Mariana Nicolesco

Mariana Nicolesco (Romanian pronunciation: [mariˈana nikoˈlesko], last name also Nicolescu pronounced [nikoˈlesku]; born on November 28, 1948) is a Romanian operatic soprano.

Career

Born in Găujani, Giurgiu County, she studied violin at the Music High School in Brașov and voice at the Music Conservatory in Cluj-Napoca, before winning a scholarship at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome to be taught canto by Jolanda Magnoni; she also worked with Rodolfo Celletti and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.^[1] Upon graduation, in 1972, having won the Voci Rossiniane Competition in Milan, American conductor Thomas Schippers invited her to Cincinnati as Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème and later she was invited by Luchino Visconti to appear in Don Carlos at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.^[2] She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, in 1978, as Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, a role she has reprised over 200 times, later singing Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto (1978) and Nedda in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci (1978-1986).^[3] She sang in the worlds major opera houses such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where she had her debut in the world première of Luciano Berio's La Vera Storia (1982) and later appeared in: The Stone Guest (Donna Anna) by Dargomyzhsky (1983), Lucio Silla (Cinna) by Mozart (1984), Polish Requiem by Penderecki (1985), L'Orfeo (Euridice) by Luigi Rossi (1985), Un re in ascolto (La Protagonista) by Berio (1986), Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) by Mozart (1987, 1988, and 1993), Fetonte (Queen Climene) by Jommelli (1988), Alcyone and Alyssa by Ravel (1990) and three Recitals (1988, 1993).^[4] Mariana Nicolesco interpreted a wide repertory from baroque, belcanto to verismo and contemporary music and has been described as "an arresting personality with a vibrant voice";^[1] highlights of her repertory are the roles of Marzelline in Fidelio by Beethoven, Elettra in Idomeneo, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito by Mozart, Beatrice di Tenda by Bellini, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Queen Elisabeth I in Roberto Devereux, Maria di Rohan by Donizetti, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Desdemona in Otello, Leonora in Il trovatore, Luisa in Luisa Miller by Verdi, Marguérite in Faust by Gounod, Tatyana in Evghenij Oneghin by Tchaikovsky, Liù in Turandot by Puccini, Zarina Marina in Dimitry by Dvořák.^[5] She appeared in productions signed by Giorgio Strehler, Patrice Chéreau, Luca Ronconi, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Jonathan Miller and conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel, Peter Maag, Georges Prêtre, Giuseppe Patané, Alberto Zedda, Colin Davis, Ghennadij Rozhdestvensky; also in prestigious Concerts Halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Royal Festival Hall in London, Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Great Conservatory Hall in Moscow and the Salzburg Festival, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Martina Franca Festival, Casals Festival in Puerto Rico.^[6] Invited by Pope John Paul II, she sang Romanian Carols in the First Christmas Concert in the Vatican (1993)^[7] and the soprano part in the world première of Krzysztof Penderecki's Symphony No. 7 (Seven Gates of Jerusalem) was composed for her (1997).^[8]

She returned to Romania in 1991, after the fall of the Communist regime, singing for the first time on a stage in her native country, in a Concert at the Romanian Atheneum in Bucharest. As some 10,000 tickets were purchased, Nicolesco gave three consecutive performances. She created the Romanian Atheneum International Foundation and donated in 1994 a Steinway grand concert piano.^[9] In 1995, Mariana Nicolesco initiated the Hariclea Darclée International Voice Competition and Festival. In the years between an edition of the Contest and the next, she offers Master Classes to the young artists.^{[10][11][12][13]} She obtained for the Darclée events the High UNESCO Patronage.^[14] In 2003, she created the Romanian National Festival and Song Competition and presented for the International George Enescu Year, proclaimed by UNESCO (2005), in world première the composer's complete songs in Japan, at Aichi World Exhibition as well as in Nagoya and Tokyo, in Prague, Paris, Rome and New York.^[15] In 2014 she is a Member of the Jury of China International Vocal Competition with 430 competitors from 41 countries.^[16]

Honours

An Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy since 1993, Officer of the Order of the Arts and Letters in France (2000),^[17] Ph.D.^[18] and Doctor Honoris Causa of the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca (1996),^[19] she was awarded the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity (2004)^[20] and the Order of the Star of Romania, in the Rank of Grand Cross (2008).^[21] She was also named UNESCO Artist for Peace (2005),^[22] UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador,^[23][24] elected the Most Successful Woman in Romania (2004)^[25] and was conferred the Special Award Kultur Preis Europa Medal in Sibiu, European Capital of Culture (2007).^[26] She is a Honorary Citizen of Bucharest (1991), ^[27] Cluj Napoca (1994),^[28] Braila (1995),^[29] Brasov (1999).^[30] Nicolesco is married to art critic and art historian Radu Varia.^[31]

Discography

Year	Title	Role	Cast	Conductor Orchestra	Live / Studio	Label
1981	Meyerbeer: Gli amori di Teolinda (cantata)	—	Nicolesco	Wolfgang Gönnenwein Ludwigsburg Festival Orchestra	Live	Pro Arte
1983	Puccini: La rondine	Lisette	Te Kanawa Domingo, Nicolesco, Nucci, et al.	Lorin Maazel London Symphony Orchestra	Live	CBS Records
1987	Bellini: Beatrice di Tenda	Beatrice di Tenda	Nicolesco, Toczyska, Cappuccilli, La Scola, et al.	Alberto Zedda Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra	Live	Rizzoli Records Sony 1995, 2009
1987	Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro	Marcellina	Hynninen Price, Battle, Nicolesco, et al.	Riccardo Muti Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra	Live	EMI
1987	Ravel: Alyssa and Alcyone (cantatas)	—	Nicolesco, Denize, Meens, Glashof	Hubert Soudant Bamberg Symphony	Live	Rizzoli Records
1988	Donizetti: Maria di Rohan	Maria	Nicolesco, Morino, Coni, Franci, et al.	Massimo de Bernart Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia	Live	Nuova Era reissued 1991
1990	Verdi: Simon Boccanegra	Maria Boccanegra	Bruson Nicolesco, Sabbatini, Scandiuzzi, et al.	Roberto Paternostro Tokyo Symphony Orchestra	Live	Capriccio reissued 2005

