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Ardealul Ensemble

'Gypsy Music From Transylvania'

Musicians:



Emil Mihaiu - ceterã (violin)
Urszui Kálmán - contrã (adjusted viola), accordion
Pusztai Aladár - gordon (double bass), cymbalum

Label - Ethnophonie, Romania
Released 2003

28 page booklet in Romanian and English giving details on the music and musicians.

Extract from notes:
'All the pieces on this recording are instrumental: some in the serious, classical Transylvanian formula of a string trio (ceterã–contrã–gordon, i.e. violin–adjusted viola–double bass); others in the more modern formula in which the accordion and the cymbalum, with their specific exuberance, join the strings.

Most songs on this CD are recognized, accepted, and considered to be 'Gypsy' by both Romanian and Hungarian Gypsies.

The Ardealul Ensemble is the traditional elite ensemble of Transylvania. It was set up by Emil Mihaiu, who assembled, as was natural, the best musicians in the region. Each of them has his own wedding ensemble; for refined connoisseurs and their own 'heirs', however, they always perform together. The name of their ensemble, Ardealul [=Transylvania] is symbolic: today, in Transylvania, at least three important ethnic groups cohabit, one of them being the Romanies, and the ensemble is determined to represent all of them. The ensemble lineup is also symbolic: Emil Mihaiu is Romanian, while Urszui Kálmán and Pusztai Aladár are Hungarian-speaking Gypsies.

Emil Mihaiu is a Romanian. Currently, he is considered to be the best fiddler in Transylvania. He comes from a Transylvanian village (Buza) with a mixed population - Romanian, Hungarian and Gypsy. He learned to play the violin from a Gypsy villager - Ferica from Cesari - who also taught him all the musics of the region. Over the years, Emil greatly enriched his repertoire with new local pieces of sundry origins, treating them with equal seriousness and respect. Now mature and trying to understand as much as possible the similarities and differences between the music of the Romanians, Hungarians and Gypsies, he saw fit to consult and critically examine recordings made in Transylvania decades ago, which is quite unusual for a fiddler.

Urszui Kálmán is a Hungarian-speaking Romany from the city of Cluj. The son of a famous musician, Kálmán learned as a child several traditional and modern instruments: violin, viola, accordion and piano. He is concerned, just like Emil, about the value and lastingness of the music he performs. He knows well all the traditional Romanian, Hungarian and Gypsy music from central Transylvania. On this record, he plays the viola and the accordion.

Pusztai Aladár, the son of a Cluj fiddler, is a Hungarian-speaking Romany. In daily life, Ali has an absent-minded, helpless air and seems always ready to entrust himself to somebody else’s careful arms; but he is an excellent bassist and cymbalum player, acknowledged as such. He will play anything to ensure a decent livelihood for his family, but aims to endure in time through the recordings and concerts with his team-mates from Grupul Ardealul. On this record, Ali plays the double bass and the cymbalum.'

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Ardealul Ensemble

'Gypsy Music From Transylvania'