MAGDA G.
“Do not let my music die”
were the last spoken words of the brilliant composer Ciprian Porumbescu … as he was dying in his sister’s and father’s arms.
There was a Romanian film released in China in the early 1970s with an incredible impact on the public. The song, which was the film’s central musical theme, soon became a music hit for the Chinese.
It was all around a love story and a music piece about a Romanian composer: Ciprian Porumbescu and his ballad. A boy kissing a girl on the mouth was unheard of, and such emotionally charged music had never been heard before. The film was called Ciprian Porumbescu, signed by Gheorghe Vitanidis and released in Romania in 1972. Many years later, 40 or so, one of Romania’s most important classical orchestras was touring China for the first time. The venue of 4,000 people literally burst into applause and cheers.
Ciprian Porumbescu was born on October 14th, 1853, in the Bukovina region, in Șipotele Sucevei, into a very modest family (Golembiovski). Although he lived intensely for only 30 years, he loved music and his people and marked their history with some unique, memorable compositions.
Gifted with an outstanding talent, an incurable romantic and a veritable patriot, Ciprian Porumbescu left us several landmark compositions for the 19th century Romanian music and beyond: The Ballade for violin and orchestra op. 29, the famous patriotic song Unity is written on our flag, music that today is the national anthem of Albania or the melody of the former Romanian national anthem, Three Colours.
Ciprian Porumbescu composed the first Romanian operetta, Crai Nou, in 1881-1882. Based on two inspiration sources, the Romanian folklore and the Viennese classical operetta, this composition, set to Vasile Alecsandri’s lyrics, was first performed on February 27th 1882 (March 11th according to the Old Calendar) on an improvised stage inside the Auditorium of the Romanian Gymnasium in Brasov.
Crai Nou is a story based on a folktale according to which when Crai Nou appears in the sky, young girls who worship him have their wishes come true.
As a sign of distinguished appreciation to our magnificent composer Ciprian Porumbescu and especially on the eve of his In memoriam anniversary, Bucharest National Opera is staging “Crai Nou”, a performance of great significance. Therefore, the public will have the chance to see this production in Alba Iulia on October 15th 2022.
Conductor Daniel Jinga, set designer Adrian Damian and director Răzvan Ioan Dincă are the names that, with an impressive cast, give weight to the performance and guarantee a memorable event for the audience.
Porumbescu 