The idea was born at the “opera directors’ conferences” organised jointly by the Vienna State Opera and the Deutsche Bank Foundation. It involves the creation of a supporting network for countries in the region where music theatres have to deal with difficulties caused by insufficient budgets.

This joint initiative contributes to the artistic quality of the productions, in which every supporting action corresponds to a particular request by each opera house. The first partner opera houses were selected for assistance after numerous talks with the respective directors. Specifically, four support programmes with different focal points were established, to react to the individual needs of the opera houses. The aim of these programs is to enhance and strengthen the status of music theatre in the region, by providing favourable general conditions in the long term.

Report by Alexander Radulescu, Alumnus of Academy Opera Today

A particularly relevant collaboration for the Deutsche Bank Foundation took place at the production of "Le Nozze di Figaro", which premiered in Bucharest in December 2006. The director was Alexander Radulescu, a former fellow of the Academy Opera Today, Deutsche Bank Foundation's support programme for promising young opera performers. He reports on his experiences during the production:

"This production was a one-of-a-kind experience for all of us who had singing fellowships from CEE Musiktheater and for me in particular. It became clear during the preparations that this was an attempt to give young artists the opportunity to work with experienced professionals and discover one of the most popular opera works all over again - at a very high standard. We met for two weeks in July 2006, near Vienna, where the young singers from six countries worked together with the conductor, David Crescenzi, and chamber singer Bernd Weikl. We then all met up again in Bucharest in late October, to rehearse the actual scenes.

The rehearsals proved to be unusual. After all, the singers came from all over Eastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldavia, Romania and Serbia. But despite the Babylonian jumble of tongues, we had no troubles making ourselves understood. Aside from English, people spoke Romanian (which I studied especially for this production), Italian, and even a little German – often all at the same time!

Language barriers proved to be the smallest problem confronting this exceptional project: We had to deal with a number of organisational troubles, such as the visas which some of the singers needed and which weren't granted in time for them all to arrive promptly, illnesses that caused some singers to drop out, and even a mishap on stage. I believe this was due to the diametrically different working methods at opera houses opera houses in Eastern Europe, particularly in Romania. After all, opera tradition in these countries is still quite beholden to lavish productions and standing audiences, which are now largely frowned upon in the West.

But the audiences want to see and hear something new, something different than just Aida as a mannequin in a golden robe for the thousandth time. This was palpable as we began our work in Bucharest. Rumours circulated the opera house after just a week – rumours of an allegedly scandalous production and of impossible demands of the singers. But those who attended the rehearsals or saw the production in the end discovered that we weren't about provocation or scandal. Instead, we all attempted to take the piece and its individual characters seriously and transform all their dreams and desires into images."