Page 138 - 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. 138
vloga nacionalnih opernih gledališč v 20. in 21. stoletju
publish volumes of musicology during the Communist period. Neverthe-
less, there are some clues that suggest that Cosma was somewhat aware of
his colleagues’ past endeavors. For instance, when he discusses Zirra’s Al-
exandru Lăpușneanu (which premiered on March 6 1941), Cosma notes that
it was “considered subversive by the censors, much like Boris Godunov.”23
From the Adoration of Communism to its Repudiation
Cosma reaches the pinnacle of duality in his discussion of the Communist
period. His ideological positioning is so different between 1962 and 2017
that it serves to illustrate a parallel reality.
The post-1944 political context is seen in 1962 as the “period of great
revolutionary transformations, in which the working masses, led by the
Party, cast off the monarchy, abolished exploitation, and created the neces-
sary premises for the creation of socialism.”24 In 2017, on the other hand, the
author notes that “in general, the political offensive became more intense,
King Michael I was forced to abdicate, Romania became the ‘People’s Re-
public,’ the regime under the leadership of Dr. Petru Groza revealed its true
colors, and the Communist Party put forward its political objectives, hav-
ing secured the reins of political power.”25
At the beginning of the 1950s the key event for the Romanian Opera,
Bucharest was the first ever construction its own theatre building, which
was inaugurated in 1954.26 After a passionate reflection on the efforts of his
predecessors to secure a specialized theatre for the Bucharest Opera, Cos-
ma concludes in 1962: “Only after the working class took power, could this
objective be achieved.”27 In 2017, he once again notes the importance of the
moment. Moreover, Cosma now shows how Communist propaganda em-
ployed the construction of the theatre in order to demonize previous re-
gimes: “violent, unsavory outpours dominate the articles reporting on the
construction of the new building, rebuking the bourgeois regimes for being
unable to find room for the lyrical art.”28
The legionnaire purge was followed, throughout Romanian society, by
the Communist purge of 1944. Artists, “always suspected of harboring the
23 Cosma, Opera românească [Romanian Opera], vol. 2, 65.
24 Ibid., 138.
25 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 2, 713.
26 The opera had previously rented the Lyric Theatre and the Queen Marie Theater.
27 Cosma, Opera românească [Romanian Opera], vol. 2, 145.
28 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 3, 13.
136
publish volumes of musicology during the Communist period. Neverthe-
less, there are some clues that suggest that Cosma was somewhat aware of
his colleagues’ past endeavors. For instance, when he discusses Zirra’s Al-
exandru Lăpușneanu (which premiered on March 6 1941), Cosma notes that
it was “considered subversive by the censors, much like Boris Godunov.”23
From the Adoration of Communism to its Repudiation
Cosma reaches the pinnacle of duality in his discussion of the Communist
period. His ideological positioning is so different between 1962 and 2017
that it serves to illustrate a parallel reality.
The post-1944 political context is seen in 1962 as the “period of great
revolutionary transformations, in which the working masses, led by the
Party, cast off the monarchy, abolished exploitation, and created the neces-
sary premises for the creation of socialism.”24 In 2017, on the other hand, the
author notes that “in general, the political offensive became more intense,
King Michael I was forced to abdicate, Romania became the ‘People’s Re-
public,’ the regime under the leadership of Dr. Petru Groza revealed its true
colors, and the Communist Party put forward its political objectives, hav-
ing secured the reins of political power.”25
At the beginning of the 1950s the key event for the Romanian Opera,
Bucharest was the first ever construction its own theatre building, which
was inaugurated in 1954.26 After a passionate reflection on the efforts of his
predecessors to secure a specialized theatre for the Bucharest Opera, Cos-
ma concludes in 1962: “Only after the working class took power, could this
objective be achieved.”27 In 2017, he once again notes the importance of the
moment. Moreover, Cosma now shows how Communist propaganda em-
ployed the construction of the theatre in order to demonize previous re-
gimes: “violent, unsavory outpours dominate the articles reporting on the
construction of the new building, rebuking the bourgeois regimes for being
unable to find room for the lyrical art.”28
The legionnaire purge was followed, throughout Romanian society, by
the Communist purge of 1944. Artists, “always suspected of harboring the
23 Cosma, Opera românească [Romanian Opera], vol. 2, 65.
24 Ibid., 138.
25 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 2, 713.
26 The opera had previously rented the Lyric Theatre and the Queen Marie Theater.
27 Cosma, Opera românească [Romanian Opera], vol. 2, 145.
28 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 3, 13.
136
