REFERENDUM 2024 // Great violin player of Moldova: ''It is quite important that all of us come to the referendum! We either move to Europe, where we go often and feel good or turn our backs on it''

Chisinau, 22 August /MOLDPRES/ - A great violin player, People’s Artist, the head of the Lăutarii (The Fiddlers) Folk Music Orchestra Nicolae Botgros is sure that that most important thing in the life of a man is to take a necessary decision at a fit moment. Now, Nicolae Botgros considers that time is ripe for Moldova’s citizens to choose a better life and show gratitude to the European Union for the constant and so necessary support provided to the state. The rapprochement with EU gave Nicolae Botgros possibility to regain the well-deserved place in the European culture. Nicolae Botgros gave an interview with the MOLDPRES Agency within the REFERENDUM 2024 campaign.    

MOLDPRES: Moldova’s citizens on 20 October are expected to vote, in order to make the choice and say whether they want their state to join the European Union. What is your opinion, master Nicolae Botgros, about this plebiscite, how important such an exercise is for the society in which we live?   

Nicolae Botgros: My opinion is the one known by everybody – who knows how Nicolae Botgros speaks. The most important thing in our life, in the society where we live is the decision of a man. If you do not know to take the decision and the decision is not taken correctly, we suffer. Either we suffer or we live very well. We must know what we do.  .

When I created the Lăutarii Orchestra, I took a decision. I said like this: either we make the orchestra sing well, or do not create it at all. This is like this in the case of the Republic of Moldova as well. Something has been made during 30 years, they just start and – nothing. These are quite important things. I do not want to speak about somebody, but I would like all institutions to work and all sectors to develop in our country.    

MOLDPRES: The results of the referendum will serve as ground for the amendment of the Republic of Moldova’s Constitution, the setting of the European integration desideratum for all governances due to come. Do you thing that it is enough for this decision to be taken by a conventional number of citizens, provided for in the law?  

Nicolae Botgros: It is important that all of us come to the referendum, especially as what referendum we have! We decide now, now we must know what we do, dear people! We either move to Europe, where we often go and feel good or we turn our backs on it, inventing all kinds of reasons.  

When somebody gives you a helping hand and says you: let us live good, you should say: thank you! If we are not able to say this, then we will lose a lot. We have already lost a lot of things. We lost also the union with Romania; we lost also other things, as we did not take the decision correctly. Certainly, this referendum will say a firm word for the entire world, as we know where our bread is, we know where our culture is, we know where our support is, all of us know this.     

MOLDPRES: You are the witness of more far-reaching events for Moldova, you lived a long period of your life in the Soviet empire. At a distance of years, how Moldova is seen today, which horizons the European Union opened to it?   

Nicolae Botgros: The EU opened me horizons from the 1980s, when I left with by staff for Greece for the first time ever; I saw how people live in Europe; I had tears in my eyes when I arrived in Paris, when I saw how the Europeans live and how we live here.   

My parent saw only Chisinau. My father used to sing at weddings and saw also the cities of Iasi and Bacau, but the mother did not see anything. She was crossing Chisinau when she was going to her native settlement from Orhei, the Lucaseuca village. Why a peasant should not deserve a better living? What is his blame? When he will live?   

We have to take a correct decision now. We must wake up, as we have also a leadership which supports us; we have the people who back us at rule; we have a lot of them, who endeavor to do something. They know quite well how Europe lives, how people live, how the countries of Europe live; we must get there.   

MOLDPRES: Which are the values with which you associate the European integration of Moldova?

Nicolae Botgros: Our greatest values are the personalities who fought and aspired to see a free, modern country. I mean poet Grigore Vieru and the singer beloved by the audience, Nicolae Sulac, or film director Emil Loteanu. These people lived for us to have this chance at present. Now, we must get to say that the aspirations of Grigore Vieru, Ion Ungureanu, Nicolae Sulac have been fulfilled.  

MOLDPRES: Presently, the Lăutarii Orchestra is one of the most beloved by the audience from beyond the Prut river. To what extent do you find yourself in the European cultural heritage?  

Nicolae Botgros: We, the Lăutarii Orchestra, where the ones to break the ice back in 1989-1990, when we went to Romania. We had big tours. We had 75 concerts in the region of Moldova, we went to Bucharest, at the Palace Hall; there was the first concert given in that hall of congresses. Certainly, other collectives went after us.    

I will not forget kilometers-long queues at our concerts; people were asking us to make other concerts. At present, we are quite often in Romania; we spend all Saturdays and Sundays in Romania, as there are a lot of events there. This is our source now, our source of income and existence.   

All we have the best is from Romania.

The repertoire of the Lăutarii Orchestra is part of the golden fund of Romania, as we are an orchestra which coped with the things; we are the best of the entire Romanian space. We sang in all regions of Romania. This is our heritage, which is part of the European heritage. And we are part of this area. People are very much expecting us to sing.   

MOLDPRES: Besides Romania, are you invited to sing also in other European countries? In which EU member countries have you also been?

Nicolae Botgros: In all of them. We have by two-three shows in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom each year. We have yearly very big tours. Ion Paladi will make a big concert in London, where there will be at least 3,000-4,000 spectators. We will give a concert at the arena from Cluj-Napoca, where there are 12,000 places. I have recently returned from the festival of the panpipe king Gheorghe Zamfir, who used to say that he had been all over the world, heard all kinds of music, but there is no nicer music than the Romanian one on earth. Everybody should know that there is no nicer, more coloured music on the earth. One cannot imagine how much music there is in Romania.     

We have a festival in Braila, where all countries on banks of Danube come, I saw young people, children, who sing inconceivably, they sing doinas.    

MOLDPRES: Which are the aspirations of master Nicolae Botgros at present?

Nicolae Botgros: May God help us to get where we want, where there is a nice and natural thing, where there is civilization. Now, time is ripe for us to live well too, we lived with difficulties enough time.   
There were eight children in my family, but we lived very-very hard. Our family was the biggest one in the village; all people around us helped us. I want to thank the villagers for what I have become.  

MOLDPRES: Master, thank you for willingness to give us this interview.