Culture
Italy applauds the conductor from Moldova Andriy Yurkevych
The name of Andriy Yurkevych, Chief conductor of the National Opera and Ballet Theatre “Maria Biesu” is in all Italian newspapers. On February 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th in Genoa in the Theater Carlo Felice, triumphant performances of the Opera Giuseppe Verdi “Simon Boccanegra” took place with Andriy Yurkevych at the conductor’s stand. The performance has gained popularity not only in Moldova but also abroad.
Simon Boccanegra, first elected by the people of the Doge of Genoa, is a cult figure, and Maria Boccanegra, his daughter, lost in childhood and adopted by the family of Grimaldi, the princes of Grimaldi, the Royal family of Monaco, who have been on the throne since then. Verdi’s Opera pays homage to Genoa, its history as a Seaside Republic, in a version that debuted at the “La Scala” theatre in 1881. The Opera tied the history of the city, real events, people and, of course, the patriotism of the Genoese, expressed in the love, pride, devotion and loyalty to their homeland.
Barbara Catellani for Spezia Calcio says on the website OperaClick:
“In Genoa, the traces of the first Doge of the Republic, elected and approved in 1339 by the people… the traces are scattered here and there throughout the city: a house in the area of La Maddalena in the historic centre, a funeral statue placed in the Museum of Sant’agostino, Villa-now the Congress center-hidden between the pavilions of the hospital of San Martino, Palazzo San Giorgio, the first Palazzo del Mare (built by order of cousin Guglielmo Boccanegra, the first people’s captain), a fortress that now “turned” into a Belvedere Castelletto. Not everyone knows this, and we should especially thank Roberto Pani, who wrote valuable lines about the events and places of Boccanegra, provided images, told exciting stories in newspaper articles, on the pages of social networks, at conferences, the press, at the University of Genova.”
“Simon Boccanegra is a true Genoese work, the history of this city: the so-called ‘Genovese Age’, from 1528 to 1620, when Genova was the European capital of Finance and banking, and conquered the world. Rooted in the fourteenth century, when the “cruel city” was still torn apart by internal strife, but nevertheless was a proud and independent city, the era of Boccanegra is the prologue of glory that will come in three centuries.” So told Roberto Pani, hoping to see a lot of Genovese in the theater. He succeeded, obviously.”
The February performances were very much anticipated. And indeed, on February 15th, with a full house, the first performance was broadcast on the Internet on the theater channel. I watched the performance from the 15th minute of the broadcast, was fascinated by the beautiful singing, preparation and organization. Read a few excerpts from the articles about the play.
Barbara Catellani, OperaClick:
“The great cast, the orchestra in excellent condition, the master conductor. What more? Here, more than ever, we can use the term “orchestral palette”, so popular in books and specialized magazines, because we really appreciated the variety of shades, gradations of color, brightness or high density, and large brush strokes when it is necessary to highlight pain, ominous conspiracy, betrayal. Then the dynamics, the wording, the dialogue: the orchestra perfectly responded to the magic wand (magic, as we have already said) of Andriy Yurkevych. A master who, again, showed great charisma and rare sensuality.”
Website LeMieNotizie.com
“At the remote control of the Teatro Carlo Felici conducts Andriy Yurkevych, music Director of the National Theatre in Chisinau, Moldova, a musician who can boast a repertoire from Mozart to the masterpieces of Bel Canto and Verdi, with a natural predisposition to the greatest Russian composers, who recently, on 18 January, we applauded in Genoa at the unforgettable Gala concert Jessica Pratt and Michael Spyres”.
Website Сonnessiallopera.it:
“Andriy Yurkevych chooses the right tempo, the tempo of the performance at the console, and remains consistent with this choice throughout the Opera. He takes care of the orchestral sound, which thanks to the excellent work of the orchestra of the foundation is clear and distinct. Simon Boccanegra is the leading role, and Yurkevych directs all his interpretation in this direction.”
The theater has prepared 12 videos about the Opera: materials about the history of Genoa, the Seaside Republic of the time of Simon Boccanegra, the Opera itself, interviews with soloists, the director, heads of the Opera production in the section “Immersion in the Opera”. The interview with the conductor Andriy Yurkevych can be seen here.
The Youtube channel of the Teatro Carlo Felice, which broadcasts performances and tells about his work, registered in 2010, has about seven million views, which indicates the extreme popularity of Italian Opera and art.
