Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Gold for Romanian Gimnast Marian Dragulescu

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Marian Dragulescu won his eighth world title on Sunday when he soared to victory in the vault but the Romanian would trade the medal in for the Olympic gold that has so far eluded him.

Dragulescu was fourth in the vault at last year's Beijing Games after falling on the landing of his second effort and seventh in the floor exercise.

"Of course," Dragulescu told reporters when asked if he would swap the gold around his neck for an Olympic title.

"But maybe next time, you never know," added the 28-year-old, who also won gold in the floor exercise at the world championships in London's O2 Arena.

Dragulescu's double gold was a remarkable achievement for a gymnast who retired after the Olympics because of back and neck problems and only returned to training in May.

"After eight months I was feeling good. I did some work and it was okay so I said 'why not (come back)?'," he said.

Dragulescu, who delighted the crowd in the final by performing the spectacular vault named after him, beat compatriot Flavius Koczi. Russian Anton Golotsutskov took the bronze.

"I'm pleased -- and tired," said Dragulescu, who won his first world titles back in 2001. "I worked a lot and I'm glad because my work ended up with a medal.

"Each medal I win is more difficult to win because it's very difficult to stay at that level at the top."

Asked when he would consider retirement again, Dragulescu said: "It depends on my health but at the moment I'm very good."

(Editing by Dave Thompson. To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

************************************************************************
Dragulescu tumbles to glory on floor exercise

The 28-year-old tumbled to glory with a score of 15.700 after performing a series of complex twists and soaring somersaults.

He eclipsed China's Zou by 0.025.

Israel's Alexander Shatilov was awarded the bronze with 15.575.

The Romanian gave the fans the thumbs up as he stepped on top of the podium to receive his fourth gold medal on the floor.

"Every time it's harder so every time you win another one it's more difficult, the work is twice or three times more so I'm very satisfied," Dragulescu told reporters.

Apart from Dragulescu, no one else on the day had the talent or the belief to stop the Chinese.

http://sports.rediff.com/report/2009/oct/17/world-gymnastics-london-romanian-wins-fourth-gold.htm

Rediff Sports

The Ratiu Foundation and the Romanian Cultural Centre in London offer you the chance to Win a Pair of Tickets for the UK Launch of TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE

The Ratiu Foundation and the Romanian Cultural Centre in London offer you the chance to

Win a Pair of Tickets for the UK Launch of

TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE

followed by an extraordinary Q&A session with directors Ioana Uricaru and Hanno Höfer.

Thursday 29 October 2009, at 18.00
Renoir Cinema, The Brunswick, London WC1N 1AW
Tube: Russell Square; Buses: 7, 59, 68, 91, 168, 188
Buy your tickets online by clicking HERE, at the cinema, or by calling the Box Office on 0871 7033 991

For your chance to win a pair of tickets for this special preview and Q&A session, all you have to do is to provide the answer to this question:
What is the name of director Cristian Mungiu’s debut feature-length film?

Send your replies by Monday 26 October 2009 at mail@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk. Don’t forget to include in your message your FULL NAME and a TELEPHONE NUMBER where we can contact you. The winners will be selected through a raffle from all the correct answers received by the end of 26 October 2009, and will be notified in writing at the e-mail address provided.

• Tales from the Golden Age
Romania / 2009 / 131 mins / Romanian with English subtitles
Directed by: Cristian Mungiu (Palme d’Or, Cannes 2007), Ioana Uricaru, Hanno Höfer, Constantin Popescu

“Absurd, hilarious, poignant and curiously affectionate. One of the Top 10 films from Cannes 2009” (Wendy Ide, The Times)

