Viforul – 113 ani de la premiera absolută: prezențe foto-documentare în cartea poștală
“The Blizzard” (“Viforul”) – 113 years since the theatrical premiere: photo-documentary presence in illustrated postcards

Summary/Abstract: Since December 1887, in the Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu’s journal “Revista nouă” (“New Review”), a new spirit of Romanian literature was born, which can be expressed by George Călinescu’s formulation “small provincial and rural romanticism”. One of the main representatives of “pre-Sămănătorism” (an ideological and literary movement that arose at the beginning of the twentieth century around the magazine “Sămănătorul”) is Barbu Ștefănescu Delavrancea (1858-1918). Writer, playwright, orator and journalist, Barbu Stefănescu Delavrancea made his debut as a poet in 1877 with a poem published in “Romania liberă”. He was also involved in politics, being a member of parliament for Prahova in 1894, a member of the Conservative Party in 1898, and Mayor of Bucharest from 1899 to 1901. His political activities were devoted to issues of national revival and the peasantry. At the outbreak of World War I, Delavrancea favored entry into the war, and the separate peace with Germany, which he considered humiliating, caused him to resign from government. After a period of wandering, he returns to his true passion, literature. Delavrancea’s prose is pathetic, with echoes of Hasdeu’s work. The characters in his short stories are represented by types: Vucea is a villain; Hagi Tudose is a miser, the grandparents are idyllic characters. The dramatic works of Barbu Ştefănescu Delavrancea are included in “The Trilogy of Moldavia”: “The Sunset” (“Apus de soare”) (1909), “The Blizzard” (“Viforul”) (1910), “The Morning Star” (“Luceafărul”) (1910). The writer, inspired by the chronicles of Grigore Ureche and Ion Neculce, as well as the documents published by Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu in the “Historical Archive of Romania” (“Arhiva istorică a României”), dedicated these plays to the rulers of the Principality of Maldavia, Stephen the Great, Ştefăniţă (Stephen IV) and Petru Rares (Peter IV). The article presents most of the series of postcards dedicated to the historical drama “The Blizzard” (“Viforul”), which premiered at the Bucharest National Theater on November 26, 1909. The Ploiesti Museum has 15 postcards out of 20 issued in Bucharest (Depozitul Universal Scharaga). The photographs were taken by H. Duratzo and illustrate scenes from the four acts of the drama. They also depict the actors who were part of the main cast: Ion Brezeanu, Petre Liciu and Constantin Nottara.

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