Spontaneous, generous, passionate, Dana Ciocarlie pushes boundaries. Her piano travels between styles and emotions, carried by humor, poetry and a deep humanity.
In 2018, Dana Ciocarlie was one of the 3 finalists nominated for the Victoires de la Musique Classique among the 443 recordings presented in the "Recording of the Year" category, with her Complete works for solo piano by Robert Schumann. She recorded this complete work in fifteen public concerts, between 2016 and 2021, at the Palais de Béhague of the Romanian Embassy in Paris. This world premiere is supported by Yamaha, the Safran Foundation, the Romanian Cultural Institute and the Romanian Embassy in France.
The complete collection was released in September 2017 as a boxed set of 13 CDs - La Dolce Volta label – which received unanimous acclaim from the press, who didn't hesitate to compare her musicality to Wilhelm Kempff and Clara Haskil. To mark the release of this complete Schumann recording, Dana Ciocarlie gave a concert at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. On France Musique, she devoted a cycle of some forty broadcasts to the works of Robert Schumann in Jean-Pierre Derrien's L'atelier du musicien, where she was a regular guest between 2001 and 2015.
Following her complete Schumann collection, Dana Ciocarlie is now devoting herself to Mozart's 25 Concertos for solo piano, with the Open Chamber Orchestra conducted by Yaïr Benaïm. This public concert recording project at the Palais de Béhague of the Romanian Embassy in Paris began in September 2022. It will continue over several years until the boxed set of these 25 Mozart concertos is released.
Artistic identity and musical journey
Gifted with a quicksilver temperament where generosity rivals commitment, Dana Ciocarlie has a vast repertoire, ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach to today's composers. Dedicated to numerous works by Nicolas Bacri, Edith Canat de Chizy, Karol Beffa, Frédéric Verrières, Helena Winkelman and Dan Dediu, she is recognized as one of Horatiu Radulescu's leading interpreters.
Trained in the Romanian piano school with Dinu Lipatti, Clara Haskil and Radu Lupu, Dana Ciocarlie also studied in Paris with Victoria Melki, Dominique Merlet and Georges Pludermacher. Her talent has been recognized by numerous prestigious international awards.
Her meeting with the German pianist Christian Zacharias was to prove decisive, particularly in her exploration of the piano works of Franz Schubert.
Dana Ciocarlie is a sought-after chamber music performer. Her preferred partners include violinists Sarah Nemtanu, Irina Muresanu, Elise Bertrand, Marianne Piketty, Gaëtane Prouvost, Hélène Collerette, Jean-Marc Phillips-Varjabédian, Laurent Korcia, Yaïr Benaïm, Gilles Apap, Pierre Fouchenneret and violist Gérard Caussé, cellists Emmanuelle Bertrand, Astrig Siranossian, Diana Ligeti, Alexander Kniazev, Ophélie Gaillard, Henri Demarquette, Raphaël Chrétien, horn players David Guerrier and Hervé Joulain, clarinettist Raphaël Sévère, the Psophos, Talich and Danel Quartets. She has performed under such conductors as Lawrence Foster, Yoav Talmi, Edmon Colomer, Horia Andreescu and Christian Zacharias.
Her many activities throughout the world in recital, chamber music or concerto with orchestra have taken her to the United States, Canada, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Russia, Netherlands, Romania)...
In Paris, Dana Ciocarlie has performed in the most prestigious venues: Cité de la Musique, Radio France auditorium, Musée d'Orsay, Louvre auditorium, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Théâtre du Châtelet, Opéra Bastille amphitheater, Salle Pleyel, Salle Gaveau, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Invalides and Théâtre de l'Athénée. She has also performed at MIDEM in Cannes, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Dijon, Arsenal de Metz, Salle Molière in Lyon, La Criée Scène Nationale in Marseille and Salle Poirel in Nancy.
Also a regular at France's major classical music festivals, the Romanian pianist has appeared several times at La Folle Journée de Nantes, La Roque d'Anthéron, La Grange de Meslay, Festival Radio France Occitanie Montpellier, Berlioz à La Côte Saint-André, Piano aux Jacobins in Toulouse, Flâneries Musicales de Reims, Orangerie de Sceaux, Festival du Périgord Noir, Auvers-sur-Oise, Printemps des Arts de Monte Carlo, Abbaye de Fontevraud, Festival Chopin à Bagatelle...