Romanians bring tragic hero to Musikverein

Romanians bring tragic hero to Musikverein

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

July 31, 2023

The Bucharest National Opera orchestra will make its first appearance tonight as Vienna’s Musikvereinsaal, with music by the Romanian composer Ciprian Porumbescu, who died in 1883 at the age of 29.

His Ballad for violin and orchestra is among the most popular pieces in his own country, and unknown elsewhere.

Tonight’s The soloists, choir and orchestra are conducted by Daniel Jinga.

Comments

  • esfir ross says:

    Porumbescu died in prison. He taught music in Chernovitsi.

    • Peter San Diego says:

      According to his biography, he was arrested in 1877 and imprisoned for 11 weeks for political agitation (seeking to unify Bukovina with Moldavia) but acquitted and released by an Austrian court. Between 1879 and 1881, he studied in Vienna, including classes from Anton Bruckner, and then taught briefly in Brasov before moving to the village of Stupca (today Ciprian Porumbescu), where he passed away from tuberculosis — which he had contracted during his weeks in prison.

  • HORIA says:

    at Vienna’s (not as Vienna’s)…

  • David K. Nelson says:

    Porumbescu’s Ballad is not unknown outside of Rumania. But it is not known widely enough, that I would agree with.

  • PB says:

    The question is: how much did they have to pay to rent the Musikverein?

  • Dragonetti says:

    Very pleasant, but surely if they want this to be taken seriously then what on Earth were they thinking of with that accompanying video?
    People ‘playing’ left handed, a cheap Chinese violin outfit with its bow tightened to destruction…
    The list goes on. Anyone know who was responsible and why?

    • Ionut says:

      They don’t want this to be taken serioussly. Look who organised the concert. Paid by a church. Was a concert to praise the Lord, not to establish Romania on thr cultural map

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