An Irresistible Duo for the National Day of Romania
Thu, 07 Dec
|Romanian Cultural Institute
Famous duets and evergreen arias


Time & Location
07 Dec 2023, 19:00 – 21:00 GMT
Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, London SW1X 8PH, UK
About the event
We are thrilled to welcome soprano Teodora Gheorghiu, “undoubtedly one of the greatest sopranos of her generation” (Fanfare) and internationally renowned bass-baritone Sorin Coliban, for our much-awaited, traditional gala recital dedicated to the National Day of Romania. The irresistible duo will be accompanied by versatile British-Romanian pianist Cristian Sandrin. The programme will include famous duets by Mozart and Lehar, evergreen arias by Verdi, Rossini and Pietro Mascagni as well as songs by Aurel Eliade and, of course, George Enescu.
The event is presented in partnership with the Romanian Embassy in London and is part of the Enescu Concerts Series organised together with the Enescu Society of Great Britain.
The concert will be followed by a wine reception.
Romanian soprano Teodora Gheorghiu studied at the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca and went on to participate in several competitions, including the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition and the Julián Gayarre International Singing Competition. She later elaborated her vocal training with David Jones and Nelly Miricioiu. Teodora made her debut in 2003 at the Romanian National Opera, Bucharest, singing the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte”. Soon after, she was invited to appear at several European opera houses, such as La Monnaie in Brussels, the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and various Swiss theatres, including the Luzerner Theater, the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Opéra de Lausanne. In 2007, Teodora joined the ensemble of the Wiener Staatsoper, where she continued to perform regularly until 2010. In 2014 she made her UK debut at Glyndebourne, with the role of Sophie in “Der Rosenkavalier”, performance. Her first album, “Arias for Anna de Amicis”, alongside conductor Christophe Rousset, was recorded in 2011. Her second, of Lieder in duet with pianist Jonathan Aner, was released in 2012. Recent engagements have led Teodora to Romania, France, Spain, Switzerland and Japan. They encompass vocal-symphonic repertoire and roles such as Contessa (“Le nozze di Figaro”), Mimì (“La Bohème”), Violetta Valéry (“La Traviata”) and Nedda (“Pagliacci”). Currently, Teodora is touring across Romania, presenting some of Schubert’s most beautiful lieder accompanied by pianist Diana Ionescu.
Over the years, Bass-baritone Sorin Coliban has performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, at three of the Paris Opera Houses (Bastille, Garnier, Chatelet ), Bayerische Staatsoper (Munich), San Francisco, Monte Carlo Opera, Santiago de Chile, Tel Aviv, the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Opera de Lausanne, at the Deutschen Oper am Rhein, Basel Opera, among others. He gave his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper in 2004 as Monterone (“Rigoletto”), and has since then sung among others, the Grand Inquisiteur (“Don Carlos”), Landgraf (“Tannhäuser”), Basilio (“Il barbiere di Siviglia”), Capulet (“Roméo et Juliette”), Fra Melitone (“La forza del destino”), Fasolt and Fafner (“Das Rheingold”). From 2004 to 2009 he was a member of the ensemble at the Vienna Volksoper. He performed concerts at the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam, De Doelen In Rotterdam, Bruxelles, Anvers, Lyon and in Vienna, Dresden, Lucerne, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Sorin Coliban fulfilled one of his life dreams when he made his Bayreuth Festival debut in 2013 as Fafner in both “Das Rheingold” and Siegfried in the Bicentennial new “Ring” production. He is the second Romanian singer to have sung in this important Festival. In 2021, he was Timur in “Turandot” at the St. Margarethen Festival and, in, 2022, Samuel in “Un ballo in Maschera” in a new production at the Scala in Milan.
Born into a family of musicians from Bucharest, Cristian Sandrin has been surrounded by classical music all his life. Cristian is a complex artist, particularly devoted to the Mozartian repertoire - a passion that has led him to conduct numerous piano concertos from the keyboard for summer festivals as well as for the official opening of the Angela Burgess Recital Hall at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2017 he appeared in a solo recital at the Wigmore Hall. From 2018–2020 he toured the UK as an artist of the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme. Cristian is a scholarship holder of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust benefiting from her unique one-to-one guidance and mentorship since 2017. In 2021 Cristian travelled to Romania for his debut with the acclaimed George Enescu Philharmonic. In 2022 Cristian performed challenging programmes including Beethoven's last three sonatas, Bach's Goldberg Variations - recitals that have left audiences and critics spellbound by the Cristian’s mature interpretations. Cristian's UK engagements have featured solo performances in London at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, St James's Piccadilly, St Martin in the Fields, the National Liberal Club, among others and in Europe at Salle Cortot in Paris, Marstall Platz in Berlin, Salla Manuel de Falla in Madrid, Palazzo Ricci in Montepulciano or La Fenice Theatre in Venice.
Photography & filming
The Romanian Cultural Institute will have a professional photographer on site to capture the key moments of the evening. We will share with all participants the link to the photographs, free of charge. The photographs can be used for social media posts, crediting RCI and the photographer (details will be provided with the link). You are welcome to take your own photos before or after the concert only. Please don’t take photos or film without permission during the performance out of respect for the artists and the fellow participants.