Conceived and scripted by Palme d’Or winner Cristian Mungiu, ‘Tales from the Golden Age’ is a funny, poignant and surreal portrait of 1980s Romania. Shot with tremendous style and spirit, the film brilliantly re-captures the mood of an era where undertones of fear, corruption and imprisonment where never far away and where the humour of ordinary citizens played a vital role in facing up to the idiotic logic of the dictatorship. To warm and often hilarious effect, Cristian Mungiu combines several urban legends to portray a time during which food was more important than money, freedom more important than love and survival more important than principles. As he does so, he subtly and comically unseats the propagandist myth that Ceausescu’s leadership brought the “golden age” of Romania.
See an exclusive trailer and find more information on www.talesfromthegoldenage.co.uk
‘Tales from the Golden Age’ is also present on Twitter: http://twitter.com/goldenagetales

‘Tales from the Golden Age’ is released in UK cinemas by Trinity on 30 October 2009. Showing in: 
BRIGHTON - Duke Of York’s;
BRADFORD - National Media Museum;
GLASGOW – Glasgow Film Theatre
DUBLIN – Lighthouse Cinema, IFI (Irish Film Institute). Note: the screening on the evening of 30 October at the Irish Film Institute will be followed by a Q&A with Hanno Höfer. Details here.
MANCHESTER - Cornerhouse;
NEWCASTLE – Tyneside Cinema. Note: the screening on the evening of 31 October at the Tyneside Cinema will be followed by a Q&A with Hanno Höfer. Details here (scroll down the page).

Opening in November in Sheffield, Warwick, York, Bristol, Cardiff, Norwich and other towns – more info soon. Watch this space.

The UK Premiere of ‘Tales from the Golden Age’ is organised by Trinity and the Ratiu Foundation, with the support of the Romanian Cultural Centre in London.

For more information and press images, please contact us on mail@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk

Image above is from ‘Tales from the Golden Age’ (Legend of the Official Visit), Courtesy of Trinity


Media Partners • Diaspora Romaneasca Newspaper • Romani-Online.co.uk • Radio Romani-Online



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The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London
Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 6EQ; Tel. +44 20 7486 0295; Fax: +44 20 7486 0307
E-mail: mail@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk, Web site: www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk
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PLEASE REDIRECT THIS MESSAGE TO ALL INTERESTED

In sprijinul romanilor din Southampton

In sprijinul romanilor din Southampton   
       
Marþi, 20 Octombrie 2009
Permanenta la Consulatul onorific al Romaniei din Southampton
Incepand de miercuri 21 octombrie 2009, Consulatul Onorific al Romaniei din Southampton va avea o permanenta de tip "Drop-in", in fiecare miercuri, intre orele 10:00 si 16:00, la adresa: SOS Polonia, The Park House, 2 Brunswick Place, Southampton, SO15 2AN, Tel. 02380 233 722, Fax 02380 233 762.
Pentru inceput, cei interesati o vor gasi la adresa de mai sus, in fiecare zi de miercuri pe Florentina Diacu, membru consultativ al Consulatului Onorific al Romaniei la Southampton.
Scopul acestei initiative este de a oferi romanilor din zona Southamptonului - in trecere sau stabiliti de mai mult timp -  un punct de legatura cu ceilalti membri ai comunitatii romane locale si o consultanta gratuita pe probleme de munca, locuinta, ajutor juridic si social, integrare sociala si culturala.
Rod al colaborarii stranse intre Consulatul Onorific al Romaniei din Southampton si Asociatia caritabila SOS Polonia, infiintarea acestei permanente se doreste un pas inainte pe calea integrarii romanilor si a valorilor culturale romanesti in peisajul multicultural al Regatului Unit.
Dupa cum se stie, consulul onorific al Romaniei la Southampton este dr.Roxana Carare.
Roman in UK

http://romaninuk.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2299&Itemid=1

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Octombrie Calendar Romanca

In aceasta luna Societatea Romanca desfasoara o serie de evenimente unde sunteti invitati sa va alaturati, fie ca vizitatori fie ca voluntari
.
Organizatiile din comunitatea romaneasca sunt binevenite alaturi de noi cu materiale publicitare sau servicii oferite in comunitate.

