Following comments made on Facebook, in which soprano Angela Gheorghiu called out conductor Cristian Macelaru a “coward” for his performance on July 14, the soprano is denouncing the conductor for disappearing as she was negotiating a performance on the concert.

Gheorghiu took to social media and wrote, “My dears, Although I did not want to return to this topic, I am forced to write a clear message, after very virulent reactions appeared in the Romanian mass media – most of them expressed in ignorance. My reaction vis-à-vis the conductor Cristian Macelaru comes after I was tricked or, in Romanian, lied to by him – the second Romanian who behaved in this inexplicable and unclassifiable way in the last 12 months.”

She added, “I have been invited since last year, in October 2021, by Didier de Cottignies (my lifelong friend, whom I have known since I signed the contract with Decca, at the beginning of my career), to participate in the concert annually on July 14 from Paris, the National Day of France. Didier is the one who appointed Cristian Măcelaru to the position of Artistic Director of the National Orchestra of France, and my invitation to the concert came after Didier spoke with Cristian Măcelaru. My contracts are made ahead of time, through the management agency, I don’t deal with the contract details directly with the promoter, nor could I because I don’t have time and I have a team that knows exactly what to do. However, Cristian Măcelaru being Romanian, I said that I could talk directly with him about the repertoire, it seemed to me a normal collegial gesture vis-à-vis a compatriot of mine, whom I met waiting in front of my cabins, at the end of the show, mainly in America. So we had a few phone calls and text messages, between November 2021 and April 2022… Then, as I said, inexplicably, Cristian Măcelaru disappeared! Even more than that, I found out from my agency, with difficulty, through a secretary of the Orchestra, that I will no longer take part in this concert. Without a reason. From a secretary.”

The soprano also added that this was not the first time a Romanian had reacted in the same way. The soprano went on to call out the Bucharest National Opera, where she has never performed a single opera.

Gheorghiu said, “In the last year, the same thing happened at the Bucharest National Opera, and not only to me, although only I had the courage to speak, unlike other colleagues in similar situations, who either stuttered or remained silent. In short, I was invited last year, in June 2021 (and that only after a message went viral on Facebook), to sing in an extraordinary concert, around the New Year, on the anniversary of ONB’s centenary. All contract details were settled by my management and on July 14, 2021 a gala concert was confirmed by both sides for December 31, 2021. My managers waited for the contract for months, asked, wrote… but ONB completely disappeared and didn’t even respond (as Cristian Măcelaru would do in a few months). The protagonist of this episode was Daniel Jinga, appointed, in the meantime, Director General at ONB, following a competition with only one candidate. Things are very clear. The above fits into a pattern of behavior that, over time, too many compatriots have shown towards me. And which I could, and can, do without.”

Gheorghiu also highlighted that she had never been helped by the Romanian government and had built her career on her own helping other Romanian artists. She said, “As for my preference for certain Romanian musicians, musicians with real careers, others over those who are excessively “promoted” in Romania – this comes after decades of being present all over the world, in all the big concert and opera halls, in all the cultural capitals, and I met and befriended my fellow musicians, be they singers or great conductors… and where I learned – from the objective and authoritative perspectives of true music legends and in open and honest conversations, no propaganda and no petty interests – who really had important careers and who didn’t. Of course, everyone is free to listen to whoever they want, to like whoever they choose, but it’s a shame that in Romania we don’t talk more about other Romanian musicians, composers, opera singers, whose compositions or careers are much more important for the history of UNIVERSAL music.”

“Radu Lupu, an authentic legend of the piano, would have deserved a day of national mourning when he died recently… a genius musician, almost completely ignored in his country of origin, Romania… Clara Haskil, Dinu Lipatti, Virginia Zeani , Maria Cebotari, Ileana Cotrubaș, Viorica Cortez, Ionel Perlea, Sergiu Celibidache, Gheorghe Zamfir, Paul Constantinescu, Pascal Bentoiu, Nicolae Bretan, Vladimir Cosma… the list is not short. I owe nothing to Romania, I have never been supported by this state or its institutions in my career, on the contrary, I have supported Romanian musicians and colleagues, inviting them to my concerts and shows, the important fees, throughout my career. Among them I mention the conductors Ion Marin, Tiberiu Soare, Ciprian Teodorașcu, the tenors Teodor Ilincai, Stefan Pop, Bogdan Mihai Ionut, Marius Brenciu, Marius Manea, Calin Bratescu, Vlad Mirita, Marius Budoiu… the soprano Iulia Isaev and the baritone George Petean , the pianists Alexandru Petrovici, Alexandra Dariescu and Dan Grigore,” she said.

She concluded that she has had the privilege of working with whatever orchestra she has wanted and added that she has always kept Romanian music in her concerts and in her life because that’s where she comes.

“I even invited the “George Enescu” Philharmonic from Bucharest to my concert in Oman, Muscat and to my concert in Luxembourg (on the occasion of Romania’s accession to the European Union)… although the Philharmonic never invited me… I invited the Madrigal Choir and Marin Constantin for the recording of the disc with the sacred (religious) music Mysterium, in London, on which we also recorded the Romanian Orthodox music orchestrated especially for this recording. At my initiative, the BBC came to Romania and made a documentary with this music, at the monasteries in Moldova. I was not obliged to invite them, I could invite whoever I wanted, as I can do now. In Romania, in 32 years, I had 4 or 5 concerts with honorariums and 8-10 concerts or appearances in charity concerts, no opera performances except for the licensure exam of the Bucharest University of Music, which took place in Cluj in 1990… I never ended up signing a contract with ONB or another cultural institution in Romania.”

“I have dedicated my whole life to music and in particular to Romanian music, which I sing in all my concerts, my nationality is Romanian, my origin from Adjud is known to the whole world and I mention it in all the presentations and biographies that are asked of me. In fact, I do not owe anyone any explanation, on the contrary, I am owed explanations by many, but I thought that at least once things should be stated clearly.  wish you all more understanding and more genuine patriotism that goes beyond the facebook comment stage. Nationalist, extreme, anti-feminist sentences, comments made for the sake of scandal, without a minimum of information and respect, do not take place in the year 2022 and never,” Gheorghiu concluded.