Saturday, May 17th, 2025, The Romanian National Opera in Bucharest presents the world premiere of the opera D'ale carnavalului by Dan Dediu, inspired by the Ion Luca Caragiale play of the same name. On this occasion, a press conference was held Thursday, May 15th, 2025, which Ioana Țintea attended. She'll give us more details in this report.

The press meeting, which took place in the foyer of the opera house, was opened by Daniel Jinga, the director of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest, who emphasized his wish to keep supporting and promoting contemporary Romanian art.

"First of all, I'm glad that the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest is continuing a journey started in 2011, when O scrisoare pierdută ("A Lost Letter") premiered, with music by Dan Dediu and libretto and direction by the late Ștefan Neagrău. We're continuing that journey this week by unveiling D'ale carnavalului, brought to you by the same creative team. I like to think that for our house this is also a tribute to Ștefan Neagrău, who shaped entire generations of artists, both at the National Opera and at the National University of Music."- Daniel Jinga, director of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest.

Next, composer Daniel Dediu confessed that he was inspired by Ștefan Neagrău's text and that he worked on the music for the opera D'ale carnavalului tirelessly for two and a half years, describing this period as a true lesson in creation for him.

"Of course it's a tribute to Ștefan Neagrău, who wrote two fantastic librettos based on Caragiale's work. Now, this one is even more fantastic than O scrisoare pierdută and I'm saying this from the heart. When I received it I was scared to touch it, because I thought it was a combination between Cosi fan tutte and Don Giovanni, absolutely fantastic. It gave me such a push to write and I couldn't decide, I was working on other projects. It was only in the pandemic, rereading what Neagrău had written in the libretto, that I saw the chorus says: 'Today everyone is wearing a mask.' And that's when I realized that, in a way, it was a sign, becausewe were all wearing masks at the time. I got started, and for two and a half years I wrote and constantly talked to Ștefan, as soon as I'd write a scene, I'd email it to him right away. He would listen and say… At one point he told me: 'These scenes end too similarly. Can't you change things up?' or 'This is too consonant! I want it to fall apart when Pampon enters.'. And I would rewrite them and send them to him. It was a great lesson to me and I have the utmost respect for him."- Composer Dan Dediu

Next was conductor Tiberiu Soare, who spoke about the joy of being part of this project that's original and unique in Romania.

"I feel honored and privileged that I was able to work with such people. I mean, of course, Ștefan Neagrău, Dan Dediu, Viorica Petrovici. This wonderful team of professionals and all the people they represent. I can say that one of my dreams will come true Saturday evening, because I think bringing the spirit of Caragiale through the filter of an exceptional librettist and an exceptional composer is the best way to say you contributed to what's happening in the current artistic climate."- conductor Tiberiu Soare

Moving along, Eugen Dediu told us about the experience of adapting Ștefan Neagrău's script and expressed his gratitude for the trust and opportunity to be part of this project.

"I thank everyone for having the faith and willingness to work together. I adapted everything the great Mr. Neagrău left behind in an extremely detailed notebook, with very precise notes on every character. I just brought them to life together with the wonderful team of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest."- director Eugen Dediu

At this conference, set designer Viorica Petrovici told us about the visual concept created for the opera D'ale carnavalului, mentioning that she wanted to keep the visual symmetry that the late Ștefan Neagrău envisioned for this show.

"I've worked together with Ștefan Neagrău ever since he started working with Mr. Dediu. We met many times and exchanged ideas many times. I tried very hard to change the visual symmetry of this show to the one Ștefan Neagrău wanted and I didn't succeed. So I tried to use this visual instrument, symmetry, to harmonize the colors and movement. In the end, I went with it even though I didn't like it. I'm very happy to be at the opera."- set designer Viorica Petrovici

On the choreography, Valentin Stoica spoke about the challenges in creating the choreography for this opera, which brings together folklore dances and jazz rhythms, Balkan and Oriental.

"It's the first time I do something like this at the opera. I'm usually dancing on stage, using my own muscles. This time I think I had to manage around 80-90 people, which almost seemed impossible to me. I was so nervous when I got there… It all started very fast. I remember it was during the pandemic when I got a finished first act and froze, because I wasn't used to the rhythmics. I received some Balkan, Oriental and authentically Romanian rhythms… The pandemic worsened, things got distant between us. There was a period when I didn't have time to speak with Mr. Neagrău, he was sick recently, and things stagnated. And suddenly we started something at the opera that was like a horă, and this is what I imagined, that I have to bring this show here, to Romania and I need to imagine our steps with jazz rhythms, Balkan, oriental. And I don't want to tell you anything about the image and movement of this show, I just want to invite you to this idea. In fact, for me this experience was exactly like Dan Dediu said, a lesson. I started to grow and rediscover the team."- choreographer Valentin Stoica

In conclusion, the world premiere of the opera D'ale carnavalului by Dan Dediu is a tribute to the late Ștefan Neagrău, a maestro of his craft, whose director's vision and passion for the lyrical arts stayed alive through this production.

The show will take place Saturday, May 17th, 2025 and Sunday, May 18th, 2025, the latter also opening the 34^th edition of the International New Music Week.