Vasile Moldoveanu
Vasile Moldoveanu ( born October 6, 1935 in Constanţa ) is a Romanian opera singer in the vocal range Tenor.
Life
Moldoveanu was born on 6 October 1935 in Constanţa and studied singing at the University of Music in Bucharest Ciprian Porumbescu under the direction of the tenor Dinu Bădescu, as a student in the class of Octav Enigărescu. On January 9, 1966, he made his debut in the role of Arlecchino in Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo at the Romanian Opera in Bucharest. His career in Romania was short. Between 1966 and 1971 he sang at the Romanian National Opera in seven seasons in two operas, mostly in supporting roles, but also some major roles such as Rodolfo in La Bohème, the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto or the Tamino in The Magic Flute. In this role he has performed for the last time in Romania on June 23, 1972. He also appears on the records of the first opera records publishing Electrecord in supporting roles of the operas La Traviata, Samson et Dalila and Carmen.
In 1971 he was invited by the agencies Viktor Vladarski and Friedrich Pasch to a series of auditions in Germany. Since he was not a member of the Romanian Communist Party, he received the visa to foreign countries is very difficult. In 1972 he arrived in Germany and decided not to return to communist Romania. The Romanian authorities began an investigation and sentenced him to death. Background of this conviction was an abusive interpretation of a paragraph of the Criminal Code of 1968, of the accusation " refusal of the home sweep " during a " mission of the State representation " associated with the charge of " treason ". Following the amendment of the Criminal Code in 1973, the process was again taken and condemned Vasile Moldoveanu to five years in prison and seizure of assets. Similar cases are those of the Romanian director Petrică Ionescu or Baletttänzers Sergiu Stefan ski.
International career
In 1972, he debuted at the Regensburg Opera in the role of Manrico in Il trovatore, further performances in Amsterdam and St. Gallen followed. In 1973 he sang at the Vienna State Opera, Alfredo in La Traviata. In the same year he made his debut in the role of Don Carlos in the eponymous opera by Giuseppe Verdi, one of his emblematic roles he has sung 75 times during his career.
In 1974, he signed a four -year contract with the Stuttgart State Opera, which was at that time under the direction of Wolfgang Wind streets. During the next few years, he appeared in numerous productions such as Lucia di Lammermoor, La Bohème, Un ballo in maschera and La Traviata. In 1976, he joined the Bavarian State Opera in Rigoletto, directed by Roman Polanski on. In 1977 he became chamber singer at the Stuttgart Opera.
During his early years in Germany, he was recommended by Nelly Walter, Vice President of Columbia Artists Management Impresario Agency, for the next eleven years in his manager at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1979 he made his debut at the Royal Opera House in London in Don Carlos, directed by Luchino Visconti.
His arrival at the Metropolitan Opera took place on 19 May 1977 during a tour of the company in Minneapolis / Minesotta as Rodolfo, from the opera La Bohème, with Renata Scotto in the role of Mimi as a partner, with whom he then sing in several performances will. In Metropolitan Opera he sang in 105 performances, more than any other Romanian tenor. He was the singer of Romanian nationality me the most appearances in the title role in the postwar period. As a comparison, Luciano Pavarotti had during the same period in the Vasile Moldoveanu sang at Metropolitan, 1977-1986, 100 performances, Plácido Domingo - 149, and José Carreras - 51 plane had 105 performances in the interwar period, Amelita Galli also the soprano - Curci, in a similar ten-year time span of 10 years.
He has sung ten roles at the Metropolitan Opera and was blasted live on TV in the opera Don Carlos ( 1980-11 performances), Suor Angelica ( 1981-12 performances) and Simon Boccanegra ( 1984-27 performances). In addition to these roles he has sung Arrigo in I Vespri Siciliani (4 performances), Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana (8 performances), Cavaradossi in Tosca (3 performances), Rodolfo in La Bohème (6 performances), Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut (14 performances ), Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto (8 performances) and Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly ( 12 performances). From 1987, after a complicated intervention, he reduced his activities in the Americas. His final appearances in the United States are at the Opera from Denver: Calaf ( Turandot ) and Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut )
After his return to Europe, he continues his career in Paris (Manon Lescaut - 9 performances in 1991 and a further 5 in 1993), Monaco (I Vespri Siciliani and Aida - directed by Giancarlo del Monaco ), Nice ( La Fanciulla del West director Petrică Ionescu ), Rome ( Turandot ), Lisbon (Manon Lescaut ), Parma ( Don Carlo ), Pretoria, South Africa ( Un ballo in maschera ) and various cities in Germany (Stuttgart and Hamburg in particular). The number of opera theater of the first rank, where he has not sung, was La Scala in Milan, although there have been calls for a performance with I Vespri Siciliani.
