Page 143 - 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
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on the romanian opera, bucharest: one author, two views
muzică [Matters of Music], Bucharest, no. 5, 1957),47 and others. Instead, he
generously quotes various authors (including Anatol Vieru and Viorel Cos-
ma, among others).
Cosma only quotes himself when he discusses the Romanian premiere
of the opera Oedipus, in September 1958. The Romanian authorities had
banned the publication of reviews in the Bucharest press, but Cosma nev-
ertheless managed to publish one in Sovetskaia Muzyka, bearing the title
Oedip de Enescu pe scena teatrului din București [Enescu’s Oedipus on the
Stage of the Bucharest Theatre] (Sovetskaia Muzyka, Moscow, no. 12, 1958).
In 2017, he notes that “in Sovetskaia Muzyka, the performance of the opera
Oedipus garnered an eloquent discussion, which insisted not only on the
merits of score, but also on the performance of the excellent array of artists
that breathed life into it.”48
Octavian Lazăr Cosma – today a respected member of the Romanian
Academy – enjoys a reputation that has not been marred by the chamele-
on-like nature of his musicological discourse, which sometimes served to
vehemently deny his own earlier ideas. His efficient adaption to the chang-
ing political realities of Romania makes him something of an exemplar:
from the eulogizing of the “Romanian-Russian bonds” in the 1950s, to the
emphasis on communist nationalism in the 1960s, and, finally, to the firm
anti-communist stance of the 2000s, in key with Romania’s official policies
at the time. Besides their remarkably prolific nature and the time and en-
ergy that was invested in illuminating the various aspects that pertain to
the development of opera in Romania, the two works by Cosma that I have
discussed here remain a difficult to match exercise in political-musicolog-
ical virtuosity.
Bibliography
„Despre dezvoltarea muzicii în RPR. Rezoluția Plenarei lărgite a Comitetului Un-
iunii Compozitorilor din 4–5 februarie 1952” [“On the Development of Mu-
sic in the RPR. Decree of the Plenary of the Composer’s Union Committee of
February 4–5 1952”]. Muzica, II, no. 5 (1952): 5–11.
Constantiniu, Florin. „Retragerea trupelor sovietice din România (1958): aspecte ob-
scure”[“OntheWithdrawaloftheSovietForcesfromRomanian(1958):Obscure
Aspects”]. Historia. Accessible on: https://www.historia.ro/sectiune/general/
articol/retragerea-trupelor-sovietice-din-romania-1958-aspecte-obscure.
47 See Viorel Cosma, Muzicieni din România. Lexicon [Romanian Musicians. An Ency-
clopedia], vol. 2 (Bucharest: Editura Muzicală, 1999), 71.
48 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 3, 170.
141
muzică [Matters of Music], Bucharest, no. 5, 1957),47 and others. Instead, he
generously quotes various authors (including Anatol Vieru and Viorel Cos-
ma, among others).
Cosma only quotes himself when he discusses the Romanian premiere
of the opera Oedipus, in September 1958. The Romanian authorities had
banned the publication of reviews in the Bucharest press, but Cosma nev-
ertheless managed to publish one in Sovetskaia Muzyka, bearing the title
Oedip de Enescu pe scena teatrului din București [Enescu’s Oedipus on the
Stage of the Bucharest Theatre] (Sovetskaia Muzyka, Moscow, no. 12, 1958).
In 2017, he notes that “in Sovetskaia Muzyka, the performance of the opera
Oedipus garnered an eloquent discussion, which insisted not only on the
merits of score, but also on the performance of the excellent array of artists
that breathed life into it.”48
Octavian Lazăr Cosma – today a respected member of the Romanian
Academy – enjoys a reputation that has not been marred by the chamele-
on-like nature of his musicological discourse, which sometimes served to
vehemently deny his own earlier ideas. His efficient adaption to the chang-
ing political realities of Romania makes him something of an exemplar:
from the eulogizing of the “Romanian-Russian bonds” in the 1950s, to the
emphasis on communist nationalism in the 1960s, and, finally, to the firm
anti-communist stance of the 2000s, in key with Romania’s official policies
at the time. Besides their remarkably prolific nature and the time and en-
ergy that was invested in illuminating the various aspects that pertain to
the development of opera in Romania, the two works by Cosma that I have
discussed here remain a difficult to match exercise in political-musicolog-
ical virtuosity.
Bibliography
„Despre dezvoltarea muzicii în RPR. Rezoluția Plenarei lărgite a Comitetului Un-
iunii Compozitorilor din 4–5 februarie 1952” [“On the Development of Mu-
sic in the RPR. Decree of the Plenary of the Composer’s Union Committee of
February 4–5 1952”]. Muzica, II, no. 5 (1952): 5–11.
Constantiniu, Florin. „Retragerea trupelor sovietice din România (1958): aspecte ob-
scure”[“OntheWithdrawaloftheSovietForcesfromRomanian(1958):Obscure
Aspects”]. Historia. Accessible on: https://www.historia.ro/sectiune/general/
articol/retragerea-trupelor-sovietice-din-romania-1958-aspecte-obscure.
47 See Viorel Cosma, Muzicieni din România. Lexicon [Romanian Musicians. An Ency-
clopedia], vol. 2 (Bucharest: Editura Muzicală, 1999), 71.
48 Cosma, Hronicul Operei Române [The Chronicle of Romanian Opera], vol. 3, 170.
141
