The Ministry of Culture, led by Raluca Turcan, proposes the abolition of the Bucharest National Opera and the “Romanian Youth” National Center, replacing them with a new institution called the Romanian Opera. The former director of the Bucharest National Opera, Ștefan Ignat, warns that the change would transform the Opera into a House of Culture with a varied profile, including jazz, pop, violin music, opera and ballet.
Ștefan Ignat was accused of harassment – PHOTO: Facebook
The decision of the Ministry of Culture to abolish the Bucharest National Opera and the “Romanian Youth” National Center comes amid a conflict regarding the appointment of the director. Ștefan Ignat, who won the competition in 2022, recently obtained in court the right to conduct the Opera. However, the Bucharest Court of Appeal forced the Ministry to conclude a contract with Ștefan Ignat, which led the Ministry to explore alternative solutions to avoid his appointment. The ministry has asked for 30 days to publicly respond to Ignat’s accusations, which believes that the change of the institution’s name is intended to block his taking over the mandate, reports G4Media.
“If in October 2023 the minister said “no cultural institution is abolished and we will only be able to discuss some reorganizations. We managed that no cultural institution enters the merger process” and “from a budget of 0.8% to reduce expenses is simply ridiculous”, in August 2024, put before a court decision confirming the fact that the Ministry of Culture was wrong when it did not validate a competition for management projects, the minister “finds the saving solution” to keep the current management of the Opera at any cost, above any legal and constitutional provision, a group of adventurers who programmed, with the direct support of Mrs. Turcan, the abolition of the Bucharest National Opera.
Considering these aspects, the sudden decision, made during the period of time when the Ministry of Culture was obliged to conclude a management contract with the undersigned, according to a final court decision, to dissolve the Bucharest National Opera gives rise to the reasonable suspicion that, in fact, attempts are being made disguising the refusal to enforce a final decision by written dissolution of the institution.”, says Stefan Ignat.
The former director of the Bucharest National Opera claims that this measure aims to block the taking over of his mandate, won following a competition in 2022. Ignat states that the change of the institution is an attempt to avoid the implementation of a court decision that guarantees his right to lead the Opera National. According to him, the abolition of the institution would make his appointment impossible, maintaining the current interim management.
“In concrete, the effects of the government decision, which is still in the draft stage, are only the disregard of the court’s provisions, set forth in the civil decision no. 1567/01.07.2024, in order to extend the mandate of the current director of the Bucharest National Opera, with much more serious consequences in the medium and long term, namely the destruction of the Bucharest National Opera.“, Ștefan Ignat also specified.
“Opera audiences should not suffer from the decisions of politicians“, says Ștefan Ignat.
Ștefan Ignat took over the management of the Romanian Opera in 2017, occupying the position of interim director. Later, the Ministry of Culture organized a competition for the position of manager in 2018, which Ignat won. However, the result was contested by the other candidate, Antoniu Zamfir, which led to the cancellation of the contest.
Ignat returned as interim director, but in 2021 he was dismissed following a scandal related to allegations of harassment. Daniel Jinga was then appointed as director. In 2022, the Ministry organized a new competition for the position of manager, but the procedure was blocked due to the litigation opened by Ignat, who now claims the position for the next five years.
