The monograph supplements the series with a country that has so far been neglected in the history of music and opera in Europe: Romania. There, the music theater served as a vehicle for modernization and Europeanization, which, however, was in a tense relationship to establish a national high culture. The text begins with the late Enlightenment period when the first performances in Romania Music Theater, took place at the time of the Russian Protectorate and ended with the establishment of the Romanian National Theater in 1857. The focus is on the Romanian elites who imported the musical theater and adapted it for their purposes. the audience, the Russian protectorate administration and European ensembles and artists who performed in Romania and shaped the musical life there.