Notes

1. Oxford Music on line
2. (Romanian) Magdalena Popa Buluc, "Mariana Nicolesco: 'Trăiesc într-un perpetuu foc de artificii'" ("Mariana Nicolesco: 'I Live in a Continuous Fireworks Display'"), Cotidianul, 25 July 2010; accessed March 17, 2012
3. New York Metropolitan Opera Archives on line
4. Teatro alla Scala Archivio on line
5. (Romanian) Corina Stoica, “Mariana Nicolesco: Sunt prea spontană, prea directă ca să spun minciuni” (Mariana Nicolesco: I am too spontaneous, too direct, therefore incapable to lie), "Revista Tango", September 15, 2010
6. (Romanian) Cezarina Adamescu „O mie de voci într-o singură voce: Mariana Nicolesco omagiu primei doamne a lirice româneşti" (A thousand voices in one: Mariana Nicolesco homage to a First Lady of Opera) „Confluenţe româneşti", October 26, 2011
7. (Romanian)„Colinde cu Mariana Nicolesco la Vatican“ (Carols with Mariana Nicolesco at the Vatican), "Evenimentul zilei", December 24, 2011
8. Mădălina Grosu, "Mariana Nicolesco, soprana de aur a României" ("Mariana Nicolesco, Romania's Golden Soprano", Adevărul, 27 July 2010; accessed March 17, 2012
9. (Romanian) Rodica Nicolae “Mariana Nicolesco: talent şi dăruire de excepţie pe altarul artei (Mariana Nicolesco: an exceptional talent and devotion on the altar of art), "Cariere", May 20, 2004
10. (Romanian) Costin Popa “Festivalul şi Concursul de Canto Darclée – Nicolesco, o sărbătoare!” (Festival and Voice Contest Darclée – Nicolesco, a feast!) "Cultura", August 26, 2010
11. (Romanian) „Omul zilei: Mariana Nicolesco” (Woman of the day: Mariana Nicolesco), "Jurnalul Naţional", August 1, 2011
12. (Romanian) “Regina Mariana Nicolesco, încoronată” (Queen Mariana Nicolesco crowned, “Evenimentul zilei”, August 21, 2012
13. (Romanian)“O coroana pentru trei Regine: Hariclea Darclee, Maria Callas, Mariana Nicolesco” (A crown for three Queens: Hariclea Darclee, Maria Callas, Mariana Nicolesco), “Revista VIP”, August 27, 2012
14. (Romanian) „Mariana Nicolesco a obţinut înaltul patronaj al UNESCO pentru evenimentele Darclée din România” (Mariana Nicolesco obtained for the Darclée events in Romania the High UNESCO Patronage) Mediafax, July 9, 2014
15. (Romanian) Simona Suciu “Festival marca Mariana Nicolesco, la Braşov” (A Festival label Mariana Nicolesco in Brasov) "Adevărul", October 26, 2011
16. (Romanian) „Mariana Nicolesco, întâmpinată ca un star în China” (Mariana Nicolesco, received like a Star in China) Evenimentul zilei, November 28, 2014
17. (Romanian) "Mariana Nicolesco" at the Romanian Academy site; accessed March 16, 2012
18. (Romanian) Mariana Nicolesco Doctor Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music Cluj-Napoca
19. (Romanian) Mariana Nicolesco Doctor Honoris Causa Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music Cluj-Napoca
20. Sito web del Quirinale: dettaglio decorato.
21. (Romanian) Comunicat de Presă (Press release) Presidency site, December 1, 2008
22. "Soprano Mariana Nicolesco nominated UNESCO Artist for Peace" at the UNESCO site; 21 November 2005; accessed March 17, 2012
24. (Romanian) "Mariana Nicolesco, Ambasador Onorofic UNESCO, la Reuniunea de la Paris: Nimic nu-i poate apropia pe oameni mai mult decât cântul" (Romanian soprano Mariana Nicolesco, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador: Nothing can bring people closer than singing) "Cotidianul", July 2, 2013
25. (Romanian) "50 de românce cu succes şi bani" (50 successful rich Romanian women) "Jurnalul Naţional", March 31, 2004
26. "Mariana Nicolesco ausgezeichnet" (Mariana Nicolesco awarded) Kultur Forum Europa site
27. ″Mariana Nicolesco Cetatean de Onoare Bucuresti″
28. ″Mariana Nicolesco Cetatean de Onoare Cluj Napoca″
29. ″Mariana Nicolesco Cetatean de Onoare Braila″
30. ″Mariana Nicolesco Cetatean de Onoare Brasov″
31. (Romanian) Loredana Oprea, "Un ieşean, medaliat de Academia Regală din Scoţia", Ziarul de Iaşi, 5 December 2011; accessed March 14, 2012

External links

Hariclea Darclée International Festival and Voice Competition /
Soluţia Mariana Nicolesco (Mariana Nicolesco: The Solution