Flechtenmacher, Alexandru (Adolf)
(b Iaşi, 23 Dec 1823; d Bucharest, 28 Jan 1898). Romanian composer, conductor, violinist and teacher of German descent. The son of a lawyer and schoolteacher from Transylvania, he received his first training in music from Paul Hette and Joseph Leitner, violinists in the French vaudeville company of Iaşi, and at the age of 11 became violinist in the company’s orchestra. He then studied with Joseph Boehm and Mayseder in Vienna; there he became Konzertmeister of a theatre orchestra and began to compose. About 1840 he returned to Romania, stopping on the way in Russia and giving a successful concert in Odessa. He played the violin in the German opera orchestra in Iaşi, and later he was made orchestral conductor at the National Theatre, for which he also wrote overtures and incidental music to plays and operettas. Baba Hîrca (‘The Witch Hîrca’, 1848) is one of the earliest Romanian operettas. These works, together with his patriotic choruses and solo songs, earned him a place as one of the leading pioneers of Romanian music.
After the defeat of the Revolution of 1848 Flechtenmacher taught and conducted in various cities in Romania. He founded the Philharmonic Society of Craiova and the Bucharest Conservatory (1864), of which he was the first director and professor of violin; his pupils included Eduard Wachmann, Constantin Dimitrescu and Robert Klenck. He married Ana Maria Mavrodin, an actress, poet and editor of a women's magazine. She wrote the texts for some of his vocal works, which were inspired by and often written for social and political events of the time; many of them became popular tunes. Most of his manuscripts were destroyed by a fire at his home in 1891.
WORKS stage -
BN
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National Theatre, Bucharest
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IN
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National Theatre, Iaşi
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Baba Hîrca [The Witch Hîrca] (operetta, 2, M. Millo), IN, 27 Dec 1848 (Iaşi, 1850)
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Scara mîţii [Cat's Cradle] (vaudeville, V. Alecsandri), IN, April 1850
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Coana Chiriţa la Iaşi [Mme Chiriţa in Iaşi] (vaudeville, Alecsandri), IN, April 1850
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Coana Chiriţa în provincie (vaudeville, Alecsandri), IN, 31 Oct 1850
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Barbu lăutaru [Barbu the Fiddler] (stage canzonetta, Alecsandri), 1850, IN, 1854
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Iaşii în Carnaval (vaudeville, Alecsandri), 1852
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Mama Angheluşa (stage canzonetta, Alecsandri), 1852
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Millo Director (vaudeville, Alecsandri), 1857
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Clevetici, ultra-demagogul (stage canzonetta, Alecsandri), 1861
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Sandu Napoilă, ultra-retrogradul (stage canzonetta, Alecsandri), 1861
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Banii, Gloria şi Amorul [Money, Glory and Love] (vaudeville, E. Carada), BN, 3 Jan 1861
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Răzvan şi Vidra (historical drama, B.P. Haşdeu), BN, 10 Feb 1867
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Fata de la Cozia [The Maiden of Cozia] (opera, 3, after D. Bolintineanu), 1870, lost
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Others, undated or lost
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Inst: Introduction and Variations, on themes from Norma, vn, str qt (Vienna, 1840); National Moldavian Ov., orch, 1846 (Vienna, 1856); Ov., orch, 1848, frag., RO-J; pf pieces, incl. Marşul Unirii [Union March] (Bucharest, c1860), Cadrilul Unirii (Iaşi, 1859), Banul Mărăcine (Bucharest, n.d.)
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Secular choral: Imn [Hymn] (G. Sion), 2vv, 1846; Apelul moldovenilor de la 1848 [The Moldavians' Appeal of 1848] (T. Poni), war song, Bucharest, ?1848; Sfîntă zi de libertate [Holy Day of Freedom] (E. Carada), unison vv, pf (Iaşi, 1848); Unsprezece cireşar [11 June] (M. Pascaly), unison vv, pf (Iaşi, 1848); Hora Unirii [Union Hora] (Alecsandri), unison vv, pf (Iaşi, 1856); Hora muncitorilor [Workers' Hora] (C.Z. Buzdugan), male vv (Bucharest, 1893); Saltă române [Romanian, Arise!], 3vv (Bucharest, 1898)
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Other vocal: sacred choral works, incl. Axioanele celor 12 praznice [The Axions of the 12 Feasts], in Repertoriul choral religios (Bucharest, 1886); songs, 1v, pf, incl. Collection de chansons moldaves (Iaşi, 1846), Muma lui Stefan cel Mare [The Mother of Stephen the Great] (Iaşi, 1848), Hora muncitorilor constructori [The Building Workers' Hora] (Bucharest, 1859)
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O.L. Cosma: Opera românească (Bucharest, 1962), i
R. Oana-Pop: Alexandru Flechtenmacher: viaţa în imagini (Bucharest, 1964)
Z. Vancea: Creaţia muzicală românească, sec. XIX–XX (Bucharest, 1968)
V. Cosma: Muzicieni români: lexicon (Bucharest, 1970)
ROMEO GHIRCOIAŞIU
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