In this video you can see pieces of the Opera “Simon Boccanegra” on 0.44, 2.24, 5.34, 7.21, 8.13, 10.37 minute.
Congratulations Maestro Andriy Yurkevych for the lovely creative work!
This opinion piece was written by Dr. Nicholas Dima. Dr. Dima was formerly a Professor of Geography and Geopolitics at Djibouti University, St. Mary’s University College and James Madison University. From 1975 to 1985 and from 1989 to 2001, Dr. Dima was a Writer and Field Reporter at Voice of America. The opinion does not necessarily represent the opinion of the editorial staff of Moldova.org.
***
The 21st Century Russian Federation is a rebirth of the 19-th Century Tsarist Empire; a huge territory inhabited by hundreds of ethnic groups held together by an authoritarian government. Having acquired a diversity of lands and peoples that would not freely want to be together, Moscow has to be on guard. It has to keep an eye on those who are inside the federation and to make sure that no outsiders threaten its territory. Otherwise, in a nutshell, Ukraine is Russia’s biggest dilemma and Russia is Ukraine’s biggest nightmare!
In 1991 Moscow agreed reluctantly to the dissolution of the former USSR. Ukraine became independent and consented to give up its nuclear arsenal inherited from the Soviet Union in exchange for territorial guaranties. Russia did not keep its engagement. It violated the Minsk protocol and in 2014, after a hybrid war, annexed Crimea. At the same time, pro-Russian forces took over two important eastern Ukrainian regions, Lugansk and Donetsk, where the population is ethnically mixed and somehow pro-Russian.
Since the annexation of Crimea, Moscow has strengthened its military presence in the peninsula and in the Black and Azov Seas. Furthermore, it built a strategic bridge that connects Crimea with the Russian mainland. Then, Russia began to reject NATO activities in East Europe and to denounce the presence of the US Navy in the Black Sea as provocations. In order to counter NATO, Russia also brought some of its warships from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea through the Volga-Don Canal.
During recent years, Ukraine approached the United States and NATO and asked for assistance and, eventually, for membership in the EU and possibly NATO. For Moscow, however, Ukraine is an essential buffer zone against the West. With President Vladimir Putin lamenting the dismemberment of the USSR and embracing the traditional Russian expansionist mentality, the perspective of Ukraine’s NATO membership would be an existential threat.
The current situation at the Russo-Ukrainian border is tense and the stakes are high. Neither country is satisfied with the status quo, but the choices are very risky. The important Donbas region of East Ukraine, controlled by pro-Russian forces, is in a limbo. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is losing support among the people and must defend his country’s integrity. Currently, Putin has the upper hand and military superiority on his side, but using brute force in the conflict could trigger further Western economic sanctions and even military hostility.
For now it seems that Moscow is mainly posturing, but the true Russian intentions are not clear. Thus, a miscalculation could trigger a catastrophe of international proportions. No one knows how the events will play out, but the danger is obvious. Moscow is playing with fire. Apparently, it does not want a full war, neither the current stalemate, nor a retreat. What does it want? It seems that Moscow knows what it wants, but not necessarily what it can!
Regionally, the situation between Europe and Russia is complex and internationally the world is confronted with threatening new realignments. With the help of Russia, Belarus has encouraged thousand of Middle East migrants to assail the Polish border and the European Union. Poland has mobilized its forces and NATO and EU are on alert. The three Baltic countries also feel threatened. And the recent Russo-Chinese economic cooperation and military rapprochement reinforce the international apprehension.
Since the dissolution of the USSR, Russia went through several uneasy stages. During the first years of transition toward a new political system Russia experienced economic decline and popular unrest. Then, Putin took over and managed to stabilize the country. Russia opted for security and stability instead of political democracy and economic prosperity. At the same time, Kremlin focused its resource on the military and strengthened Russia’s war capacity.
For the time being, Russia may want to perpetuate the current situation and to keep Ukraine under its thumb. However, things are not static and sometimes they move unpredictably. What if Ukraine does become a NATO member? Then, it will be impossible for Russia to challenge Kyiv without triggering a devastating war. On the other hand, waiting is not in Russia’s advantage. Demographically, ethnic Russians are declining and the non-Russians, mostly Muslims, are fast increasing. The continuous emigration to the West of many Russians is not helping the population balance either. This trend will almost certainly renew old conflicts especially in the unsettled Caucasus region…
Attacking Ukraine now, overtly or through a hybrid war, would be risky for Russia and would not bring a lasting solution to the dispute. The war could destabilize Kyiv and even dismember Ukraine, but it would also destabilize the Russian Federation. The present tension will probably be diffused, but the next time around, in about 10 to 20 years, Putin will be gone, Moscow itself will be in disarray, Caucasian Muslims will be asking openly for independence and Ukraine will be ready and capable to fight Russia.
