SETimes.comCulture and Society: Easter concert held in Bucharest
22/04/2009
Thousands celebrated Easter in the Romanian capital at a holiday concert. Also in cultural news: Albania's national football team coach resigns, and a Serbian tennis player shares a doubles title at a Monte Carlo tournament.
Over 5,000 people attended a free Easter concert in Bucharest on Sunday (April 19th). The event, organised by the city government, assembled Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe, Italian pop singer Albano Carrisi and Romanian singer Marcel Pavel. They performed to the accompaniment of the Bucharest Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Constantin Adrian Grigore.
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The Istanbul-based Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA) launched an international calligraphy competition dedicated to the renowned Syrian master of calligraphy, Muhammed Badawi al-Dirani, the Anadolu news agency reported on April 14th. The deadline for registration is October 30th, the IRCICA announced.
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Albanian national football team coach Arie Haan resigned on April 15th following a series of poor results in the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup. Albania ranked next to last in its European qualifying group. Haan took over the national team in January 2008 and led it to only one win in seven matches.
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Orthodox Christians across the Balkans marked Easter on Saturday (April 18th). Hundreds of thousands carried lit candles symbolising the "Holy Fire" from the churches to their homes at midnight, believing they would bring a light to their homes throughout the year.
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Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic and Canada's Daniel Nestor won the men's doubles at the Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Monte Carlo, defeating US brothers Mike and Bob Bryan on Sunday (April 19th). This was Zimonjic's third victory in Monte Carlo.
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Runners competed in the International Banja Luka 2009 Road Race on Tuesday (April 21st), one day before the anniversary of the city's World War II liberation. Thousands of spectators lined the streets of Republika Srpska's capital to cheer on the 2,500 athletes.
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Victor Paskov, one of Bulgaria's most prominent contemporary writers, died on Friday (April 17th) at the age of 59 in Bern, Switzerland. At the time of his death, he was working as a cultural adviser to the Bulgarian Embassy in Germany. Paskov authored numerous books and screenplays, including award-winning works such as "A Ballad for Georg Henig", "Juvenile Murders" and "Autopsy of a Love Affair".
(Various sources – 15/04/09-22/04/09)