World City Guide

Culture

Under the reign of Ceausescu, Romanian writers, artists and performers suffered censorship and prosecution. However, many – such as writers Norman Manea and Herta Mller – fled the country. Nowadays, with the arrival of Capitalism, artists and intellectuals will be facing a new danger, which Manea terms ‘economic censorship’. However, with a strong artistic tradition and resiliance, Bucharest prevails as the beating heart of Romania’s cultural and artistic activity.

Tickets to performances are available at the various venues. Listings and information on cultural events in Bucharest are available online (website: www.inyourpocket.com/romania/bucharest/en).

Music: One of the most magnificent places to hear classical music performed is at the Ateneul Roman, Strada Franklin 1 (tel: (01) 315 6875). This splendid 19th-century building – looking like Bucharest’s answer to London’s St Paul’s Cathedral – presents a fairytale backdrop, splendid acoustics and plays host to the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and other top performances. 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 dcor usually can only be viewed by concert-goers.

Classical chamber music concerts also take place at the National Radio Studio, Strada General Berthelot 60-64 (tel: (01) 314 6800), and Parliament Palace, Bulevardul Natiunili Unite (tel: (01) 311 3611; website: www.cdep.ro). Outdoor summer concerts are held in Cismigiu and Tineretului parks. Lavish opera productions take place at the Opera Romana, Bulevardul MI Kogalniceanu 70-72 (tel: (01) 314 6980), where tickets are amazing value, from US$0.60 to US$2, and the Theatrul Operata (tel: (01) 313 6348), next to the National Theatre, Bulevardul Balcescu 2.

Theatre: The enormous Theatrul National (National Theatre), Bulevardul Balcescu 2 (tel: (01) 314 7171; website: http://tnb.kappa.ro), is Bucharest’s theatrical heart. Classic and contemporary plays are performed in three auditoria – sometimes in English. Tickets are priced from US$0.70 to US$2. Another theatre that bridges the language barrier is the excellent Tandarica Puppet Theatre, Strada Eremia Grigorescu 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 and US$0.25 for children).

Dance: Ballet can be seen at the Opera Romana, Bulevardul MI Kogalniceanu 70-72 (tel: (01) 314 6980), 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). (For traditional Romanian dance, see Nightlife.)

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 Sapte 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 Lira De Luxe Cinema Centre, Calea 13 Septembrie 196 (tel: (01) 410 2171), and Hollywood Multiplex (tel: (01) 327 7020) in Bucharesti Mall, Calea Vitan 55-59, with ten screens. Parliament Palace, Bulevardul Natiunili Unite, also houses a good cinema (tel: (01) 315 7372). Cinemas showing old movie classics are called cinematecas, such as the Cinemateca Romana, Strada Eforie 2 (tel: (01) 313 0483), above Caf Indigo.

Bucharest’s stunning variety of architecture has made it popular with international film-makers, including french director Constantin Costa-Gavras, whose recently released and controversial Amen (2002), probing the role of the church in the Holocaust, used the Parliament Palace as a setting for the Vatican.

Cultural events: The city’s most high-profile cultural event is the bi-annual Georges Enescu International Festival (September-October 2003), when classical orchestras and chamber music groups from around the world play in the city’s best concert halls (tel: (01) 212 8081; fax. (01) 311 0200; e-mail: artexim@com.pcnet.ro). In addition to this, 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, featuring choreographers and dancers from all over Europe, takes place in May (e-mail: dcm@pcnet.ro).

Literary Notes
Bucharest’s cultural heyday ran from the last half of the 19th century to the first few decades of the 20th, when its thriving caf 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, ‘Luceafarul’ (‘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 20th century, symbolist poets like Tristan Tzara (1896-1953) experimented with the meanings of words through their sounds. Tzara left for Zurich, to form the Dada movement in 1916. He and other symbolist poets influenced the absurdist playwright, Eugne 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 Ceausescu. Although set in Timisoara, German-Romanian writer Herta Mller gives a frightening portrayal of political and personal unrest during Ceausescu's reign, in The Land of Green Plums (1996), winner of the IMPAC Dublin literary award in 1998.

For a crash course in Romanian literary heroes, visitors should stroll around the Writers’ Circle in Cismigiu Park, where busts of Romania’s major writers have been erected.