Page 131 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2019. Vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju - The Role of National Opera Houses in the 20th and 21st Centuries. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 3
P. 131
oi: https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-7055-50-4.129-142
On the Romanian Opera, Bucharest:
One Author, Two Views
Florinela Popa
Nacionalna univerza za glasbo Bukarešta
National University of Music Bucharest
The establishment of the Romanian Opera, Bucharest as a state institu-
tion in 1921 is part of a process of “Europeanization” – of catching up with
the West – that Romania underwent starting with the second half of the
19th century, with the Union of the Romanian Principalities (1859) and the
adoption of the monarchy (in 1881), under King Carol I Hohenzollern-Sig-
maringen.1 The antithesis of this phenomenon – the desire for the assertion
of a so-called “national specificity” – was likewise present, fueled by a Ro-
mantic ideology that persevered in the states that had hitherto been part
of empires, but also in the nationalist dictatorships that marked Romania’s
history in the 20th century.
For almost a century, the Bucharest Opera evolved in a sinuous man-
ner, mirroring the historical developments in which it was engulfed: the
burgeoning interwar period, whose end saw the rise of the fascist dictator-
ship of the Iron Guard (1940-41), followed by the military dictatorship of
Marshal Ion Antonescu (1941-44), which in turn was followed by the Com-
munist regime, which quickly replaced it after the war, once Romania en-
tered the Soviet sphere of influence (after 1944).
Octavian Lazăr Cosma (b. 1933) has meticulously explored both the
Romanian Opera, Bucharest and the genre of the opera in Romania in two
sweeping musicological works: Opera românească [Romanian Opera] (two
volumes, Bucharest, Editura Muzicală [Music Publishing House], 1962), a
1 First Ruling Prince (1866–1881) and the King of Romania (1881–1914).
129
On the Romanian Opera, Bucharest:
One Author, Two Views
Florinela Popa
Nacionalna univerza za glasbo Bukarešta
National University of Music Bucharest
The establishment of the Romanian Opera, Bucharest as a state institu-
tion in 1921 is part of a process of “Europeanization” – of catching up with
the West – that Romania underwent starting with the second half of the
19th century, with the Union of the Romanian Principalities (1859) and the
adoption of the monarchy (in 1881), under King Carol I Hohenzollern-Sig-
maringen.1 The antithesis of this phenomenon – the desire for the assertion
of a so-called “national specificity” – was likewise present, fueled by a Ro-
mantic ideology that persevered in the states that had hitherto been part
of empires, but also in the nationalist dictatorships that marked Romania’s
history in the 20th century.
For almost a century, the Bucharest Opera evolved in a sinuous man-
ner, mirroring the historical developments in which it was engulfed: the
burgeoning interwar period, whose end saw the rise of the fascist dictator-
ship of the Iron Guard (1940-41), followed by the military dictatorship of
Marshal Ion Antonescu (1941-44), which in turn was followed by the Com-
munist regime, which quickly replaced it after the war, once Romania en-
tered the Soviet sphere of influence (after 1944).
Octavian Lazăr Cosma (b. 1933) has meticulously explored both the
Romanian Opera, Bucharest and the genre of the opera in Romania in two
sweeping musicological works: Opera românească [Romanian Opera] (two
volumes, Bucharest, Editura Muzicală [Music Publishing House], 1962), a
1 First Ruling Prince (1866–1881) and the King of Romania (1881–1914).
129