In his 30 -year career, Vasile Moldoveanu has in common with a lot of great lyrical artists or conductor: Boris Cristoff, Ghena Dimitrova, Hildegard Behrens, Sylvia Sass, Theresa Zylis - Gara, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Galina Savova, Renato Bruson, Sherrill Milnes  Ana Tomova - Sintow, Magda Olivero, Piero Cappuccilli, Joan Sutherland, Leonie Rysanek, Renata Scotto, Cesare Siepi, Aprile Millo, Margaret Price, Roberta Peters, Monserrat Caballé, Maria Chiara, Aldo Proti, Ursula Koszut, Mirella Freni, Azuko Azuma, Teresa Stratas, Nancy Shade, Raina Kabaivanska, Eva Marton, Kiri Te Kanawa, Edita Gruberova, Ferruccio Furlanetto, James Levine, Nello Santi, Riccardo Chailly, Carlo Franci, Michel Plasson, Francesco Molinari Pradelli, Antonio Guadagno, Giuseppe Patane, Rafael Kubelik, Carlo Franci, Leonard Slatkin, Thomas Fulton, Myung- Whun Chung ( his debut at Met was in a production of Simon Boccanegra in 1986), James Conlon, Silvio Varviso
Moldoveanu had a voice with very supple vibranter tone of lyrical tenor, as it has always been considered, however, successfully both typical Tenore Spinto taken with a very safe and strong vocal range, which has allowed him roles ( Calaf, Don Carlos, Don Jose, Manrico ) and dramatic ( Radames, Dick Johnson). His voice, often compared with that famous tenors of the past, such as Giovanni Martinelli or Franco Corelli was doubled by a slim figure, and a sparkle in his eye so he was very much appreciated in some roles, such as Luigi from Suor Angelica. According to the TV live broadcast of the performance of the Metropolitan, he was called by the fans or colleagues Luigi! Look at the Luigi! "
Paradox, though he has had a significant career, especially at the Metropolitan Opera, and although he was very moved, at a time when the TV live broadcasts were in the beginning, very little is known Vasile Moldoveanu in Romania. This lack of notoriety was mainly caused by the censorship that prevailed during the communist regime in Romania, in exactly the same time when the Romanian tenor was at the peak of his career.
In 2010, Vasile Moldoveanu has lodged an appeal against the sentencing to prison and was finally acquitted. In 2012 he was awarded the Order "Star of Romania " in the commander level, one of the oldest and most important awards from Romania. Currently Vasile Moldoveanu lives in Monte Carlo and is dedicated to the master class hours with young singers, mostly from Romania.
Recordings
The remaining recordings are scarce, but there are two LPs with arias from operas by Intercord House, published in the years 1976 and 1978, recorded except in the Electrecord.
- Famous Tenor Arias (1976 )
- Neapolitan Songs ( 1978)
There are numerous recordings of live broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera or various bootlegs.
- Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana - Hamburg, 1986 - with Galina Savova, Vasile Moldoveanu, Piero Cappuccilli; Conductor: Ricco Saccani, the Orchestra of the Opera of Budapest
Video recordings
In contrast to the studio recordings, videography by Vasile Moldoveanu is more stable:
- Giuseppe Verdi: Don Carlo
- With Vasile Moldoveanu ( Don Carlo ), Renata Scotto (Elisabeth of Valois ), Tatiana Troyanos ( Princess Eboli ), Sherrill Milnea ( Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa ), Paul Plishka ( Filip al lea II ), Jerome Hines ( Grand Inquisitor ), Peter Sliker ( a forester ), Betsy Norden ( Tebaldo ), Dana Talley ( Count of Lerma ), Barbara Green ( Countess of Arenberg ), John check ( a monk ), Timothy Jenkins ( a herald ), Therese Brandson ( a heavenly voice ), the orchestra and the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, conductor: James Levine production: John Dexter
- New York City in February 1980, live from the Metropolitan Opera of New York Giacomo Puccini: Suor Angelica - with Renata Scotto, Vasile Moldoveanu, Cornell Mc Neill, Charles Anthony, Italo Tajo, Bianca Berini, Jeffrey trunk, Louisa Wohlafka, Michael Best, the orchestra and the chorus of the Metropolitan Opera of New York,
Conductor: James Levine Production: Fabrizio Melano. After photographs of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, November 1981
- Giuseppe Verdi: Simon Boccanegra
- Starring: Anna Tomova - Sintow, Sherrill Milnes, Vasile Moldoveanu, Paul Plishka; Conductor: James Levine, Artistic Director: Tito Capobianco Giuseppe Verdi: I vespri siciliani
- Distribution: Guido de Mont Forte - Eduard Tumagian, Il Sire di Bethume - Alan Charles, Il Conte Vandemont - Jacques Doumene, Arrigo - Vasile Moldoveanu, Giovanni da Procida - Zenon Kosnowski, La Duchessa Elena - Maria Temesi Ninetta - Linda Bond Perry, Danieli - Michel Cambon, Tebaldo - Louis Mathieu, Roberto - Patrick Rocco, Manfredo - Alain Munier; The Orchestra of the Opera of Nice, conductor Oleg Caetani, video-recording performances of the opera of Nice ( the 15th, 17th, 19th and June 23, 1984 )
Bibliography
- Vasile Moldoveanu - Un tenor italiano pe Patru contienente - Ioana Diaconescu, Editura Muzicală, 2011, Bucharest
- Opera Română - deceniul cinci - 1961 - 1971 - Anca Florea, Editura Curtea Veche, 2006, Bucharest
- Opera Română - deceniul SASE - 1971 - 1981 - Anca Florea, Editura DC, 2009, Bucharest.
- "Opera on Video - A Personal Review" - Michael Richter, 1997