Romfilatelia and Romanian Post introduce into circulation on Wednesday, November 26th, this year the anniversary issue of postage stamps entitled ‘Ion Dacian’ National Operetta and Musical Theater, 75 years, dedicated to an elite cultural institution in Romania.
The issue consists of a stamp, a perforated souvenir sheet and a First Day Cover.
The 75th anniversary of the founding of the State Operetta Theater joins a series of events, including the bicentennial of the birth of the great Johann Strauss and the 145th commemoration of the death of Jacques Offenbach, the founder of modern operetta as a genre of musical theater in its own right.
The presence of the operetta musical genre began in 1835, when the audience of the ‘Momulo’ Theater in Bucharest watched the first Romanian vaudeville, Triumful Amorului, (in English: The Triumph of Love), whose musical adaptation belonged to composer Ioan Andrei Wachmann. In Moldova, with the establishment of the National Theater in Iași (1846), vaudeville stands out, with the highlight of the genre being the ‘fairy operetta’ Baba Hârca (in English: Hârca the Hag) by Matei Millo, with music by Alexandru Flechtenmacher (premiered on December 26th, 1848). The librettos written by Vasile Alecsandri, Matei Millo, Costache Negri, and Eugeniu Carada became famous. In 1882, Ciprian Porumbescu’s first Romanian operetta, Crai Nou (in English: New Moon), marked a moment of success for the musical theater genre.
The experience gained over the years with the contribution of valuable generations of actors and performers materialized in 1950 with the establishment of the State Operetta Theater, whose inauguration featured the premiere of Isaac Dunaevski’s Wind of Freedom.
The names of those who performed in this show, top-tier stars, entered forever into the Golden Book of Romanian Operetta: Silly Popescu, Șerban Tassian, Maria Wauvrina, Nae Roman, Bimbo Mărculescu, Mygri Avram Nicolau, Toni Buiacici, Petre Ștefănescu Goangă, Virginia Romanovsky, Tiberiu Simionescu. At the conductor’s stand was Liviu Cavassi, the choreography was by Elena Penescu Liciu, and the direction was by Sică Alexandrescu.
The arrival of the great tenor Ion Dacian at the helm of the State Operetta Theater in Bucharest in 1961 contributed significantly to the artistic quality of the repertoire. For a decade, there were remarkable successes. The operas The Land of Smiles by Franz Lehár, The Secret of Marco Polo by Francis López, Viennese Blood by Johann Strauss, Countess Maritza by Emmerich Kálmán, maintain the theater’s special prestige, which is greatly appreciated by a large audience.
The year 1968, when the musical My Fair Lady, premiered, marks a milestone in the history of Romanian musical theater, represented by the first staging of a musical on a Romanian stage. Ion Dacian managed to bring My Fair Lady to Romania 12 years after its world premiere (New York, March 15th, 1956), demonstrating his exceptional artistic vision and artistic integrity. In fact, under the leadership of the great tenor, the State Operetta Theater in Bucharest managed to strike a well-chosen balance between the tradition of classical operetta, the promotion of contemporary Romanian creations, and openness to the future of genius – the musical.
In recognition of its role and activities, the Operetta Theater was awarded the title of National Theater by Government Decision in 2001, with the season marked by the premiere of Jean Gilbert’s ‘Miss Virtue’. A decade later, construction began on the first building dedicated exclusively to the ‘Ion Dacian’ National Operetta and Musical Theater, which was also the first building dedicated to the musical performing arts to be built in Romania after 1989.
On January 24th, 2015, when the new venue was inaugurated, the event was marked by an absolute premiere in Romania, The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, one of the most beloved musicals in the world.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary, the Operetta Theater is now a landmark institution, with a vast repertoire that includes operetta and musical performances, as well as events designed to match the level of the world’s leading institutions of its kind. With each performance, the theater team enjoys real success, a reward for the strategy designed to maintain the institution at the highest level of musical theater art.
The path opened by Ion Dacian must be continued. Just as, in 1968, the introduction of musicals into a world dominated almost exclusively by operetta was a visionary act, visionary and courageous performances must continue.
The postage stamp with the face value of Lei 8 depicts the stage of the ‘Ion Dacian’ National Operetta and Musical Theater, with the portrait of the great tenor in the foreground.
The perforated souvenir sheet features, within the perforated outline of the postage stamp with the face value of Lei 30, the cast of actors performing in the operetta My Fair Lady and a representative portrait of Ion Dacian, who played the character of Professor Higgins.
The First Day Cover features artwork that conveys a defining musical atmosphere: the tenor Ion Dacian in front of a score, alongside a piano, an indispensable instrument in musical theater orchestras.
Romfilatelia thanks the Ministry of Culture and the ‘Ion Dacian’ National Operetta and Musical Theater, as well as Mrs. Elena (Leni) Dacian and Mr. Stephan Poen, for the documentary and photographic support provided in the development of this postage stamp issue.
