The Romanian National Opera, Bucharest ( ro, Opera Națională București) is one of the four national

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

companies of

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. The company is headquartered in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...

, near the

Cotroceni Cotroceni is a neighbourhood in western Bucharest, Romania located around the Cotroceni hill, in Bucharest's Sector 5. The nearest Metro stations are Eroilor, Academia Militară, and Politehnica. History The Hill of Cotroceni was once covered ...

neighbourhood.

History

In 1877, Romanian government regulation stipulated the formation of an opera company under the auspices of the Romanian National Theatre. On 8 May 1885, the ''Compania Opera Română'' (Romanian Opera Company) gave its first performance. The Romanian composer, conductor, singer and teacher George Stephănescu (1843-1925) was the founding director of this company. In 1921, the company was formally established as an independent institution, with subsequent funding that oscillated between direct government funding and funding from private individuals. The first production by the newly formalized company was of Wagner's ''Lohengrin'', conducted by

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biogr ...

. In 1953, a new theatre for opera and ballet was constructed for two international festivals that occurred in July and August 1953, the Third World Youth Congress, and the fourth World Festival of Youth and Students. This building, with a capacity of 952 seats and designed by and , became the new performance venue for the Romanian Opera. The opera company gave its first performance in this theatre on 9 January 1954, Tchaikovsky's ''The Queen of Spades''. On the next night, the first ballet performance of the company took place at the same theatre, of ''

Coppélia ''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Étie ...

''. The building of the Romanian Opera in Bucharest is listed in the National Register of Historic Monuments. In July 2021, the company announced the appointment of Eitan Schmeisser as its next artistic director.

References

External links

Official Romanian-language website of Opera Naţională București
Culture in Bucharest Romanian music

Buildings and structures in Bucharest Historic monuments in Bucharest

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

Music venues completed in 1954 {{Opera-company-stub

History

See also

References

External links