.” This is why now, at the age of 22, he has concerts every weekend in Italy or Spain, and he does not need to ask his parents every time he wants to buy something. “I could not even afford”, concludes Alex.
“I was proud of myself around the seventh grade”. Mihai Eminescu Gymnasium in Vaslui is not specialised in music, but has only a few music classes. Even so, in those music classes of School No 6 in Vaslui, there are every year numerous participants in the Music Olympiad and national and international contests. The most valuable result of the school belongs to Alex. It is the First Prize in the Music Olympiad at national level, instrumental interpretation – clarinet, won in 2007 in Bucharest.
In May 2012, at the Graduates Concert of Octav Bancila National Art College of Iasi, Alex interpreted “Rigoletto” by Giuseppe Verdi. He wore white shirt with black buttons, black bow tie, black trousers and black belt. Alex bowed to the public, took the cap of the clarinet and put it on the conductor’s desk, then, looking at his instrument, he tuned it. He looked up and nodded to Leonard Dumitru, the conductor of the orchestra, that he was ready. He followed carefully the gestures of the conductor, and in the 43 seconds of the orchestra introduction, breathed deeply several times. Alex poured all his soul into his music, and he felt the music with every inch of his body. As a reward, the spectators applauded him for almost one minute and, similarly to the great soloists, he came back to the stage so that the applause would stop.
After that success, just like after each concert, Alex tells himself that “he needs improve continuously”. His premise is that next time will be better, even though he hears very often words of praise.
“Are you a fiddler?”
Alex recognises easily which musical notes he hears when someone touches the piano keys. Thus, in one of the classes of music theory in high school, Alex answered quickly: „C 7!”. C 7 is a term used mostly by the fiddlers. At school one says C Major. The teacher noticed immediately, and the tonality of her voice when she asked him, “are you a fiddler?” made Alex feel different.
The teacher emphasised the word fiddler and Alex did not feel that it was a compliment. “You can tell when someone says something nice”, he says. It was not well known at high school that he was playing at weddings, but he thought that some colleagues were suspecting. “Who knows, maybe my face is a bit darker”. He says that “the gypsies were made for this music, this is how they felt. The great fiddlers were gypsies, and anybody can confirm this.” He admits he has met Romani who do not play, but he says these are rare exceptions.
Alex has started playing at weddings because he saw his father doing it, who initially did not agree that Alex would choose the same career path. “My father has been through many, and he knows how much work a wedding involves and what it takes to be a member of the Philharmonic. This is what he has wished for me: the Philharmonic.” Nowadays, they play together, the father plays the trumpet and Alex plays the clarinet. You can tell by his face how proud he feels. He has never allowed playing for weddings to affect his formal education. A teacher in Iasi was saying: “I have nothing against you playing at weddings, as long as you prepare for classes and the sound quality does not change”.
**
Nowadays, Alexandru Cantea is a third year student within Faculty of Musical Interpretation within National Music University in Bucharest. He finished last term with an average of 9.53, and he would like to do his Masters abroad. “It is a shame that there are many talented children in our country who find it difficult to find a job. Here they look a bit at your face, at your skin colour, “Just a second, he is a gypsy, he must know!” Where there is a contest abroad, the jury cannot even seen you. You are behind a curtain. They award the prize to “Contestant no. 33”.”
Alex’s entourage is made of Romani and Romanians “I am a gypsy, but I feel the Romanians are similar to me. And as they are Romanians, they feel about me in a similar way. Meaning, in a word, we are people, aren’t we? Sometimes he is amazed by the generalisations and comparisons that are made. “It does not mean if one says “gipsy” that we are all the same. Never!”. He says he does not like the behaviour of some people and he feels sorry for what they are capable of doing. “They go abroad and they steal, they do not have any education”. He feels that it is not just the school who can offer an education; the school can’t make up for the lack of home education: “My father does not have much of an education, he finished the tenth grade, but he was able to provide me with education. An education that no primary school student has: to respect everybody, to know how to say “good day” to an older person, to use the polite form of addressing and so on.
Regarding discrimination, Alex thinks that the difference is in the tone and voice. It is one thing to say to someone “Gipsy!” and another to say: “Wow, that gipsy played so well!” He is not bothered that he is Romani and even if he hears some people reminding him of this and he feels the negative connotation, he does not take it personally and gets on with things. “We are all people and there is space for everybody, isn’t there?”
“On the other hand, I do not feel discriminated against, because I am very proud of myself, my family and my education. I feel that I can contribute positively to the society and I act accordingly.
Student life, for Alex, is first and foremost a way to start his career in the most productive way. Beer, dorms and women come afterwards. He is careful with what he wears, both for lectures and for concerts and he does not renounce his suit and tie. The formal clothes give him a professional look and he can command respect. Many people say that the years of the youth do not return and that “these times will not come again”. Alex answers seriously, “Indeed, these years will not return, and it is good to make the most of them. You practically start your career here; if you do not do anything during your student time, when you graduate you become unemployed”.
This article can be read here: http://citescasertiunea.aser.ro/2015/04/17/oameni-intr-un-cuvant/
