The succes of the Young Conductor Ovidiu Dragan

"[…] the young conductor Ovidiu Dragan gained a significant victory at the IV-th edition of the “Concorso internazionale di direzione d`orchestra-Mario Gussela” in Pescara- Italy (11-14octomber). From among 56 participants only four conductors made it to the finals… With the first prize not being awarded, Ovidiu Dragan was awarded, to our joy, the second prize, putting a distance between him and the other three contestants who shared the third prize. Apart from the festivity concert, he was invited to conduct the final at the 1998 edition of the Contest. Ovidiu Dragan continued with his participation at the X-th edition of the “Artistic week” in Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, which is in fact a complex musical manifestation with the occasion of Roberto Benzi`s conducting course. The participants from Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, France, Belgium, Romania and other countries collaborated with Bienne Symphonic Orchestra. These are promising arguments in favor of a career whose ascension is based on the values of the Romanian school of conducting created by maestro C-tin Bugeanu.[…]"

Grigore Constantinescu, AZI SUPLIMENT RAMPA 26 Nov. 1997

Spiritual Permanencies

"[…] Ovidiu Dragan, a real talent of the Romanian conducting school, in a permanent value ascension.[…]"

Dragos Ciobanu, Natiunea November 4-10 1994

Maestro and his disciples

"[…] The importance of the conducting school realizations from the last decades, which has been enlightened by the famous musician and thinker Constantin Bugeanu, this importance was the subject of many discussions about principles and realization. While in the field of the principles the whole theoretic part is founded on phenomenology of music, where all the most important directions of a conductor’s development start, their modality of transposition in the artistic practice is not less complex and surprising. As maestro C. Bugeanu`s vision - a complex relationship of all the components - was capable to draw elite destinies, nowadays situated in the first rank of the contemporary musical life. May be it’s enough to enumerate some maestros` names like Cristian Mandeal or Horia Andreescu as few of a long list of disciples. Just soon to this list we add two more young artists invited for a first evolution on the “Mihail Jora” concert studio stage: Ovidiu Dragan whom our readers knew not so long time ago with the occasion of his winning of the conducting prize at Pescara- Italy, and Cristian Oroseanu who is since some months ago a conductor at Romanian Opera in Cluj. Even if very different from the temperamental point of view, the two conductors had remarkable results of their collaboration with the Radio Chamber Music Orchestra. For Ovidiu Dragan the details and their assemblage represent a preoccupation bound to expressive significance. A good knowledge of the performing work - the II–nd symphony in B by Schubert - is not a result of a continuous repetition of the constitutive sections; it is a result of a personal approach in which the form is submitted to the alive fluid of music. And this is not easy at all when we are talking about a masterpiece in which the speed of the tempo and the thematic structures could “escape” the strictness of control at every moment. With emphasized expression and refinement of sonorousness, the conductor realized a convincing accommodation in a record time, because, when one accept an invitation to the conducting podium of such a famous orchestra, the small number of rehearsals has nothing to do with experience on emotions.[…]"

Grigore Constantinescu, AZI RAMPA FEBRUARY 4, 1998

Musical Event

"[…] Ludwig van Beethoven`s First Symphony in C Major proved Ovidiu Dragan`s true conducting abilities, his surprisingly mature way in which the conductor understood the subtleties and at the same time the difficulties of Beethoven’s music. […]"