A Russo-Ukrainian war, now or later, will immediately have regional effects engaging Belarus and most likely Poland, the Baltic States, Moldova, Romania and implicitly NATO. Romania, for example, will follow its western allies, but it could not ignore the fact that certain formerly Romanian lands are now part of Ukraine. As for Moldova, beyond the facts that Moldovans are Romanians, its Transnistrian (Transdnestr) area is entirely under Russian control and in an eventual war will be used by Moscow against Ukraine.
Nicholas Dima, January 1, 2022
On the Nistru, near the village of Varnița, a few colored pens with blue dots in the middle travel up and down the river. If you get closer, the pens become kayaks, and the blue dots – the students of the kayak-canoe school. You can also see that there is a larger boat, where the trainer Mihai Chitaica is sitting, taking care that nobody flips over, that the children paddle well, and encouraging a healthy competition. On the water, nobody asks them where they’re from and what language they speak. Nistru and Mihai Chitaica unite them all: the students from Gura Bîcului, from Varința and the ones from the North district under the administration of Bender.
Mihai Chitaica, Master in Sports, trains around 15 children in kayak-canoe
He smiles a lot and the red cheeks emphasize his good mood. This is how he wants the children to remember him. Mihai Chitaica is 68 years old, he has retired a long time ago, and he does everything for the children who come here to learn how to paddle on Nistru river.
Mihai Chitaica is a master in sports. Besides training and competing as a veteran, for many years he has worked in the field of carpentry, having a small workshop near the river, in the village of Varnița, Anenii Noi. But, while seeing the children and their trainers of kayak-canoe from Bender, kayaking down the river, his heart would melt. So he put a kayak on the river and slowly remembered the rowing technique, the rhythm and what it feels like when the drops of water sprinkle your face. He worked up the courage and rowed down the river.
He understood that he can do more, and today he trains at least 15 children. Some of them were “stolen” by sports lyceums or clubs from other countries, and he is very proud of them. He is not upset, because it is “the choice of each of the child,” says Mihai Chitaica. He is very happy with their results, at the same time saddened by the fact that children couldn’t train during the pandemic – they couldn’t train enough, couldn’t organize competitions in Varnița, couldn’t go abroad for competitions.
The school is attended by the children from Gura Bîcului, from Varnița, but also from the North district under the Bender administration. “When they come here, I tell them ‘You are all equal to me. When you are here with me, you are my responsibility for the two hours, and you have to behave as I tell you to.’ One of the trainers from Bender once told me: ‘I noticed that your children don’t have quarrels.’ And I told him that I just don’t accept it, it’s that simple. If I hear any swearing, they get punished. You know how I punish them? I make them do push ups, lift weights.”
Varnița is a village in the Anenii Noi rayon. It is located on the right bank of Nistru river. It borders with the Bender, the North district being a part of this town, and it is under the administration of Tiraspol.
Varnița is a village in the Anenii Noi rayon. It is located on the right bank of Nistru river. It borders Bender, the North district being a part of this town, and it is under the administration of Tiraspol.
Professional kayaks are narrower than the ones for beginners
In the center of the neighboring village, Gura Bîcului, students are waiting for Mr Mihai, as they call him. On the way to Varința, where the classes of kayak-canoe take places, after the children are picked up in the minibus, they start to discuss the current situation:
— We have a new outbreak in our village.
— Don’t tell me that.
— There are people infected.
— Where? Show me! Who is infected?
— There are in Bulboaca!
— Well, they’re in Bulboaca. But I don’t live in Bulboaca. I live in GB!
— Ok.
Then, when they get to the gym, they change their clothes, run a few circles for warming up and come back to the kayaks near the gym. Two of the younger kids approach a kayak and each of them grabs one by the tip. The children clumsily lift the kayaks, as they slightly shake while being carried towards the river. The older ones put their kayaks on the shoulders and carry them with much ease.
