The Casa Radio Publishing House at the Gaudeamus Book Fair

Unique on the domestic book market, the Casa Radio Publishing House capitalizes on the largest collection of media content in Romania.

Corina Sabău, 21.12.2024, 14:00

Unique on the domestic book market, the Casa Radio Publishing House capitalizes on the largest collection of media content in Romania, whether it’s the existing sound archive or working towards the creation of a future archive. More than 30 collections and series of books, CDs and books with built-in CD are devoted to the most appreciated radio products in literature and journalism, theatre and music. Collections such as "Romanian Poetry Library" and "Gold Audio Library / Poetry Show", "Gold Audio Library / Theater", the collections for children "Radio-Prichindel" and "Good night, children!", but also the music collections  "Maestro", "Radiolegends" and "Interpretive profile" are just a few of the brands of the Casa Radio Publishing House that have established themselves on the book market.
During the Gaudeamus Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania between December 4-8, a fair that featured hundreds of publishing events and tens of thousands of titles, many of them newly launched, the Casa Radio Publishing House also provided its readers with new products, including two for young listeners, as part of the "Radio-Prichindel" and "Good night, children!" collections. The new releases were accompanied by workshops on the art of comics and diction and communication. Ligia Necula, producer at Casa Radio Publishing House, tells us more:
“The audiobook is no longer a new product on the Romanian publishing market, but we at Casa Radio Publishing House are proud to have introduced this product to the local market.  Most such products released by the Casa Radio Publishing House contain both illustration and the audio content, namely a CD, containing either radio theater performances or recordings of poets reading from their own work on Radio Romania. All these recordings have been preserved. And it is our joy to be able to bring the voices of these writers to the public. Linked to the two collections dedicated to children, Radio Prichindel and Good night, children!, we also staged special events for children and adults alike. The latest releases in the Radio-Prichindel" and "Good night, children!" collections launched at the Gaudeamus Fair include an audio book, "The Brave Sparrow and Golden Apples", by Petre Ispirescu, and the 19th volume in the Fairy Tales of the World series. “Prâslea the brave and the golden apples" is a graphic novel, because, in the case of the "Radio Prichindel" collection, we, at the Casa Radio Publishing House, decided to turn the stories into comic strips, especially for children who are now learning to read. And I can say that it is a welcome choice, the illustrations help children in the learning process, so they read more easily and gain courage. This graphic novel bears the signature of Alexandru Ciubotariu, who is also the coordinator of the Radio-Prichindel Collection.”
Under the title ALGO-RITM, the musician Mădălina Pașol brings together on a new album a collection of piano miniatures by famous composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Claude Debussy, Ottorino Respighi, Edvard Grieg, Serghei Rachmaninov, Dinu Lipatti and Tudor Dumitrescu. Tiberiu Comandașu, music editor at Casa Radio Publishing House, explains: 
“Through this album, the musician is speaking both to her fans and to those who know less about her teaching activity, because Mădălina Pașol is a very popular piano teacher for children. That is why the CD we are talking about is very suitable for a young audience, bringing together very well-known piano miniatures, but also new scores, so me of which have been discovered recently. One such example at an opus by Beethoven is the piece Lustig und Traurig, or a piano page by Wagner or an album page by Brahms. It is a recently discovered work that was noted down by the composer in a guest book in his youth while on a trip. Instead of leaving his signature or a few words, he wrote down this short score which he then developed into the work that is included on this album.”
The Gaudeamus Book Fair also saw the launch by the Casa Radio Publishing House hosted of the three famous comedies written by Ion Luca Caragiale: "A stormy night", "A lost letter" and "Carnival Night", audiobook, book and CD format, as part of the Golden Tape Library/Theatre collection, Caragiale series, and again feature Alexandru Ciubotariu's illustrations and famous radio theater recordings from 1951 and 1952, staged by director Sică Alexandrescu. Another highlight was a re-issue of the successful audiobook Dance by the poet Nina Cassian (1924 – 2014), but with new poems read by the author and an interview about her life, work and emigratig. An avant-garde poet, composer and graphic artist, Nina Cassian was simultaneously complicit and problematic for the Stalinist regime, after which she came into direct conflict with the Ceauşescu regime and fled to New York, in an unwanted exile, where she passed away in 2014.