Dragos Ciobanu, Natiunea May 20-26 1994

Elites for the Third Millenium

"[…] Our revue wild present regularly young people who, we are sure, will be part of Romania’s elite in the next millenium. We are interested in who they are, in the paths they followed, in their wishes and hopes. Without them Romania would be much poorer. In this issue we introduce young conductor Ovidiu Dragan. Windows to music The way to success is not easy. Many time, talent or hard working isn’t enough. Circumstances represent a very important percentage. In a musician’s life –an artist never resting- in order to achieve recognition one must lunch and self-possession. We watched Ovidiu Dragan- a professional, despite his age- with interest from the very beginning, and we see now a musician certain of his technique, full of fantasy and subtlety, in continuous progress . “Ovidiu Dragan, why the interest for conducting?” “I began studying piano at 5 years old and violin at 6 years old, and, although I loved it very much I have chosen the more complex variant of music, the conducting; I enjoy working with all the voices in a harmonic complex, and once admitted in the Conservatory I was able to experience it from the Renaissance’s polyphony up to the contemporary music. Orchestra conducting has offered me the possibility to explore the most resourceful area-that of instruments, the symphonic orchestra being The complete instrument, agile, extended as ambitus and possibilities.” “Then what is the conductor, the soloist of this huge instrument?” “No. The conductor is only in service of the ensemble, the mediator. He must be the first to understand the score in order to guide the others through the spirit’s adventure, which is the music. I’m only looking to guide the others to where I have already been: the musical masterpiece.” “One must know the text note by note…” “Not only that, but as maestro C-tin Bugeanu said, it is necessary to live the moment again during the concert with the help of sounds- the means that carries what we generally call MUSIC.” Tell us about those who guided you in your career.” “There were many. I studied orchestra conducting with maestro C-tin Brancusi, and I continued studying phenomenology with maestro C-tin Bugeanu. He opened for second time the window to the world of music, a path I will follow my whole life. It is the contact with higher realities. I haven’t given up on my interest for the choir, choral conducting allowing me to work with an instrument full of sensibility, a carrier of literary images through words. I studied in this domain with Professors Petre Craciun and Valentin Gruescu.” “Tell us how you began your career.” “I won eight awards, most of them international. The most important is Second Prize at Mario Guzella (in Pescara) in 1997. “Ionel Perlea” Prize in April 1996 at Young Conductors` Festival, First Prize in 1994, the Second Prize in 1997 at “Gh. Dima”Contest in Cluj as well as Antiphonia Prize and Madrigal Foundation’s prize rewarded my participations at competitions.” I know you founded au orchestra-“Fortis”. How does the conductor go along with the manager?” “The manager (my wife) was always beside me with no possible way of creating differences between us. We accomplished performances during three seasons at “Dragan” European Foundation in Bucharest. I attempted to fill in what was missing- an orchestra.” “Although young, you already have a family.” “I am married for 6 years and together with my wife Adriana we have a daughter of almost three years old, whom we do not force to approach music.” “What is the mystery that attracts you?” “For a conductor, of my age (I am 28), an orchestra would mean what the instrument is for the performing artist. I want a philharmonic to work with as much as possible.” “What is the daily reality?” “I work as professor assistant at the University of Music conducting the students orchestra.” “We wish you that all your ideals come true and never indulge in the pattern. The windows of life are open to the future, aren’t they?”

Irina Constantinescu, Excelsior cultural NR. 7/ May 1999

Sinaia, An Orchestra's Debut

"[…] the public could notice and appreciate Ovidiu Dragan`s talent and self- assuredness in his way of conducting.[…] He knew how to be prompt, elegant in gestures, proving a solid knowledge of the musical scores; he knew how to pass onto the whole orchestra the love and the warmth of the interpretation of the musical pieces. […]"

Liana Alexandra, ACTUALITATEA MUZICALA FEBRUARY 24, 1994

Recommandations

"The conductor Ovidiu Dragan is a complex musician. He attains distinction by a both evolved and varied conducting technique, by musicality and an exceptional hearing. During his conducting evolution, he distinguishes himself through self-control, balance and power of suggestion. The power of persuasion and the emotional richness he passes on through music are qualities that allow him to make the rehearsals run their course efficiently with a maximum of performance. We have had two concerts together in which I had the joy to discover an accompanying talent, who knows how to create the best sound while collaborating constructively with the soloist."

Dana Borşan,
Pianist, Soloist of the Romanian National Radio Orchestra
Prof. Ph. D. to Bucharest Music University

" I have noticed the young conductor's Ovidiu Dragan remarkable qualities, all of them essential for the development of a real talent. Having an extraordinary sense of pulsation and a true intuition of the music's harmonic and melodic development, he is following the composer's intentions in a very expressive way, using an efficient and varied gestural technique. He is spontaneous and natural, and those qualities enhance the musicians' potential and stimulate the whole ensemble. I recommend him with all my trust, and I am convinced that he will leave a very good impression to both the orchestra he will be collaborating with and to the audience."

Cristian Mandeal,
Conductor of the "George Enescu" Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra

"He has a skilled,steady hand, that is gifted with the characteristic of conducting and imposing what he feels and developing it as a phonetic image in the auditory center. He is working promptly and efficiently, obtaining very good results at both the repetitions and the concert."

Ovidiu Bălan,
Principal Conductor of the Bacau and Ploiesti Symphony Orchestras, Romania,
Music Director of the Domenico Cimarosa Symphony Orchestra in Aversa, Italy

"Ovidiu Dragan has distinguished himself ever since his first years of study at the Music Univesity in Bucharest through firmness, energy, the passion for music. He has demonstrated a distinct capacity of profound knowledge, by heart, of the orchestra scores. Those qualities bring him closer to the orchestral ensemble with which he works effortlessly. His relationship with the audience demonstrates his talent, always making a very good impression."

Cristian Brâncuşi,
Conductor to Romanian Radio Chamber Orchestra
Professor at the “orchestra directing” chair of the Bucharest Music University