The Bucharest National Opera presents on Thursday, November 28th, 2024, a gala concert entitled "Stars of the Romanian Opera in Venice", an event organized on Romania's Great Union Day. Soprano Valentina Nafornița, mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose and tenor Ștefan Pop will be accompanied by the Bucharest National Opera Orchestra conducted by Daniel Jinga. To mark the occasion, Daniel Jinga, the manager of the Bucharest opera house, spoke to our colleague Ioana Țintea.

Mr. Daniel Jinga, how did the idea of organizing a gala concert dedicated to Romania's Great Union Day on the stage of the prestigious La Fenice Theatre in Venice come about?

Every time, the participation of the National Opera Orchestra or our ensemble of artists abroad on December 1st represents both a joy and a challenge for us, a must, so to say, so we think every year where we will go and where we will represent the Romanian opera and culture and this Romanian lyric art abroad. This year we chose La Fenice theater, a stage on which I don't know if a Romanian orchestra or a Romanian opera orchestra has ever performed before, so this is a first and we enjoyed the support of the Department for Romanians Abroad and the support of the Romanian Embassy in the Italian Republic. It is a very well-organized gala performance, in which the National Opera Orchestra will accompany Romanian soloists who have a particularly important international career, I am referring to tenor Ștefan Pop, soprano Valentina Naforniță, mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose.

Throughout the years, prestigious Romanian artists have performed on the stage of the Venetian theater La Fenice, a tradition that continues now with the presence of soprano Valentina Naforniță, mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose and tenor Ștefan Pop. What does this concert mean both for you and for the institution that you lead, given on a stage emblematic of Italian culture?

First and foremost, it means reconnecting with European values. I think it's very important for artists to remain in this environment of European culture, an environment that we embraced long before we were actually members of this great European family. This is in fact the greatest joy, to return with a science that we imported a few hundred years ago from Italy, to return to Italy with it, and to show that we have a tradition that already matters, we have done our homework, we are talented people and we know and love this phenomenon called opera very much.

Tell us about the program suggested for the Italian audience.

There will be arias from the Verdi and Puccini repertoire. This means a part of Italian culture, but there will also be Romanian works with folkloric works, Rhapsody I by George Enescu, the waltz suite Waves of the Danube by Iosif Ivanovich, orchestrated by Sergiu Sarchizov. It will be a gala performance, so it includes arias and duets. I can't say that it's an easy repertoire, but it will not be a niche repertoire either, it will be representative and appealing to the audience, but also to the musicians on stage and the professionals in the hall.

What is the message you want to convey through this concert to the Romanian community abroad, but also to the international audience?

Happy Birthday, Romania. Be proud to be Romanians, respect your national values, make them known, show that you are an educated nation, a nation that loves high culture and a nation that has found its place and must remain in the great European family.