As Marius Herea’s first and only piano teacher, I had the rare privilege to have this phenomenal child prodigy as my piano student in Romania. Our paths diverged when he was around 16 years old. Unfortunately, when Marius came to Canada from Romania, I had just moved to the US from Canada. After finally reconnecting with him 30 years later, I was not surprised at the fact that he became a composer, but I was pleasantly surprised at his caliber. Herea’s style is energy and ether simultaneously; with a combination of Mozart and Chopin as a primary ingredient.

Quo vadis musica? His Eroica Overture is bringing classical music back, away from today’s dissonant time. Those not familiar with his music perceive the purity of Mozart, the harmonic richness of Brahms, and the long melodic lines of Wagner in Herea’s works. His work can be considered “20th – 21st century Neo-romantic-modern”. But, I have reservations about labelling him, because he is alive and his works are evolving. In his Renaissance Symphony we can hear the incandescent, high altitude beauty of Mozart, Beethoven and Brahms. Pure beauty, love, peace, humanity, and authenticity are so evident in his music. Marius is an autodidact when it comes to composition. As a professional, I easily see Marius Herea one of the best composers of the 2Oth  century. He is truly a musical genius.

In his passion for this form of expression — composition — Marius doesn’t follow; he makes new creations. For example, the double concerto sonata is a new concept historically: two leaders, the violin and piano, lead the harmony with the orchestra.

Influenced by Mozart, Brahms, Chopin and Debussy, Marius is the architect of musical skyscrapers. His music is a quintessential “creme de la creme” that classical music should aim for in the future. It is like a ringing bell that good and beauty still exist. Many people agree that the Eroica Overture march should be played at the United Nations, as a desperate call for peace and harmony.

Under the wand of Ovidiu Balan and the great Romanian soprano Irina Iordachescu, alias Tonina, the samples of the new opera Casanova by Marius Herea delivers a splendid display of new music. This is a modern romantic opera that grabbed the relay race from Mozart and takes it further through the romantism and the neo-romantism. This is a continuation of the Grand Opera tradition with the real historic adventurer Giacomo Casanova, where Mozart left off in 1787 with his fictional character, Don Giovanni. It is a triumph of tonal music at its best. Unlike Don Giovanni, Casanova was a sophisticated intellectual. After more than two hundred years of music since Mozart, in Herea’s music, we see clear elements, of Classical Mozart and Wagnerian romantism. The libretto is written by the composer himself within the frame of a classical opera, with sacred, profane symbols with classical and neoromantic rhythmic and melodic structures.