Author Description

While many artists enjoyed free expression and prospered during the twentieth century, others were stifled by suppressive rulers and regimes. The latter was the case with Romanian composer, singer, opera director, Nicolae Bretan. In 1947, Communists demanded Bretan join the Communist Party of Romania (the PCR). Even after repeated demands and threats, Bretan refused to join the PCR and remained true to his family, friends and his own principles. In response, the PCR declared him a "non-person" and Nicolae Bretan, well known to the Romanian and Hungarian public as a singer, stage director, and promising composer, was silenced. Before his death in 1968, Bretan composed three One-act operas, Luceafarul, Golem, and Arald, and the Romanian Opera Horia, an opera in four acts. He also composed over 200 art songs in Romanian, Hungarian, and German and several works including a Requiem. Thanks to the tireless efforts of his daughter Judit, Breta's music is emerging from exile and is being heard in a free Romania and across the world.