16 Octombrie orele 10.00-17.00 vom fii prezenti cu un stand in evenimentul Time of your life, in Primaria Hamersmith & Fulham.

22 Octombrie, orele 15.00-19.00 vom fii prezenti cu un stand in evenimentul Black History Month Celebration, organizat de BEM Hamersmith & Fulham la Paliswick House, King Street Hammersmith.

31 Octombrie, orele 10.00-17.00 vom organiza Festival of learning in colaborare cu  cu GMB, you4jobs, Migrant Worker Network, Tompsons Solicitors& SERTUC si  Union Learning Network.
Cu acesta ocazie Dl Bogdan Carpa Veche , Secretar cu Afaceri sociale al Ambasadei Romaniei in Marea Britanie  este invitat sa sustina un workshop referitor la accesul pe piata muncii a cetatenilor romani.
Deasemenea ne vom bucura de muzica romaneasca si bucatarie est-europeana.
Vizitati : http://festivaloflearning.blogspot.com
Intrarea e libera,va asteptam.

Pentru detalii va rog sa ma contactati,

Ionela Flood
Societatea Romanca
www.romanca.co.uk
075 15 25 35 84
ionela@talktalk.net

Festival of Learning Saturday, October 31, 2009 , 10:00am - 6:00pm, Saturday, 31 October , 2009 Time: 10:00am - 6:00pm







The Festival of Learning is a day long event, that will include workshops to access and information on Education and skills training and Esol courses, to help your career opportunities via ULR networking. A series of workshops will deal with employment rights for all workers (including migrant workers rights and trade union membership), workshops on Health and Safety (dealing with bullying and harassment in the workplace), how to manage stress, how to deal with the workplace environment and accident reporting and prevention. There will also be a  workshop on access to the UK labour markets by Romanian workers, delivered by Bogdan Carpa-Veche, Labour and social affairs attache,  Embassy of Romania in the UK. 
There will be music from the Romanian and Polish communities and great cuisine from a number of EU countries. Other highlights will include a writing competition and photographic  exhibition. 
The overall theme of the event is to learn and understand  more about the richness and diversity of European cultures, so come and join us and be part of our learning community. 
It's an open invitation, so it's free entry. Enjoy and learn more about working in UK!
Here's the confirmed programme so far:

 

Violinist Tudor Andrei will perform a solo programme:
Bach - Chaconne
Ysaye - Sonata no 6
Elgar - Salut d'amour


Ilenuta Lomura Olteanu will sing traditional Romanian folk music, accompanied by the Hai la drum Band



Baz Stanescu with the Hai la drum Band-violin virtuoso, Baz Stanescu and acomplished accordionist, Pete Watson will perform  romanian - balkanic folklore and world music.

Organised by : GMB, ur4jobs, Migrant Rights Network, Romanca Society, SERTUC and Thompsons Solicitors, Union Learning Fund & Union Learning Reps Network .

RSVP :raj.gill@gmb.org.uk

Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=146207833375


London

Date:
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Time:
10:00am - 6:00pm
Street:
Brook Green W6 7BL
City/Town:
London, United Kingdom


Phone:
07983977775
Email:

Friday, October 09, 2009

Romanian-born German novelist, essayist and poet Herta Müller has been named winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature


Romanian-born German novelist, essayist and poet Herta Müller has been named winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature. She was praised by the judges for depicting the “landscape of the dispossessed” with “the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose”.

Herta Müller was announced as winner of the award at the Swedish Academy in Stockholm this afternoon, Thursday 8 October 2009. She becomes only the 12th woman to have won the Nobel since it launched in 1901. Worth 10 million Swedish kronor (£895,000), the Nobel is awarded to “the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”, as described in Alfred Nobel’s will of 1895.

