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Maestro Zamfir, we hardly knew ye

By BRAD WHEELER

Friday, January 13, 2006 Page R23

In the land of pan-flute players, one pan-flute player is king. He is
Gheorghe Zamfir, an immodest and schooled Romanian musician thrust into
popular culture by a three-year barrage of TV ads hawking his music in
the 1970s. The duel horrors of poor taste and the lack of hand-held
channel-flippers conspired against viewers, rendering them helpless and
vaguely hypnotized by the commercials. The music -- easy-listening
versions of Romanian folk tunes and classical compositions -- was
serene and haunting, and featured Zamfir's masterly ability of an
archaic instrument once used by the goaty Greek god, Pan.

Now 64 years old, Zamfir has sold, by his own count, 120 million albums
over his career. He single-handedly resurrected a forgotten musical
implement, and is famous the world over. A seven-date Canadian tour
begins Tuesday in Toronto at Massey Hall.

But there are problems. Zamfir, who prefers the title "Maestro," has
issues -- many issues, including money problems.

"No, no," Zamfir answers firmly, when asked if he is wealthy. "I never
was rich."

But how could that be? Zamfir sold so many records. "I was an extremely
innocent man, an extremely sensitive man," he explains from his home in
Bucharest, his accent thick and handsome. "I thought, all my life, that
everybody was like me, honest and sincere. But all my life, I've met
only crooks, sharks and criminals, and they took all of my money."

Most intriguing -- who could "they" be? "I could tell you more," Zamfir
says warily. "Maybe if I met you in Toronto, before the concert, I can
tell you more information. It's an extremely difficult subject. It's
too disgusting to tell you now over the phone."

If not wildly rich, surely Zamfir is comfortable. "No." Is Zamfir even
doing okay? "No."

Zamfir has squabbled with record companies in the past over monetary
issues, and reportedly, in the 1970s, political enemies in Romania sold
his house while he was out of the country. Worse, after violating
Communist doctrine by dedicating a Bucharest concert to God, Zamfir was
banished from Romania for eight years, beginning in 1982. Part of his
exile was spent living near Montreal, but he eventually left because he
was unable to secure Canadian citizenship.

Another thing that's gotten Zamfir's goat is the legion of inferior
pan-pipe players around -- "false flutists," as the Maestro accusingly
refers to them. "I have discovered thousands of pan flutists in the
world, but they are only amateurs" he says, his voice rising
formidably. "No interpretation, no conception, no school, no teacher.
Nothing! In my opinion, they are 98-per-cent criminals."

Just a minute, Zamfir. Do not the fledgling players love the
instrument, just as you yourself do? "No! They destroy the sound," says
Zamfir, who was educated at the Bucharest Academy of Music as a
teenager. "I discovered the divine power and the magic power of this
instrument," he continues, impressively. "This army of garbage, they
destroy it."

He laughs when he refers to the pan pipers as an "army" or a "mafia,"
but Zamfir is quite serious in his indignation. "They were born because
Zamfir exists in this world. I was the only pan flutist in 1970 -- I
was alone at this moment."

To the Maestro, these new players are simply imitators who flood the
market with unworthy products. "Everybody makes the CDs," he says,
dismissively. "They are extremely proud -- 'I have new CD, I have new
CD' -- but which style CD is it? Which sound?"

Zamfir sound?

"Zamfir!"

Zamfir and the Athenaeum String Quartet play Massey Hall on Jan. 17, 8
p.m. $51 to $61. 178 Victoria St., 416-872-4255.