Mr. Andrei Fermeșanu, at the beginning of 2026, the Romanian National Opera from Iași celebrated its 70th anniversary. I would like to ask, what are your thoughts in this celebratory hour?

Good, positive thoughts for what will come next and, at the same time, a feeling of honour for the fact that we are the ones to continue these seven decades of institutionalized opera in Iași, even if these activities go further back than 1959, the year when things really started to function in our institution, as a result of the Council of Ministers's decision from December 30th, 1955. They are seven decades crowned in glory, with moments of cultural significance, this institution being a guiding light not only for Iași, but also for the entirety of Moldavia. Therefore, we are living this celebratory year with the feeling of responsibility and, at the same time, with the happiness specific to anniversaries.

We started 2026 with an opera gala, on January 6th, which opens this anniversary year with a repertoire composed of dinaris, duets and trios, from operas by Rossini, Bellini, Verdi, operettas by Kálmán, a program made up exclusively of titles that we do not have in our repertoire at the moment. Of course, some of them are future projects, but we wanted to come to the public with an element of novelty, because we know that our loyal audience is a lover of novelty, of fresh, lively interpretations.

It was a marathon gala that took place in two parts, over three hours, but I repeat, with the novelty of the arias that the audience in Iași does not hear frequently. The performers from January 6th were like a fan, from the very young ones who are knocking of the gates of affirmation, all the way to those with a lifetime of experience, and, of course, our guests, Martiniana Antonie, Adrian Mărcan, and Andrei Apreotesei. We have created this palette of soloists by keeping in mind the flamboyant celebration of diversity and novelty.

What other shows are you working on in the context of this important anniversary for the institution? Maybe there will be premiers of new shows?

We still have, as part of the plan, the continuation and presentation of the opera "Cinderella" by Rossini, which is a well awaited premier for some time now. It is a complex show, directed by Rareș Ștefan, scenography by Adrian Damian, and maestro Crescenzi as the conductor. Getting this show rolling took a longer time because, as I was saying, it's one full of details, both for scenography and directing.

Of course, we have in mind a premiere for November 3rd, when the 70th anniversary is actually celebrated; of course, this year is one of celebration, but the first performance performed in Iași took place on November 3rd, 1956. So, for that beginning of November, we would like a premiere of "Tosca", because, at the same time, this year marks the 125th anniversary of the premiere that took place in the Constanzi Theater in Rome and we all know that the first performer was Hariclea Darclee, so it would be a doubling of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the premiere of "Tosca" and, at the same time, 70 years of institutionalized opera in Iași. Then again, important artistic repertoires throughout the year will feature in shows like "Turandot" by Puccini, scheduled for April 26th, this year, directed by Rareș Zaharia, when, we are also marking an anniversary milestone, 100 years since the premier of the show and we want to celebrate it properly, even more so since the conductor will be one of our deacons of experience with a lot of operatic culture, maestro Dumănescu, who was active in our theatre many years and was one of the school's pioneers. Of course, we won't miss January 15th, National Culture Day. We have prepared a string of arias and songs by Brediceanu, Felicia Donceanu and Achim Stoia. Therefore, cultural effervescence in Iași, dressed up in celebration.