Petru Iuga is a Romanian double bass performer, teacher, and composer. He is known for his dramatic and passionate performances.
Petru dedicates his composition, Capriciu Românesc, to Dorin Marc (Professor Emeritus in Nuremberg), who has inspired and influenced him from the onset. He holds the utmost respect and admiration for Dorin Marc, praising him as a wonderful individual, accomplished musician, and one of the finest educators of our era.
Capriciu Românesc finds its inspiration in Romanian folk music. It commences as an ostinato on D, marked by a passionate and dramatic opening that transitions into a Lento pastorale. Here, Petru seeks to portray the tranquility of shepherd life in the mountains, tinged with a sense of homesickness and sorrow.
This segment evolves into an Allegro festive—a dance where one can discern an imitation of the cimbalom, melodies linked to the beginning, and rhythmic effects of a tramping dance from the Maramures region in northern Transilvania.
The dance halts abruptly, echoing the drama and pain from the beginning. This is followed by an Adagio melinconico, a representation of nostalgia, with life marching on and subsequently returning to dance.
The second Allegro introduces some fresh rhythm structures yet maintains a connection with the first Allegro. The coda (un poco piu mosso) possesses a virtuoso character and concludes with an allargando, which carries a hint of irony.
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About Petru Iuga
The Romanian double bassist Petru Iuga is one of the most successful classical musicians of his generation. During his musical training in his homeland, the 20-year-old student came to the attention of Yehudi Menuhin and Alberto Lysy, who enlisted him for the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad (Switzerland).
After continuing his studies at the Hochschule der Künste in Bern and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, he became a member of the Ensem-ble Orchestral de Paris (Orchestre de Chambre de Paris) and first double bass with the Munich Chamber Orchestra.
Petru Iuga has won numerous prizes at renowned double bass competitions, including first prize at the 1999 International Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen and in 2001 another first at the International Double Bass Festival in Cap Breton (France). Since then, he has been pursuing a worldwide concert career and makes guest appearances as a soloist with leading European orchestras, including the London Symphony Orchestra.
Petru Iuga is professor of double bass at the Staatliche Musikhochschule und Darstellende Kunst in Mannheim and also teaches part-time at the Haut Ecole de Musique de Lausanne, Switzerland. He regularly stages master classes all over the world in which he discovers and encourages numerous talented young double bass players. In recent years alone, he has given master classes, a.o. in Russia, Italy, Portugal, Israel, Japan, Uruguay, China, and Canada, where he has held a guest professorship at the renowned Orford Master Classes from 2017 until 2019.
He has made several CDs as a chamber musician, and he regularly gives concerts with famous fellow musicians. In 2009, he recorded a CD with the Carmina Quartet. His invention, Ergo Bass, a knee support for double bassists that facilitates an ergonomic and healthier playing position, is used worldwide by many musicians.