“Hey, girls, stop occupying in the wharf!” shouts the teacher. Mihaela, Cătălina and Ana row just a couple of times and already reach the middle of the river. They stay together to chat, but also to compete. “Align. Ready? Go!” shouts the teacher and the three girls lift their paddles almost simultaneously and, while tilting to the left, they plunge them into the water. They row with their entire bodies, then, in a second, they lift the paddles again and plunge them to their right with the same force. In a few seconds, Cătălina is two meters in front of the other girls. She is the fastest one.
Cătălina Cotelea, one of the fastest students
After rowing, they move to the gym. Cătălina Cotelea is 14 years old and she joined the kayak class in 2018. She has a cold and had to move to the gym, where she teases the younger students. She sits in the lotus position: “Get your bum lower!” Cătălina speaks to her little brother, Gheorghe, with a bossier tone of voice. “She’s neither kind, no mean,” he adds, mentioning that she is actually just strict.
She doesn’t lose sight of the four boys she is in charge with, making them do the plank, then sit in the air, like on a chair, with their straight backs next to the wall. Her tanned face covered in freckles, once teased by her colleagues, now looks too serious to make fun of. But not to Gheorghe. He allows himself to be silly and feel special, because the trainer today is his older sister
In the winter, the younger kids move to the gym and train for spring, when it’s warmer and the ice melts. This is when they take their kayaks on the water
Cătălina inspired Gheorghe to join the kayak-canoe class. He is nine years old and “a month ago, I was the youngest one in my group. And now, I believe that I am the best. I paddle very well and I have the second-best speed.” And Mr Mihai agrees. Last year, he took the boy for his first competition, even if he was two years younger than the allowed age in his category. “He is quick-witted,” confirms Mihai Chitaica, mentioning that he was awarded the first place in the age category of 10-11 years old.
Gheorghe wishes he becomes a gym teacher. “If you are a math teacher, you need to have nerves of steel. But if you are a gym teacher, you tell the children ‘Let’s go, let’s run, let’s…’ you only give commands!” explains the youngest member of the Cotelea family.
The expenses for competitions are most often undertaken by the teacher Mihai Chitaica, but also for the training, the fuel, the kayaks, their repairs, and other expenses. In order to make sure that children can train, Miahi Chitaica decided to make some money from tourism. Previously, he would earn money from carpentry and renting the gazebos, now he has at least eight kayaks and four small homes he can rent to tourists.
Last year, for example, he organized a tour of 26 km for eight men. “In the kayaks I put some wood for the fire, they took their tents and groceries with them. They spent the night near the river and enjoyed it a lot. They now want to come back with their families.” The experimental tour started in the village of Șerpeni, with a rest stop in Speia, and the night was spent in Telița. Although it was a success, he couldn’t continue with the tours this summer due to the pandemic.
Ana Glijinscaea is one of the four girls who joined the kayak-canoe class
Then he bought some lumber and other materials in order to build a pontoon for tourists. “It will be ready in spring,” assures us Mihai Chitaica and asks us to imagine a pontoon floating on Nistru, with a tent on it, and a few young people partying and having a barbeque.
The trainer has great plans for local tourism. These plans will get him closer to his biggest dream – “putting on the water as many children as possible”.
Text: Georgeta Carasiucenco
Photos: Tatiana Beghiu
Editing: Anastasia Condruc
From eight in the morning till noon, every Thursday and Sunday, people lay their merchandise on the main street of Dubăsarii Vechi. Even if there is a market place on one side of the road, behind a fence, with many suitable stands, very few merchants use them. They prefer to park their vans in front of the gates and open the back doors to the street. They sell tomatoes, eggplants, beans, fish, second hand trousers, hay bales, cooking discs, auto parts, pink dresses bought decades ago in Moscow with a hundred dollars and sold today with one hundred lei. Not only locals sell at the market, merchants come from the entire region, from Corjova to Tiraspol.
Once people start gathering their stuff and the village is no longer engulfed in the turmoil of the market, you can go on and visit the village. The locals ride their bikes in a hurry and the old ladies are having a chat sitting on the benches next to the fences of their yards. In front of the mayor’s hall a few workers are spreading and leveling the gravel on the road.
An Nistru, careless about the tumult of the village, continues its way to the sea. It is always there, adorned with autumn colours. Besides the river, other places in the village attract tourists: the mansion of Nicolae Donici, the tomb of the Donici-Macri family and the secular oaks grove “Pohorela”.
