MARIA TĂNASE represents the soul and spirit of popular Romanian music in the 20th Century. Her deep, rich voice has become immortalized in the distinguished contribution she has made to the Romanian folk tradition. Tanase's powerful performing style, with its unique vocal timbre and sense of melodrama, enabled her to reflect the urban cosmopolitan culture of a Bucharest, which in the 30s and 40s people called the "Paris of the East". In her life's work, Tanase gave the Romanian folk tradition an extended and more contemporary lease of life. This, together with her enormous personal appeal, lead to her becoming a revered idol of the Romanian people.
Hardly anyone in Romania knows a plausible answer to the question of why almost 40 years have had to pass before CDs containing her songs have been released outside her native country. The Second World War, the iron curtain, her early death, there are many reasons to account for the fact that only insiders on the other side of the Balkans were aware of Maria Tanase until the end of the Nineties.
But Maria Tanase is by no means an inexplicable phenomenon. Her voice undoubtedly has got the depth and emotional power of an Edith Piaf, of an Amalia Rodrigues, of an Om Kalsoum, and she has the ability that distinguishes great singers from good singers: to share her emotions with her audience.