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The history of the Bucharest lyrical performance closely mirrors the evolution of the Romanian society over the last two centuries, more and more naturally integrated into the European civilization. Thus, the beginnings of professional music in the Romanian Principalities coincide with the staging of musical shows, the opera performances opening for the audience perspectives beyond imagination, on the cultural and knowledge levels of musical masterpieces. At the time, the Romanian territory was crossed by a great number of foreign companies halting in the big cities, offering performances with Italian and German repertoires, as early as the end of the 17th century (the performing companies in Bucharest were led by Livio Cinti, Eduard Kreibig, fratii Fourneaux, Th. Gofrey, prezentând opere de Adam, Auber, Boildieu, Halevy, Herold, Bellini). In 1843, the first Italian theater was inaugurated in Bucharest, staging Norma by Bellini, followed by Lucia of Lamermoor by Donizetti, The Barber of Seville and Cinderella by Rossini. Henrieta Carl’s company invites to Bucharest soloists from Milan, and for sometime, the lyrical company led by the famous Giuseppe Villa and Giuseppe Barbieri also performs, while the students of the Philharmonic School present the first performance of Semiramis by Rossini. After 1850, beside the Italian theater some Romanian lyrical companies, led by N. Luchian, Costache Caragiale and M. Millo, also perform in the season. Even if sporadically mentioned, these lyrical seasons would form an audience able to appreciate operas by Rossini, Bellini or, after 1860, by Verdi, staged immediately after their premieres. This was the professional background causing the career options and the launching of the Romanian voices in the lyrical world. Rumors are already spread about successful artists in the theaters of the time, which were about to become international stars such as Euphrosyna Vlasto, “La Marcollini”, Cornelia Cretu-Hollosi (Budapest), Rozalia Bodea (Rosa de Rude, Milan, Paris, Bergamo, Berlin, London, Vienna), continuing with the soprano and first great canto mistress Elena Teodorini, tenor Grigore Gabrielescu, bass-baritone Dimitrie Popovici-Bayreuth, tenor Giovanni Dimitrescu, sopranos Margareta Iamandi “Nuovina”, Zina de Nori, artists who were extremely well appreciated at the Scala in Milan, Metropolitan in New York, Grand Opéra de Paris, but also in the Opera Houses in Sankt Petersburg, Bayreuth or Rio de Janeiro. The most famous soprano of that pleiade may be considered Haricleea Hartulary, whom Saint-Saens had nicknamed “Darclée”. She interpreted the role Tosca in Puccini’s opera, which was specially composed for her, and she was a friend of Leoncavallo’s and also the understudy of Adelina Patti.
After 1870, in his capacity of composer, pedagogue and conductor, George Stephanescu carried out for several decades, such an important and complex activity, that he remains one of the outstanding personalities in the history of the 19th century Romanian lyrical art. In Stephanescu’s opinion, the opera should be an institution disseminating culture to the people, an institution working in the service of social progress. Speaking about the true purpose of themusical theater, Stephanescu pointed out: “Theater is the school and the divertissement of the people, not of several rich men”. This is, actually, the main domain in which the name of George Stephanescu became famous, among the founders of the modern Romanian musical life, from the perspective of the lyrical art. The foundation of the lyrical company by George Stephanescu in 1892 was folloed by a series of initiatives meant to impose the idea of the Romanian Opera in the native cultural life. The launching of the Bucharest lyrical company on the 8th of May 1885, with the opera Linda de Chamounix by Donizetti, interpreted in Romanian, was an event to remember. The diversity of the repertoire shows the artistic ambition of Stephanescu and of other promoters. The repertoire included operettes and vaudevilles, as well as the most popular Italian or French operas of very famous composers such as Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Gounod, Puccini, Wagner. The encouraging critiques of the press were accompanied by the presence of numerous foreign guests, making a halt on the Bucharest stage during their tours: Adelina Patti, Mattia Battistini, Titto Ruffo, Gemma Bellincioni, Luiza Tetrazzini, Leo Slezak, Ernest van Dyck, Pauline Lucca, Yvonne de Tréville, or conductors such as Felix von Weingartner. During the first decades of the 20th century, the inhabitants of Bucharest could take pride in the busy cultural life in the field of opera; among the famous artists of the time the following are worth mentioning: Florica Cristoforeanu, Elena Dragulinescu-Stinghe, Romulus Vrabiescu, Edgar Istratty, Enriquetta Rodrigo, George Folescu, D. Mihailescu-Toscani, A. Demetrescu de Silva, George Niculescu-Basu, Mircea Lazar, Jean Athanasiu. Vasile Rabega, Elena Roman, Alexandra Ferraru, Grigore Maggiari, Nectara de Flondor. Most of them are artists who would continue to sing in the next national lyrical seasons. Little by little, the value shown by these artists, reunited in different momentary shows, determined the necessity of founding a State Opera. The ministry of Arts and Cults, the poet Octavian Goga, being himself the husband of a famous singer of the time, the soprano Veturia Goga, nicknamed “the Transylvanian nightingale”, got involved with finalizing the statute of the opera, which was temporarily functioning as the Romanian Lyrical Society “The Opera”, under the leadership of Ion Nonna Otescu, under the high patronage of H.M.Queen Mary. In 1921, the Society “The Opera” received the necessary funds for observing the criteria for the institutionalizing a national musical theater, and became the