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Culture

Bucharest's most high-profile cultural event is the annual Georges Enescu International Festival (8-23 September 2001). Classical orchestras and chamber music groups from around the world play in the city's best concert halls. Visit Romania (tel: (01) 223 2003; fax: (01) 223 1810; e-mail: visit@kappa.ro) can provide further information.

Music: One of the most magnificent places to hear classical music performed is at the Ateneul Rom?n, Strada Franklin 1 (tel: (01) 315 6875). This splendid nineteenth-century building - looking like Bucharest's answer to London's St Paul's Cathedral - presents a fairytale backdrop. The lobby has a beautifully painted ceiling decorated in gold leaf and curved balconies cascading in ringlets of spiral staircase. A ring of pink marble columns is linked by flowing arches where elaborate brass lanterns hang like gems from a necklace.

Inside the concert hall, voluptuous frescoes cover the ceiling and walls. This remarkable decor can usually only be viewed by concertgoers. The house orchestra is the acclaimed George Enescu Philharmonic. Classical chamber music concerts also take place at the National Radio Studio, Strada General Berthelot 62 (tel: (01) 303 1428), and Parliament Palace. Outdoor summer concerts are held in Ci?migu and Tineretului parks. Lavish opera productions take place at the Opera Rom?n?, Bulevardul MI Kog?lniceanu 70 (tel: (01) 314 6980 - tickets are amazing value from US$0.60 to US$2), and the Theatrul Operata (tel: (01) 313 6348), next to the National Theatre.

Theatre: The enormous Theatrul National (National Theatre), Bulevardul B?lcescu 2 (tel: (01) 313 9175), is Bucharest's theatrical heart. Classic and contemporary plays are performed in three auditoria, sometimes in English. Tickets are from US$0.70 to US$2. Another theatre that bridges the language barrier is the excellent T?nd?ric? Puppet Theatre, Strada Grigore?cu 24 (tel: (01) 211 3288). With shows for both children and adults, the action is easily followed without understanding Romanian (tickets are US$0.45 for adults, US$0.25 for children).

Dance: Ballet can be seen at the Opera Rom?n? (see above), which has its own ballet company. Ballet, as well as modern dance, is also performed at the 'Ion Dacian' Operetta Theatre, Bulevardul Nicolae Balcescu 2 (tel: (01) 613 6348), and by the Orion Ballet Company at the Tinerimea Romana cultural centre, Strada Gutenberg 19 (tel: (01) 615 4702). Traditional Romanian dance is covered in the Nightlife section.

Film: Foreign films are generally shown in the original language with Romanian subtitles. Current film listings are available online (website: http://cinema.ines.ro) or in ?apte Seri magazine, free in Bucharest bars. Tickets range from US$0.40 in older cinemas to US$2 in deluxe ones. Older cinemas line Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta and Bulevardul General Magheru, while state-of-the-art ones include Hollywood Multiplex (tel: (01) 327 7020) in Buchare?ti Mall, with ten screens, and Lira De Luxe Cinema Centre, Calea 13 Septembrie 196 (tel: (01) 410 2171). Parliament Palace also houses a good cinema (tel: (01) 315 7372). Cinemas showing old movie classics are called cinematecas, such as the Cinemateca Rom?n? (tel: (01) 313 0483), at Strada Eforie 2, above CafÉ Indigo.

Cultural events: In addition to the Georges Enescu International Festival (see above), Bucharest has annual festivals for most of the arts. The National Theatre Festival (tel: (01) 313 9175) and the DaKINO International Film Festival take place in November. A new festival called the BucharEST-WEST Dance Festival will begin in May 2001, featuring choreographers and dancers from all over Europe (e-mail: dcm@pcnet.ro).

Literary Notes
Bucharest's cultural heyday ran from the last half of the nineteenth century to the first few decades of the twentieth, when its thriving cafÉ society produced poets, writers and philosophers galore. The man seen as having given birth to these literary glory days is Romania's national poet Mihai Eminescu (1850-89). The epitome of a Romantic poet, his verses celebrated Romania's history and folklore at a time when it was struggling to develop a culture independent of foreign influence. His most famous poem, 'Luceaf?rul' ('The Evening Star') has become a classic of Romanian literature. Eminescu belonged to Bucharest's Junimea (Youth) literary society, dedicated to discussing Romania's cultural direction. Another member was playwright Ion Luca Caragiale (1852-1912) - a brilliant observer of national characters and attitudes.

In the early twentieth century, Symbolist poets like Tristan Tzara (1896-1953) experimented with the meanings of words through their sound. Tzara left for Zurich to form the Dada movement in 1916, but he and other symbolist poets influenced the absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco (1912-94). Meanwhile, Romania's tradition of lyric poetry was continued by Ion Barbu (1895-1961) and Tudor Arghezi (1880-1967).

Between the World Wars, a generation of Socialist Realist writers emerged, including the novelists Liviu Rebreanu (1885-1944) and Mihail Sadoveanu (1880-1961). But after World War II, the shackles of Communism forced many good writers to pursue their careers in the West - or be silenced. Some novelists who managed to break through the Communist mould are Eugen Barbu (1924-94) with his 1957 novel Groapa (The Pit), about a seedy Bucharest neighbourhood, and Augustin Buzuru (1938-) with 1984's Refugii (Places of Refuge), about life under Ceau?escu. For a crash course in Romanian literary heroes, visitors should stroll around the Writers' Circle in Ci?migiu Park, where busts of Romania's major writers have been erected.



Copyright © 2001 Columbus Publishing
    
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