Page 136 - 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. 136
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
also been that of the composer’s ancestors [my emphasis], dominat-
ed by a sensation of trust and love for a man engaged in a fight for
his very existence, facing the vicissitudes of a blind destiny.”14
Ancient Greek art is now described as “wonderful.”15
The Iron Guard Period
The case of Paul Constantinescu’s opera O noapte furtunoasă [A Stormy
Night] is iconic for a far more nuanced politicized reception, determined
by the bizarre and unfair manner in which the composer was perceived by
Romania’s totalitarian regimes: as a Jew, “a Judeo-Bulgarian half-breed,”16
by the Iron Guard [the Legion of the Archangel Michael], and then as a le-
gionnaire by the communists (due to the fact that he made the unfortunate
choice of scoring a number of Iron Guard marches).
The rise of antisemitism in Romania was fueled by the Iron Guard.
The legionnaire movement was very vocal and aggressive throughout the
1930s, employing the Nazification of Germany as its model. It managed to
seize power in 1940-1941, alongside Marshal Ion Antonescu. After a short
while, Antonescu – a faithful ally of Hitler during the Second World War
– removed the Iron Guard from power and installed his own dictatorship.
The premiere of O noapte furtunoasă [A Stormy Night] took place in
1935. The legionnaire press, which Cosma generously quotes in the The
Chronicle of Romanian Opera (2017), described the opera as “an unpalata-
ble mixture of pornography, burlesque and idiotic sarcasm.”17
Less than two decades later, the Communist dictatorship held power
comfortably, and the opera was once more criticized, this time in Rezoluția
din 4-5 februarie 1952 [the Decree of February 4-5 1952], a Romanian an-
swer to the famous Soviet music Decree of February 10 1948, as “a work that
lacks melody, built almost entirely out of recitatives, accompanied by an or-
chestra that is brimming with dissonances.”18
14 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 3 (Bucha-
rest: Editura Academiei Române, 2017), 163.
15 Ibid., 164.
16 Nicolae Bogdan, quoted in Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Roma-
nian Opera], vol. 2, 406.
17 Ibid., 406.
18 „Despre dezvoltarea muzicii în RPR. Rezoluția Plenarei lărgite a Comitetului Uni-
unii Compozitorilor din 4-5 februarie 1952” [“On the Development of Music in the
RPR. Decree of the Plenary of the Composer’s Union Committee of February 4-5
134
also been that of the composer’s ancestors [my emphasis], dominat-
ed by a sensation of trust and love for a man engaged in a fight for
his very existence, facing the vicissitudes of a blind destiny.”14
Ancient Greek art is now described as “wonderful.”15
The Iron Guard Period
The case of Paul Constantinescu’s opera O noapte furtunoasă [A Stormy
Night] is iconic for a far more nuanced politicized reception, determined
by the bizarre and unfair manner in which the composer was perceived by
Romania’s totalitarian regimes: as a Jew, “a Judeo-Bulgarian half-breed,”16
by the Iron Guard [the Legion of the Archangel Michael], and then as a le-
gionnaire by the communists (due to the fact that he made the unfortunate
choice of scoring a number of Iron Guard marches).
The rise of antisemitism in Romania was fueled by the Iron Guard.
The legionnaire movement was very vocal and aggressive throughout the
1930s, employing the Nazification of Germany as its model. It managed to
seize power in 1940-1941, alongside Marshal Ion Antonescu. After a short
while, Antonescu – a faithful ally of Hitler during the Second World War
– removed the Iron Guard from power and installed his own dictatorship.
The premiere of O noapte furtunoasă [A Stormy Night] took place in
1935. The legionnaire press, which Cosma generously quotes in the The
Chronicle of Romanian Opera (2017), described the opera as “an unpalata-
ble mixture of pornography, burlesque and idiotic sarcasm.”17
Less than two decades later, the Communist dictatorship held power
comfortably, and the opera was once more criticized, this time in Rezoluția
din 4-5 februarie 1952 [the Decree of February 4-5 1952], a Romanian an-
swer to the famous Soviet music Decree of February 10 1948, as “a work that
lacks melody, built almost entirely out of recitatives, accompanied by an or-
chestra that is brimming with dissonances.”18
14 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 3 (Bucha-
rest: Editura Academiei Române, 2017), 163.
15 Ibid., 164.
16 Nicolae Bogdan, quoted in Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Roma-
nian Opera], vol. 2, 406.
17 Ibid., 406.
18 „Despre dezvoltarea muzicii în RPR. Rezoluția Plenarei lărgite a Comitetului Uni-
unii Compozitorilor din 4-5 februarie 1952” [“On the Development of Music in the
RPR. Decree of the Plenary of the Composer’s Union Committee of February 4-5
134
