Mariana Nicolesco

Mariana Nicolesco ( or ; 28 November 1948 – 14 October 2022) was a Romanian operatic soprano who had an international career after she studied in Rome on a scholarship. She was a regular performer at La Scala in Milan where she performed Baroque opera such as Euridice in Rossi's Orfeo, Mozart roles such as Cinna in Lucio Silla in 1984, and contemporary including the world premiere of Luciano Berio's La Vera Storia in 1982.

Career

Born in Găujani, Giurgiu County, Nicolesco studied violin at the Music High School in Brașov, graduating playing Bruch's Violin Concerto. In 1972, she graduated and won the Voci Rossiniane competition in Milan, which launched an international career. She appeared at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino first as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, directed by Visconti and conducted by Thomas Schippers, a role she reprised over 200 times. She sang in the world's 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 in 1982. Later roles there included Donna Anna in Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest in 1983, Cinna in Mozart's Lucio Silla in 1984, the soprano solo of Penderecki's Polish Requiem in 1985, Euridice in Rossi's Orfeo in 1985, She appeared in productions directed by Giorgio Strehler, Patrice Chéreau, Luca Ronconi, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Jonathan Miller and conducted by Colin Davis. Carlo Maria Giulini, Peter Maag, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Giuseppe Patané, Georges Prêtre, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Alberto Zedda.

Nicolesco 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. In 1995, 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. She obtained for the Darclée events the High UNESCO Patronage. In 2003, she created the Romanian National Festival and Song Competition. She presented for the International George Enescu Year, proclaimed by UNESCO in 2005, the composer's complete songs for the first time in Japan, at Aichi World Exhibition as well as in Nagoya and Tokyo, in Prague, Paris, Rome and New York City. In 2014 she was a member of the jury of the China International Vocal Competition with 430 competitors from 41 countries.

Honours

Nicolesco was an honorary member of the Romanian Academy since 1993, Officer of the Order of the Arts and Letters in France from 2000, and honorary doctor of the Gheorghe Dima Music Academy in Cluj-Napoca from 1996. She was awarded the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity in 2004 and the Order of the Star of Romania, in the Rank of Grand Cross in 2008. She was named UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2005 and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. She was elected the Most Successful Woman in Romania (2004) and was conferred the Special Award Kulturpreis Europa Medal in Sibiu, European Capital of Culture in 2007. She became an honorary member of the Mihai Eminescu International Academy in 2017, and honorary doctor of the Chisinau Academy of Arts in 2018. She was elected, also in 2018, a member of the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in Paris. In 2018 she was awarded the Honorary Diploma and Medal The Centenary of the Great Union as well as the Honorary Diploma and Medal 650 years of documentary attestation of the city of Braila. She was made an honorary citizen of Bucharest in 1991, and of Cluj-Napoca in 1994. She received in 2020 The Constantin Brâncoveanu Award for her entire career.

Personal life and death

Nicolesco was married to art critic and art historian Radu Varia. She died at a hospital in Bucharest on 14 October 2022; after lying in repose at the Romanian Athenaeum, she will be buried on 19 October in the city's Ghencea Cemetery.

Recordings

Nicolesco made several live recordings, including the first recordings of cantatas by Giacomo Meyerbeer and Maurice Ravel: Beatrice di Tenda Nicolesco,Toczyska,Cappuccilli,La Scola, et al. Alberto ZeddaMonte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra Rizzoli Records Sony 1995, 2009 1987 Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro Marcellina HynninenPrice,Battle,Nicolesco, et al. Riccardo MutiVienna Philharmonic EMI 1987 Ravel: Alyssa and Alcyone (cantatas) — Nicolesco,Denize,Meens,Glashof Hubert SoudantBamberg Symphony Rizzoli Records 1988 Donizetti: Maria di Rohan Maria Nicolesco,Morino,Coni,Franci, et al. Massimo de BernartOrchestra Internazionale d'Italia Nuova Erareissued 1991 1990 Verdi: Simon Boccanegra Maria Boccanegra (Amelia Grimaldi) Bruson,Nicolesco,Sabbatini,Scandiuzzi, et al. Roberto PaternostroTokyo Symphony Orchestra Capriccioreissued 2005