Getting back a mythic time. Opera-fresco “Stages of history” by Mihai Moldovan

Abstract

This study aims to approach the atypical lyrical genre - opera fresco - (Steps of History) in Mihai Moldovan's vision and to systematize certain original elements of language, through which the composer reveals to us a world of archetypes and, implicitly, of the history of the Romanian people. During the eleven frames, the composer makes use of a chromatic modal language, neo-baroque architectures (fugue, canon, passacaglia) or free architectures, geometrical chord structures, textures based on the permutation principle at the cellular level, repetition with the filling of the voices along the way, dense dynamics and a diverse palette of tempos. The composer takes full advantage of the timbral of the voices and of the soloist instruments, of the mixed choir, and of the entire apparatus of the orchestra, creating contrasting sections, where he sometimes reenacts the atmosphere of the national ancestral traditions. Having a real dramatic sense and being an eternal lover of authentic folklore, Mihai Moldovan climbs the stairs of history, describing through his music the disturbing story of the Romanian people, faithful in the light of new horizons, which seem to be born from Brancusi's Endless Column.