Bust of famous Moldovan actor unveiled at Mihai Eminescu National Theatre

Chisinau, 21 September /MOLDPRES/ - A bust to a theatre and movie actor, opera singer, stage manager, scene painter, People’s Artist, holder of Order of the Republic Eugeniu Ureche was unveiled at the headquarters of the Chisinau-based Mihai Eminescu National Theatre on 20 September evening. The event took place within the fourth issue of the Meeting of Romanian National Theatres, held in Chisinau on 19-30 September.  

In his speech, the aforementioned theatre’s director, Petru Hadarca, said that he had discovered this bust made by Eugeniu Ureche himself in 1961, at an exhibition of painting of jewelry by the departed artist, inaugurated in 2017, when the 100th anniversary of Ureche’s birthday was marked.

”The bust was made from plasticine. Then I asked sculptor Ion Zderciuc to cast it in bronze. With the support of the Education, Culture and Research Ministry, we have managed to do this, and we thank him for this. Fascination and admiration for those who knew and listened to Eugeniu Ureche,” Petru Hadarca said.    

Attending the event, the Education, Culture and Research Minister Monica Babuc stressed that the bust was emblematic for the Mihai Eminescu National Theatre. “Those who knew Eugeniu Ureche will never forget him. The figure cast in bronze by Ion Zderciuc will be an emblem also for the Meeting of Romanian National Theatres. I wish you an unforgettable culture act here in Chisinau,” Monica Babuc also said.   

Contacted by MOLDPRES, actor, son-in-law of Eugeniu Ureche, Vitalie Rusu, evoked novel moments in Ureche’s biography, rendering the way he was preparing plays and some memories concerning the staging of the play “A lost letter’ by I. L. Caragiale. The then first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Moldova, Leonid Brezhnev, accepted this play, but only to be staged in the Moldovan language. Thus, the translation was made by the change of two words: of “honourable” into “honoured” and “respectable” into “respected”.    

Eugeniu Ureche was born in the Hartopul Mare village, central Orhei district, on 20 March 1917. He studied at the Chisinau-based B.P. Hasdeu Lyceum (1928-1934) and Unirea (Union) Conservatoire from Chisinau (1934-1938). Ureche was soloist of the Doina band of songs and dances of the National Philharmonic (1942-1944) and actor at the A.S. Pushkin musical and dramatic theatre (1945-1979).     

In forty years of work as dramatic actor and opera singer, Eugeniu Ureche played more than 100 parts from the national and universal dramaturgy in such plays as: King Lear, Tartuffe and many others. In 1950, Ureche was awarded the State Prize of the Moldovan Soviet Republic, in 1953 – the honorific title of People’s Artist of the Moldovan Soviet Republic, in 1967 – honorific title of People’s Artist of the USSR. Eugeniu Ureche died on 27 January 2005. He was buried at the Central  Cemetery on the Armeneasca Street from Chisinau.

(Reporter N. Roibu, editor L. Alcaza)