"Who is this Roman Vlad who composed 'The Seagull'?" a well-known director asked me, a great music fan, therefore always present at the concerts and shows of the Enescu Festival. The meaning of this question was suggested by its intonation: "Who is this Roman Vlad who dared to TOUCH Chekhov?!? Not that the result of his compositional enterprise wouldn't justify such defiance, but his name doesn't ring a bell to me…"I should think so! If the programme booklet of the Romanian Opera House in Iaşi didn't have "A portrait sketch" (written by Vasilica Stoiciu-Frunză), from which the public could learn something about the author of the score, it would be most likely for the people to think that Roman Vlad was Italian, because the score is written in Dante's language (in which the composer translated it from its original Russian). That's how the spectator finds out that he's neither Italian, nor Russian or Ukrainian (although he was born at Cernăuţi – at a time when it belonged to Great Romania: on 20 December 1919), but Romanian, settled in Rome in 1938, where he continued his music studies (grounded at the Cernăuţi Music Academy) with the famous teacher, composer and theorist Liviu Rusu, among others, graduating from the 'Santa Cecilia' Academy. Soon afterwards, he gained recognition as a concert pianist, teaching, later on, at various music academies in the peninsula, artistic manager of the musical groups of the Italian Broadcasting Station in Turin, general manager of the Opera theatres from Florence and Rome, President of the Italian Contemporary Music Society, manager of the famous international festival "Maggio Musicale Fiorentino". What the booklet doesn't mention is the fact that in the meantime our musician has become the artistic manager of the illustrious opera theatre La Scala in Milan. The overlook was probably due to the fact that the booklet had been written in 1994. The same year , Roman Vlad had his 74th anniversary and the city of Iaşi celebrated the event by awarding him the title of citizen of honor and the title doctor honoris causa of the GeorgeEnescuArtsAcademy. The tome "Introduction to Roman Vlad's Work" was published by the "Saint Apollonia" Foundation, and the Romanian Opera in Iaşi staged "The Seagull" (in a ballet coupe-show), which the public from Bucharest has just seen, and "Lady of the Camellias", which, unfortunately, wasn't available to the capital's audience. It's been said that Roman Vlad is not only a music composer (of various genres – from opera and ballet to theatre and film, from vocal and instrumental to electronic), but also an author of writings about music ("The History of Twelve-Tone Music"; "The Religious Music of Igor Stravinsky"; "Modernity and Tradition in Contemporary Music") and his vast "Annotations" for "The Seagull" (published in the same booklet) could give one an idea about the remarkable intellectual dimension of this incredibly complex artist. His score could please or not (the conservatives will find it too modern and the modernists will find it obsolete), but one can't help feeling seduced by its ability to ingenuously extract the essence of Chekhov's drama, in order to express it in the language of music and dance, by resorting to the most obvious contact form between the two arts: variation. "Variations sung and danced" is actually the work's subtitle. Admirably performed by the orchestra of the Opera House in Iaşi, under the firm and inspired direction of conductor Răzvan Cernat, with the contribution of two exceptional soloists: Cristina Simionescu and Cătălin Berea. Enthusiastically performed by 8 male dancers from the Iaşi Theatre (Alina Păvăloi, Gabriela Comşa, Cristina Iuriciuc, Cătălin Ailiesei, Viaceslav Baltaga, Lucian Popa, Dan Berihoi, Sorin Macovei) and two guests from the Bucharest Theatre (Monica Petrică and Tiberiu Almosnino). Among them, Cătălin Ailiesei (who had the most important character in the play's part: Treplev) and Viaceslav Baltaga (in an almost episodic part: Samraev, but all the more impressive his performance) were remarkable through their unique force of expression (that few artists are divinely blessed with).I have no doubt that the choreographer Ioan Tugearu forced all the dancers of the Iaşi Theatre (whom I saw for the first time) into surpassing their limits and status, into discovering and capitalizing on their personality. I know very well what I. Tugearu managed to make a few years ago out of the extremely modest ballet troupe of the Constanţa Lyrical Theatre from back then, with which he put a fascinating show on stage… ( And I think that there's no better 'treatment' for any of our theatres' troupes than working with this wonderful choreographer, a natural born teacher, gifted with a special talent. A talent which the exceptional ballet soloist that he used to be not long ago now generously shares). I. Tugearu, creator of 'author shows', in which almost everything – from script and musical background to directing and choreography – is his, has now been forced into an unprecedented situation for him: instead of being the one who chooses, he was the one being chosen. Chosen to create a certain music, with a certain topic and a script with few possibilities of escape. I. Tugearu probably had to work with a director (and that's another first!). Therefore, I suppose that it's Dan Nasta's merit as far as the action's clarity and the character's strong outline are concerned. He is also responsible for the show's deviation from the Chekhovian text: the suppression of Treplev's failed suicide attempt and, particularly, Samraev's surprising love for Arkadina, which concludes a third cycle of unshared love stories (Medvedenko-Masha; Treplev-Zareciniaia-Trigorin; Polina-Dorn; Samraev-Arkadina-Trigorin). The show benefited, through Mircea Marosin's contribution, from a very poetical stage design (aphoristic and metaphorical at the same time, where the only dissonant element is the cardboard seagull, tainted with red paint; would it have been so difficult to make a real bird with real feathers that could gently spread under the heroes' tender and desperate fingers?!). I. Tugearu creates a ballet of great graphic beauty and a tremendously expressive load, with a fantasy and rigor to be envied by anyone. His choreographic outlining is pure and gracious, of extraordinary precision and suggestiveness, of remarkable stylistic coherence. I don't find the latter quality negligible, especially at a time when the chaos of conception produces more and more frequently theatrical works of an impeccable bad taste …
by Luminiţa Vartolomei