Born in Romania in 1953, Herta Müller refused to cooperate with Ceausescu’s Securitate, lost her job as a teacher and was the subject of repeated threats until she emigrated in 1987 with her husband, writer Richard Wagner. She now lives in Berlin, where she has been the recipient of a multitude of literary awards, including Germany’s most prestigious, the Kleist prize. This award was given for her novel ‘The Land of Green Plums’ which presents the story of five young Romanians living under Ceausescu’s dictatorship. The author said about novel that she wrote this novel “in memory of my Romanian friends who were killed under the Ceausescu regime”.

Although she left Romania over 20 years ago, Herta Müller returns constantly to the themes of oppression, exile and dictatorship in her novels and poems. She has once declared that “the most overwhelming experience for me was living under the dictatorial regime in Romania. And simply living in Germany, hundreds of kilometres away, does not erase my past experience. I packed up my past when I left, and remember that dictatorships are still a current topic in Germany”.

Herta Müller made her debut in Romania in 1982 with a collection of short stories entitled ‘Niederungen’, which was promptly censored by the authorities but was met with great interest in Germany. ‘Der Mensch ist ein grosser Fasan auf der Welt ’ (1986), published in English as ‘The Passport’ by Serpent’s Tail editors (1989), follows the story of a miller in a German-speaking Romanian village who tries to leave for West Germany. Other English translations are: ‘The Land of Green Plums’ (1996), ‘Travelling on One Leg’ (1998), ‘Nadirs’ (1999), and ‘The Appointment’ (2001).
Müller’s latest novel ‘Atemschaukel’ was published in August, and follows the story of a 17-year-old boy who is deported to a Soviet labour camp. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called it “phenomenal, moving and humbling novel, perhaps the most memorable read of the autumn”.

The Nobel Prize winner is selected by 18 members of the Swedish Academy, who receive around 200 nominations at the start of the year, whittling this down to a secret shortlist of five and then choosing their winner, who must receive more than half of the votes cast. Herta Müller becomes its 106thwinner.

NOTE: the information in this e-mail was taken from releases in The Guardian, BBC News, and press agencies’ releases.

Source: Romanian Cultural Centre , London

Recital arii celebre cu soprana Nelly Miricioiu in sprijinul fundatiei Casa Sperantei din Romania


Va scriu cu o propunere de concert in cazul in care va plac ariile celebre si vreti sa faceti si un gest generos. Concertul sopranei Nelly Miricioiu este oferit in sprijinul fundatiei Casa Sperantei din Brasov si Bucuresti (a carei partenera in Marea Britanie este Hospices of Hope). Ei ofera servicii de ingrijire paliativa a adultilor si copiilor in stadiu terminal de boala,  asigurandu-le o viata traita fara durere, in demnitate, alaturi de familie. Banii stransi pe bilete vor fi folositi de catre fundatie pentru proiectele din Romania.  Concertul are loc pe 14 octombrie (miercuri) la Southbank in Londra si pretul unui bilet este de 15 lire. Biletele se pot cumpara online de pe site-ul Southbank.
Aveti detaliile mai jos.
Va multumesc pentru sprijin in numele Hospices of Hope si Casa Sperantei.
Cristina T.



An Evening with Soprano Nelly Miricioiu 
Having returned to sing an outstanding Tosca at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, the internationally renowned British-Romanian soprano Nelly Miricioiu appears for a rare solo recital on behalf of the charity Hospices of Hope. Her programme will include arias from well-known operas by Verdi and Puccini and songs from Romanian composer Brediceanu, supported by pianist Ancuta Nite.
• An Evening with Nelly Miricioiu
Wednesday 14 October 2009, 19.45, Purcell RoomSouthbank CentreLondon SE1 8XX; Box Office: 0871 663 2500. Tickets: £15 (£7.50 concessions).
Details on www.southbankcentre.co.uk




Tuesday, October 06, 2009

INVITATION TO COMPOSERS 2009 - 2011

The London Schubert Players
72 Warwick Gardens, London W14 8PP Tel/Fax: 00 44 (0) 20 7603 1396 
Email: aajg@btinternet.com 
www.londonschubertplayers.co.uk





