
The history of opera in Romania dates back to the 18th century when French, Italian, and German touring companies began performing the standard European repertoire of the day in the main cities of
Romania. Home-grown opera companies both professional and amateur began forming in the 19th century. In 1843 a purpose built theatre for the performance of Italian opera was established in Bucharest. Its inaugural performance was Bellini's ''
Norma''. Opera was also performed by the students at the conservatory established by The Philharmonic Society of Bucharest.
By the early 19th century, works by native Romanian composers began to be performed, although usually with
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
s in German (or occasionally Hungarian). The notion of a Romanian national opera tradition emerged in the mid-19th century with the appearance of operas on Romanian subjects, often based on historical events, with Romanian-language librettos.
[Grout, Donald Jay and Williams, Hermine Weigel (2013)]
''A Short History of Opera''
p. 538. Columbia University Press.
The country's principal national opera company,
Romanian National Opera, Bucharest
The Romanian National Opera, Bucharest ( ro, Opera Națională București) is one of the four national opera and ballet companies of Romania. The company is headquartered in Bucharest, near the Cotroceni neighbourhood.
History
In 1877, Romanian ...
(Opera Națională București), had its roots in the formation of the Opera Society (Societatea Opera). In 1921 under the patronage of
Queen Maria and
Octavian Goga the society became a state institution with state funding. Their inaugural performance was on 8 December 1921 with
George Enescu conducting the Bucharest premiere Wagner's ''
Lohengrin''.
[ Opera Națională București]
Istoric și perspective (History and Perspectives)
Retrieved 18 June 2014 .[Anthem (2009)]
''Anthem Guide to the Opera, Concert Halls and Classical Music Venues of Europe''
pp. 362–363. Anthem Press. Further national opera companies were established in
Timișoara,
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
, and
Cluj.
Opera houses and companies
In addition to smaller opera companies such as Opera Brașov in
Brașov, Craiova Romanian Opera in
Craiova
Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...
, and the
Hungarian Opera
The origins of Hungarian opera can be traced to the late 18th century, with the rise of imported opera and other concert styles in cities like Pozsony (now Bratislava), Kismarton, Nagyszeben and Budapest. Operas at the time were in either the Ger ...
in
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
, Romania has four national opera companies:
*
Romanian National Opera, Bucharest
The Romanian National Opera, Bucharest ( ro, Opera Națională București) is one of the four national opera and ballet companies of Romania. The company is headquartered in Bucharest, near the Cotroceni neighbourhood.
History
In 1877, Romanian ...
*
Romanian National Opera, Cluj-Napoca
The Romanian National Opera, Cluj-Napoca ( ro, Opera Națională Română din Cluj-Napoca) is one of the national opera and ballet companies of Romania. The Opera shares the same building with the National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca.
History
T ...
*
Romanian National Opera, Iași
*
Romanian National Opera, Timișoara
The Romanian National Opera ( ro, Opera Națională Română) is a public opera and ballet company, ballet institution in Timișoara, Romania. Subordinated to the Ministry of Culture (Romania), Ministry of Culture, it is one of the four national o ...
Operas and
operettas are also performed at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet "Oleg Danovski" in
Constanța
Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...
, the Nae Leonard Theatre in
Galați
Galați (, , ; also known by other alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the Danube River. It has been the only port for the most par ...
, and the National Operetta Theatre in Bucharest.
References
Further reading
*Fernandez, Dominique (2000)
''The Romanian Rhapsody: An Overlooked Corner of Europe'' pp. 68–71. Algora Publishing. {{ISBN, 1892941244
*Loomis, George (17 December 2013)
''
New York Times''
Romania
Opera