Announcement Print E-mail
On the evening of the 2nd of September, when the second performance of “Oedipe” will take place on the stage of the National Opera House in Bucharest, within the framework of the International Competition and Festival “George Enescu”, another important event will also take place, dedicated to all those who loved and admired baritone David Ohanesian, the first artist who gave life to the character Oedipe: the uncovering of the artist’s bust, which has been donated to the National Opera House in Bucharest by the famous soloist’s family. This initiative belongs to the Union of the Armenians in Romania and to its president, Varujan Vosganian. The bust was achieved in 1954, by the sculptor Octavian Ilica. The event will take place in the Foyer of the National Opera House in Bucharest.
 
David Ohanesian was the baritone who, together with Octav Enigarescu and Nicolae Herlea, formed the greatest baritones’ golden triplet in Romania.
 
During his artistic career, Ohanesian sang in over 2,000 opera performances, interpreting over 40 roles and receiving a great number of prizes and awards. He sang on the great stages of the world, beside other great singers such as Luciano Pavarotti, Monserrat Caballé, Placido Domingo, Leontyne Price or Birgit Nilsson. His performance of the role Oedipe, in the homonymous opera by George Enescu, has remained memorable, bringing him the renown of the best Oedipe of the 20th century.
 
Important Announcement Print E-mail
The tickets (invitations) for all the performances which will take place on the stage of the National Opera House in Bucharest, in the framework of the International Competition and Festival “George Enescu” (“Oedipe” – 30.08.2009 and 02.09.2009, “Othello” – 05.09.2009, “Manon Lescaut” – 11 and 13.09.2009, “Swan Lake” – 15.09.2009, „Macbeth” – 18.09.2009, "The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma" – 19.09.2009, „Celan” – 24.09.2009), were distributed only by ARTEXIM.
 
4,000 people in the audience at the Print E-mail
Opera Promenade 2009
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On Saturday, the 1st of August 2009, the National Opera House in Bucharest (NOB) invited classical music fans at the OPERA PROMENADE, an extraordinary concert in the open. The audience gathered on the theater front esplanade as early as 7:00 p.m., and the 2,000 seats placed at their disposal by the organizers, with the support of the Public Domain Administration – 5th District, were quickly taken, the lawn becoming thus hardly large for the music fans, as well as for the curious passers-by who stopped to listen to the artists of the National Opera House in Bucharest.
The performance started, as planned, at 9:30 p.m., with the prelude of Act III of “Lohengrin” by Richard Wagner, under the baton of conductor Tiberiu Soare. The program, presented by publicist Sever Voinescu, included well-known works by Giuseppe Verdi, Georges Bizet, Giacomo Puccini, Gioacchino Rossini, Franz Lehàr, as well as famous canzonette such as “O, sole mio!” or “Torna a Surriento”. This year’s edition brought together young artists who have already distinguished themselves in NOB performances: Antonela Barnat, Mihaela Ispan, Teodor Ilincai, Maria Jinga, Bogdan Mihai, Aurelia Florian. Other well-known lyrical artists sang beside them: Eugen Secobeanu, Silvia Sorina Munteanu, Iordache Basalic and Mihaela Stanciu. The concert ended in the applause of the audience with the famous “Brindisi” in “La Traviata” by Giuseppe Verdi.  
The Opera Promenade, now at its 3rd edition, is an annual performance with free access for high quality music fans. From one edition to the next, the performance has registered a growing number of spectators, the audience including, to the organizers’ satisfaction, not only opera fans but also young people eager to find out more about this kind of music. Thus, on the theater front lawn, over 4,000 people sat down (some of them on stools they had brought for this very purpose!) and would not let themselves threatened by the few rain drops which fell at the middle of the performance, staying to the end of the performance, in the strains of opera music. 
 
PARISINA D’ESTE Print E-mail
by Gaetano Donizetti

Brăila, the 6th of august 2009
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On Sunday, the 2nd of August, a most interesting cultural event took place: the opening of the Master Classes, generously offered by soprano Mariana Nicolesco until the 8th of August 2009. On this occasion, on the 6th of August, starting 6:30 p.m., the opera “Parisina d’Este” by Gaetano Donizetti will be performed. The Romanian absolute premiere at the National Opera House in Bucharest (NOB) took place on the 24th of March 2009, as a production of the Ballet and Opera Studio “Ludovic Spiess”. The singers benefited by the guidance of the “Queen of belcanto”, as Mariana Nicolesco was surnamed. The following performances were met by the audience with the same enthusiasm, in the Music Salon of the Peles Castle in Sinaia (on the 2nd of May) and back at the NOB (on the 5th of May). Two of the young soloists in the main roles are soprano Aurelia Florian and tenor Bogdan Mihai, both laureates of the International Canto Competition “Hariclea Darclée”, initiated by Mariana Nicolesco at Braila. The cast also includes baritone Dorin Mara, bass Horia Sandu and mezzo-soprano Mihaela Ispan. The soloists are accompanied on piano by Ioana Maxim. The narrator is Sever Voinescu. It is expected that this opera rara enjoys the same triumph as it did in Bucharest and Sinaia.