INVITATION TO COMPOSERS 2009 - 2011


Project selected and funded by the European Union


The London Schubert Players invites composers of any age and nationality to write short works for specific chamber music combinations which do not exist or are very rare in the standard classical music repertoire.
Any number of inspiring and well written works to enhance this repertoire will be selected by the LSP with the following aims:

  • To perform them in concerts in 2010 and 2011 in Britain, France and Romania
  • To record them on CD
  • To publish the works
  • To publish a book about the composers
  • To perform and discuss them in international workshops, seminars and forums

The 2009 Constantin Silvestri Composition Prize has been awarded to
Clouds. Homage to Messiaen by Salvador Torre (Mexico)




The 2010 Constantin Silvestri Composition Prize will be awarded to a selected work
written for 12 Solo Instruments


COMPOSITION GUIDELINES

  • Experimental and electronic music not suited for this project
  • Maximum duration 20 minutes
  • We welcome cultural elements drawn by the composers from their own indigenous heritage: music,
  • literature, poetry, visual arts
  • We welcome descriptive titles but they are not obligatory
  • We prefer to receive the instrumental parts in free pages and not bound



THEMES FOR 2010

  • Chamber work for 12 Solo Instruments (as in EnescuÕs Chamber Symphony, 1954)
  • Concertante work for Solo Viola and Solo Piano with String Quintet
  • Concertante work for Voice and Piano with String Quintet
  • Concertante work for Piano Four Hands and String Quintet

All entries must include the composer's CV and full contact details.
Entries should reach the LSP at the above address by 1st August 2010.
Each composer will be notified about the selection.
The successful works will be listed on LSPÕs website.


INVITATION TO COMPOSERS 2009
The first Constantin Silvestri Composition Prize has been awarded
to Clouds. Homage to Messiaen by Salvador Torre (Mexico) for violin,
clarinet, cello and piano.


WORKS SELECTED FOR THE 2009 - 2010 SEASON

  • Quartet for Violin, Clarinet, Cello, Piano as in Messiaen's Quatuor pour la fin du Temps
  • Salvador Torre Mexico Clouds. Homage to Messiaen
  • Carmen Maria Carneci Romania Quatuor pour Marguerite
  • Bjorn Bolstad Skjelbred Norway Crystals
  • Roberto Brisotto Italy Evocations Rituelles
  • Jonathan Ostlund Sweden Lyric Sonatine
  • Sviatlana Rynkova Belarus Three Allegories
  • John Reeman Britain Tableau
  • Marcus Blunt Britain Two Serenades
  • Massimo Ferrini Italy Ascoltando luci eterne
  • Shai Cohen Israel Games, Songs and Dances
  • Lorena Fontana/Daniele Garuti Italy The Link
  • Quintet for Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass as in Schubert's Piano Quintet Die Forelle
  • Nicholas Sackman Britain Before the Rainbow
  • Eberhard Eyser Sweden The Nightingale was singing all night long
  • Concertante work for Solo Piano, Solo Violin and String Quintet as in Mendelssohn's Double Concerto
  • Drew Wilson Britain Nocturne with Cloudscape
  • Adina Dumitrescu Romania J'ai trouve les Histoires
  • Ondrej Sarek Czech Republic Five Concertante Waltzes
  • Jonathan Ostlund Sweden The Outermost Gate
  • Nathan Shirley US Annabel Lee
  • Septet for Piano, Trumpet and String Quintet as in Saint-Saens Septet
  • Lucian Zbarcea Romania A Lover's Promise
  • Ivan Bozicevic Croatia Marittimo
  • Rodney Waschka II US Winter Concerto
  • Uberto Pieroni Italy Foglie d'Autumno

The London Schubert Players
72 Warwick Gardens, London W14 8PP Tel/Fax: 00 44 (0) 20 7603 1396 Email: aajg@btinternet.com 
www.londonschubertplayers.co.uk