Romanian Opera House. The inaugurating performance wass a remarkable event, namely the premiere of Lohengrin by Wagner, staged by the director Adalbert Markowski, under the baton of George Enescu. Generation after generation, the Romanian canto school discovered remarkable values, whose evolution illustrates the following decades. It was in fact a continuation of the activity ensuring the historic unity of the artists belonging to the most important Romanian lyrical stage: famous conductors such as Umberto Pessione, Egizzio Massini, Jean Bobescu, Ionel Perlea, George Georgescu, Alfred Alessandrescu, Constantin Silvestri, Cornel Trailescu, Constantin Bugeanu, Mihai Brediceanu, Carol Litvin, Paul Popescu and, more recently, Adrian Morar, Iurie Florea, Vlad Conta; choir masters such as Gheorghe Kulibin, Stelian Olariu; directors starting with Adalbert Markowschi, Constantin Pavel, Panait Cottescu, Jean Rânzescu, George Teodorescu, Hero Lupescu. As to the singers, besides the already mentioned ones, others are also noteworthy: Emilia Alessandrescu, Mihail Nasta, Romulus Vrabiescu, Grigore Teodorescu, Elena Ivony, Aurel Costescu-Duca, Cecilia Nasta-Cerchez, Maria Cojocareanu and Margareta Metaxa – all of them contributing to the international fame of the theater. In the same period, famous artists all over the world sang on the Opera stage, while other Romanian singers became well-known owing to their international careers: : Traian Grozavescu, Florica Cristoforeanu, Maria Cebotari, Viorica Ursuleac, Dimitrie Onofrei, Stella Roman, Petre Munteanu. Over the generations, other famous artists followed, persuading the audience of the fascinating world of the lyrical performances. Among those who illustrate the second half of the 20th century, mention should be made of Petre Stefanescu-Goanga, Evantia Costinescu, Maria Snejina, Nicu Apostolescu, Dora Massini, Ioana Nicola, Valentina Cretoiu, Serban Tassian, Dinu Badescu, Nicolae Secareanu, Arta Florescu, Lucia Bercescu.
After 1950, the Opera received, finally, a new location, meant to replace the former one which had been destroyed during the World War II bombardments of the capital. Thus, new better conditions were provided in order to stage top lyrical and choreographic productions. The inauguration of the new building of the Opera House was marked, on the 9th of January 1954, with the premiere The Queen of Spades by Ceaikovski, followed by the premiere of the ballet Coppelia (on the 10th of January 1954), in a production signed by the choreographer master Anton Romanowski. Naturally, a period of great artistic expansion followed, the repertoire including Romanian works of certain value. At that time, the role of the lyrical theater was undoubtedly imposing itself, as Opera artists participated in the national cultural events, the most famous of them being referred to according to their distinctions of “Merited Artist” or “Artist of the People”.
In fact, even beyond the historic conditions of the moment, the Romanian interpreters continued to become famous abroad, many of them winning important prizes at the international canto competitions at Toulouse, Geneva, Herzogenbosch, Montreal, Sofia, Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, Leipzig, Munich, Salzburg, Barcelona, Busseto etc. Thus, beyond itys former promotion, the Ballet and Opera Theater (the temporary name of the Bucharest opera house, given by a Soviet pattern) imposed itself like a stage extremely appreciated on an international level, organizing important tours in Paris, Moscow and Athens. A great event of modern history was the staging of Enescu’s masterpiece Oedipe, at the 1st edition of the International Festival “George Enescu” (in 1958). Numerous artists were imposing themselves on the greatest stages of the world: Elena Cernei, Magda Ianculescu, Ion Buzea Viorica Cortez, Ileana Cotrubas, Octav Enigarescu, Arta Florescu, Nicolae Herlea, Dan Iordachescu, Marina Krilovici, Iolanda Marculescu, Victoria Bezetti, Valentin Teodorian, Cornel Stavru, Octavian Naghiu, Teodora Lucaciu, David Ohanesian, Zenaida Pally, Iulia Buciuceanu, Lella Cincu, Ion Pisso, Ladislau Konya, Maria Slatinaru Nistor, Ludovic Spiess, Eugenia Moldoveanu, Eduard Tumagean, Constantin Gabor, Vasile Martinoiu, Silvia Voinea (Metropolitan, Scala in Milan, Royal Opera “Covent Garden", Opera de Paris, Bolsoi Teatr in Moscow, Stadt Oper in Berlin, Semperoper Dresda, Teatro Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro “La Fenice”).
Since 1990 on, the political problems were mostly replaced by the management ones. Former productions were resumed in new staging, and the team of singers was completed by young voices; lately, out of the top singers’ pleiade, the following artists distinguished themselves: Felicia Filip, Mariana Colpos, Roxana Briban, Sorina Munteanu, Ecaterina Tutu, Oana Andra, Ionel Voineag, Sever Barnea, Iulia Isaev, Marius Brenciu, Robert Nagy, Mihaela Stanciu, Stefan Ignat, Iordache Basalic, as well as singers with careers abroad, such as Ruxandra Donose, Elena Mosul, Adina Nitescu, Ruxandra Urdareanu, Alexandru Agache. Their impact upon the audience is strengthened by the series of fine arts representatives, who ensured the spectacular effect of the stage managers’ visions – Paula Brancoveanu, Elisabeta Benedek, Roland Laub, Viorica Petrovici, Adriana Urmuzescu, Catalin Ionescu Arbore. The recent initiative of opening the Ballet and Opera Experimental Studio “Ludovic Spiess”, under the baton of the young conductor Tiberiu Soare, the participation in the European project promoted by the Central & Eastern European Musiktheater (CEE), as well as the Competition of Romanian opera creation are some of the most convincing arguments of the present-day and modern mentality rhythms in the two-centuries long history of the Bucharest lyrical theater.
Grigore Constantinescu
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