Mansion of Nicolae Donici
Nicolae Donici was born in 1874. Because he became an orphan at the age of eight, he was put under the care of his aunt, Elena Lisacovschi.
After he studied astronomy in Odessa, in 1908 Nicolae Donici returns home and near his mansion builds the first observatory in Bessarabia. He continues his scientific research in Dubăsarii Vechi until June 1940 when USSR demanded from Romania to evacuate its civil administration and troops from the territory. It was then when Donici was constrained to leave the country. He came back in 1941 and found his mansion and observatory destroyed. Three years later, Donici leaves Moldova forever and moves to France.
For a long time the mansion was administered by the local kolkhoz, which changed its aspect, covering the facade with tiles and building and annex. Still, on the right back wall of the mansion you can still see the old plaster made out of “eggs, lime and sand”, as explained by the vice mayor of the village, Constantin Macarenco.
At the mansion you can also find the ornamented “stairway to heaven”. It is an outside metallic stairway used by Nicolae Donici to climb up to his laboratory so he wouldn’t disturb the inhabitants of the house when doing his nocturnal observations. You can still see this stairway today. What is interesting about it is that it was designed to change the angle of the steps during winter time in order to prevent slipping.
The bust of Nicolae Donici stands tall in front of the mansions. It was installed recently, after the previous one was stolen and sold for scrap.
Macri-Donici Family Tomb
If you go to Dubăsarii Vechi, you must visit the tomb built in the second half of the 19th century. What makes is unique is its history and decorative elements.
After the death of his father, Nicolae Donici and his mother, Limonia, move to his aunt. Four years later, his mother becomes ill with typhus and is isolated in a separate room in order to prevent the spreading of the infection. But because Nicolae misses his mother very much, his aunt breaks the rules and cracks the door of the isolated room so he could see his mother from a distance. But soon after, Limonia dies. She was only 35 years old.
Her embalmed body was placed in the tomb built in the yeard of the church in Dubăsarii Vechi founded by Nicolae Macri, the grandfather of the scientist from his mother’s side, who fled to Bessarabia from Greece. The tomb was built by the master Tuzini after the sketch by Alexandru Bernardazzi.
Two oil lamps were always lit in the tomb. And inside the hermetically sealed glass coffin you could see “a young woman with a pale, delicate face, almost looking alive. She wore a white coronet, and on her finger – a little ring”, according to the authors of the research “The youthful enthusiasm and the bold dream of the astrophysicist Nicolae Donici, founder of a scientific citadel on Nistru river”. During the soviet period, the tomb was vandalized and the coffin incinerated. But the structure and its decorative elements are still there.
“Pohorela” secular oaks grove
The grove is located in the Northern part of the village. There are over 130 secular trees. The strongest ones are more than 1,5 m in diameter. Some of the oaks are more than a century old, and others are believed to be even 300 years old.
Legends say that this forest was used by the tatars as camp site when they were coming to invade the local villages. One nigh, the villagers burnt the camp, thus burning the forest as well. “Pogorela” in Russian means “burned” and, through generations, this word became “Pohorela”. The grove is also called “Pogoreloe”, “Pohorila”.
The name of the village comes also from oaks, in Russian – „dub” [дуб]. According to the vice mayor Constantin Cacarenco, people from the village were using dubases, small boats made from oak trunks, and dubăsar was the person who was steering them.
Usually, the vice mayor of the village, Constantin Macarenco, is conducting the tours to tourists and officials from different countries or from Chișinău, to partners and people interested in investing in the village. But local authorities are not able to organize tours for all tourists. “The mayor’s hall can’t perform economic activities”, explains the vice mayor, adding that there need to be other methods for developing local tourism.
Once you get to Dubăsarii Vechi, you will notice that the water in Nistru flows slower than in the North of the country and that its banks are closer to each other. This difference is due to the Dubăsari hydropower plant. But fishermen consider it an advantage – the narrowing of the river is an indicator of its depth. In other words, the river is deeper and it means that there can be more fish. If you want to fish here, you should know that experienced fishermen from the village mentioned a few deeper pits where larger fish might be habitating. It’s important to “feed” the place and have a water resistant tent in case you want to spend a few days here. You can find food in the village, Dubăsarii Vechi is famous for growing tasty vegetables.
Produced with the financial support of the European Union within the “Support to Confidence Building Measures” project, implemented by UNDP. The opinions expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official position of the EU or UNDP.
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