Moldova National Opera Ballet
Encyclopedia
The National Ballet of Moldova (Moldovan: Teatrului Naţional de Operă şi Balet din Republica Moldova) in Chişinău
, Moldova, is one of the leading ballet companies in Eastern Europe. It is housed, together with the National Opera
, in a theatre building on the Boulevard Stefan the Great, one of the main roads in Chişinău , the capital of Moldova
. Built during the years of the Soviet Union, the theatre has superb equipment and facilities; and it has established itself as one of the leading . Following the collapse of the Soviet Union
, this theatre was one of the few to retain its own ballet, opera and orchestra, with its own soloists and chorus.
Professional ballet began in Chişinău in 1957, after a group of Moldovan dancers trained in Leningrad
. New works were soon provided for the company: the Moldovan composer Vasile Zagorsky wrote the ballet Rassvet (Sunrise), while another composer Eduard Lazarev wrote Broken Sword, based on the poem "Ghosts", by Mihai Eminescu
, a leading Moldovan writer.
In its first ten years, the company added many well-known classical ballets to its repertoire, including Giselle
, The Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus and Coppelia
. It toured to Moscow, Kiev
and Bulgaria
. The most successful of the company’s modern ballet productions was A Young Lady and a Hooligan, based on music by Shostakovitch, in which the lead dancer was Mihai Caftanat, who is still working with the company. Born in Chişinău, Caftanat studied ballet in Moscow
, returning to his native city to dance Siegfried, Prince Desire, Arald in Broken Sword and Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.
Other notable productions at this time were: the Carmen Suite; Sonnets, using Benjamin Britten
’s music; the Arabesques, with Lazarev’s music. Attempts to create national works included the children’s ballet Andriesh by Zlata Tkach and Luceafarul by Eugen Doga based on Eminescu’s best-known poem; while O Seara de Balet re-introduced audiences to the classical choreography of Marius Petipa
, Ivanov, Fokine and Gorski. The Kirov Ballet production of La Bayadère was carefully re-created by Tatiana Leagt and showed how well the company could handle a difficult work requiring first-class performers.
In 1998, the renowned choreographer Yuri Grigorovich from the Bolshoi
came to Chişinău to direct his version of The Nutcracker
, originally played at the Bolshoi in 1966. The company now toured to Moscow, Vietnam
, Bulgaria
, Italy
, Spain
, Germany
, Holland, Scandinavia
, Romania
, Hungary
, Greece
, Paris
, Tokyo
, Johannesburg
, Los Angeles
. In 1999 it brought productions of Swan Lake
and Sleeping Beauty to the UK. Since 2001 the company performed Grigorovich’s Nutcracker several times in the UK. This was the first time the production had been seen in this country since the Bolshoi performed it in London in the early seventies. The Moldova National Ballet has toured regularly in Spain since 2005, in January 2007 it performed The Best of Tchaikovsky in Spain and northern Germany.
Chisinau
Chișinău is the capital and largest municipality of Moldova. It is also its main industrial and commercial centre and is located in the middle of the country, on the river Bîc...
, Moldova, is one of the leading ballet companies in Eastern Europe. It is housed, together with the National Opera
Chisinau National Opera
Chişinău National Opera, the national opera company of Moldova, based in the country's capital, Chişinău, was founded in the mid-1940s and became a professional company in 1956. Following the collapse of the USSR, the company is one of the few ex-Soviet opera companies to retain its own orchestra,...
, in a theatre building on the Boulevard Stefan the Great, one of the main roads in Chişinău , the capital of Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
. Built during the years of the Soviet Union, the theatre has superb equipment and facilities; and it has established itself as one of the leading . Following the collapse of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, this theatre was one of the few to retain its own ballet, opera and orchestra, with its own soloists and chorus.
Professional ballet began in Chişinău in 1957, after a group of Moldovan dancers trained in Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
. New works were soon provided for the company: the Moldovan composer Vasile Zagorsky wrote the ballet Rassvet (Sunrise), while another composer Eduard Lazarev wrote Broken Sword, based on the poem "Ghosts", by Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu
Mihai Eminescu was a Romantic poet, novelist and journalist, often regarded as the most famous and influential Romanian poet. Eminescu was an active member of the Junimea literary society and he worked as an editor for the newspaper Timpul , the official newspaper of the Conservative Party...
, a leading Moldovan writer.
In its first ten years, the company added many well-known classical ballets to its repertoire, including Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
, The Sleeping Beauty, Spartacus and Coppelia
Coppélia
Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
. It toured to Moscow, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
. The most successful of the company’s modern ballet productions was A Young Lady and a Hooligan, based on music by Shostakovitch, in which the lead dancer was Mihai Caftanat, who is still working with the company. Born in Chişinău, Caftanat studied ballet in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, returning to his native city to dance Siegfried, Prince Desire, Arald in Broken Sword and Antony in Antony and Cleopatra.
Other notable productions at this time were: the Carmen Suite; Sonnets, using Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
’s music; the Arabesques, with Lazarev’s music. Attempts to create national works included the children’s ballet Andriesh by Zlata Tkach and Luceafarul by Eugen Doga based on Eminescu’s best-known poem; while O Seara de Balet re-introduced audiences to the classical choreography of Marius Petipa
Marius Petipa
Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
, Ivanov, Fokine and Gorski. The Kirov Ballet production of La Bayadère was carefully re-created by Tatiana Leagt and showed how well the company could handle a difficult work requiring first-class performers.
In 1998, the renowned choreographer Yuri Grigorovich from the Bolshoi
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...
came to Chişinău to direct his version of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
, originally played at the Bolshoi in 1966. The company now toured to Moscow, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Holland, Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1999 it brought productions of Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
and Sleeping Beauty to the UK. Since 2001 the company performed Grigorovich’s Nutcracker several times in the UK. This was the first time the production had been seen in this country since the Bolshoi performed it in London in the early seventies. The Moldova National Ballet has toured regularly in Spain since 2005, in January 2007 it performed The Best of Tchaikovsky in Spain and northern Germany.