Radu Paladi (16 January 1927 – 30 May 2013) was a Romanian composer, pianist, and conductor. His compositions include stage and film music, choral works, vocal music and vocal-symphonic works, chamber music, symphonic music as well as concertos.
Education
Radu Paladi studied piano with Titus Tarnavski at the Cernăuți Conservatory (at that time in Romania, now in Chernivtsi, Ukraine) from 1941 until 1943. Between 1947 and 1956 he studied piano with Florica Musicescu, composition with Leon Klepper, harmony with Paul Constantinescu and instrumentation (orchestration) with Theodor Rogalski at the Royal Academy of Theatre and Music, later known as the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory in Bucharest.
Teaching
Paladi started his teaching career from 1954 until 1963 as an assistant and continued from 1963 until 1996 as a lecturer at the Caragiale National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest.
Artistic career
Paladi was a member of the Association of Romanian Composers and Musicologists since its foundation in 1949. He performed as a pianist in song recitals and chamber music in Romania, Spain, and Germany. As a soloist in his own piano concerto, Paladi played with various Romanian orchestras, e.g., the Iași "Moldova" Philharmonic Orchestra on the occasion of the first performance of this work, with the Botoșani Philharmonic Orchestra, and with the National Radio Orchestra in Bucharest, with whom he recorded his piano concerto. From 1969 to 1972, Paladi worked as a conductor and artistic director of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Botoșani. Apart from being busy conducting numerous Romanian amateur choirs and vocal ensembles, he was a frequent judge at various national contests of vocal and instrumental music as well as composition contests.
Honours and awards
First prize at the National Composition Contest in Bucharest (1951) First prize and awarded the gold medal at the International Composition Contest in Moscow for the cantata "Dar de nuntă" ("Wedding Present") for mixed choir and orchestra (1957) Third prize at the Moscow International Contest for his string quartet no. 1 (1957) Medal of Work third class (1959) and third class (1968) Award of the Romanian Association of Composers and Musicologists (1974, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1996) 23rd-of-August Medal (1979) Award of the Romanian Academy (1980) National Order of Merit, Knight rank (2000) Award of Excellence of the Romanian Association of Composers and Musicologists (2002) Grand award of the Romanian Association of Composers and Musicologists to honour the composer's life's work (2007)
Musical works
Stage music
Pălăria Florentină (A Florentine Hat), 1957
Sălbatecii (The Savages), 1958
Școala Calomniei (The School of Calumny), 1961
D-ale Carnavalului (Carnival Hustle and Bustle), 1962
Film music
Fluierașul fermecat (The Little Magic Flute), animated cartoon, directed by Pascal Rădulescu and Constantin Popescu (1957) Ciulinii Bărăganului (The Thistles of the Bărăgan), directed by Louis Daquin (1957) La porțile pământului (At the Gates of the Earth), directed by Geo Saizescu (1965) Pe drumul Thaliei (On Thalia's Way), (1965)
Choral works
More than 200 works for mixed chorus a cappella, for choir and piano, for choir and orchestra 60 colinde (among them Christmas carols and Easter chants) for mixed chorus a cappella based on the collections of Béla Bartók, George Breazul, and Gheorghe Cucu (1990–1995) 12 poems for mixed chorus a cappella based on verses by Mihai Eminescu (1988–1992)
Vocal music
8 songs for soprano and piano
4 duets for soprano, bass-baritone, and piano
13 songs for bass-baritone and piano
Works for piano
Suite for piano (1940) Theme with variations (1950) Rondo a capriccio (1954) Prelude and fugue (1955) Cadence for the piano concerto in C minor, K. 491 of W.A. Mozart (2011)
Chamber music
String quartet no. 1 in C minor (1955) Wind quintet (1998) String quartet no. 2 (2013)
Vocal symphonic works
Cantata "Dar de nuntă" (Wedding Present), 1957
Oratorio "Oratoriul Eliberării" (Oratorio of Liberation), 1959
Cantata "Poem de slavă" (Poem of Fame), 1964
Symphonic music
Symphonic suite "Fluierașul fermecat" (The Little Magic Flute), 1954
Symphonic suite "Sălbatecii" (The Savages), 1958
Symphonic suite "Ciulinii Băragănului" (The Thistles of the Bărăgan), 1957
Concertos
Concerto for piano and orchestra in C major (1989) Concerto for violin and orchestra in E minor (2002)