Venancio

Symphony Ballet

2 actions, 7 scenes 

The music for the ballet “Venancio” was written by Eugen Doga in 1989 by order of Culture Ministry of the USSR onto a libretto by the journalist and writer Lev Novikov. Prior to that, Eugene Doga studied the unique folklore of Latin America for several years, which was born from the mixing of different cultures. He visited Nicaragua, Argentina, Honduras and Brazil with a pencil, tape recorder and video camera. He got acquainted with the rhythms and melodies, incredible variety of styles, the romantic spirit of the songs and dances of this part of the world. 

A lively folk art of Latin America became the source of inspiration for Eugen Doga. This is the way how the music of the ballet “Venancio” appeared. 

“Venancio is a girl’s name. Venancio loves a freedom fighter. He was captured by enemies, and she suffers. The plot of the performance about love and the beauty of life. The ballet begins with the carnival procession. There are love scenes, a march of the dark forces, and a flight of the condor in the ballet... Condor bird symbolizes a spiritual resurgence and a power that brings liberation. The subject of the ballet is a fight between the good and the evil, and the good triumphs over the evil. This is a ballet about a beauty of life, and a beauty of a free man, created for happiness”. 

The premiere of the concert version of the ballet was held in 2007 in Chisinau (Moldova). The Moldavian Philharmonic Orchestra, a choir and soloists performed the music. 

The first part of the ballet “Venancio” resounded in the concert performance at the Royal Hall of the Romanian Philharmonia “ATENEU ROMÂN” in Bucharest in 2008. The Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra named after George Enescu performed the ballet under the band director Iosif Ion Pruner. The public applause were not ceasing for more than 15 minutes after the performance. 

At the anniversary concert, which took place on May 11, 2012 at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the ballet “Venancio” was again presented to the public in a concert version. The ballet music was performed by the Great Academic Choir “Masters Of The Choral Singing” and the Moscow Symphonic Orchestra “Russian Philharmonia” under the band director Iosif Ion Pruner (Romania).

Ballets