Opera Singer. A tenor, he is remembered for his performances at major venues on both sides of the Atlantic. Raised in the small Transylvanian village of Rucar, he learned to sing in the Greek Orthodox church of which his father was priest, studied at the Bucharest Conservatory, and after winning a competition joined the Romanian National Opera of Bucharest. Over the years he sang a varied repertoire of roles ranging from the lyric to the tenore robusto, his characters including Riccardo of Verdi's "Un Ballo en Maschera", the poet Rodolfo in Puccini's "La Boheme", the hapless Edgardo Ravenswood from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor", LT Pinkerton from Puccini's "Madame Butterfly", the lecherous Duke in Verdi's "Rigoletto", the doomed painter Mario Cavaradossi of Puccini's "Tosca", and two of Verdi's heavyweights, Radames in "Aida" and the tragic title Moor of "Otello". Popular and successful, he found himself in trouble with the Communist regime and in 1965 he was arrested and held for a time; upon his release he left his homeland, made his 1967 Metropolitan Opera bow as Cavaradossi, sang in Zurich, Paris, Vienna, and Jerusalem, and settled in Germany where he appeared in almost all of the country's principal houses. With the fall of Communism, he returned home where he taught voice, worked with UNESCO, and in 2014 was honored by the President for his services to Romania. At his sudden death from heart disease, he could be heard on a number of live and studio recordings.
Opera Singer. A tenor, he is remembered for his performances at major venues on both sides of the Atlantic. Raised in the small Transylvanian village of Rucar, he learned to sing in the Greek Orthodox church of which his father was priest, studied at the Bucharest Conservatory, and after winning a competition joined the Romanian National Opera of Bucharest. Over the years he sang a varied repertoire of roles ranging from the lyric to the tenore robusto, his characters including Riccardo of Verdi's "Un Ballo en Maschera", the poet Rodolfo in Puccini's "La Boheme", the hapless Edgardo Ravenswood from Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor", LT Pinkerton from Puccini's "Madame Butterfly", the lecherous Duke in Verdi's "Rigoletto", the doomed painter Mario Cavaradossi of Puccini's "Tosca", and two of Verdi's heavyweights, Radames in "Aida" and the tragic title Moor of "Otello". Popular and successful, he found himself in trouble with the Communist regime and in 1965 he was arrested and held for a time; upon his release he left his homeland, made his 1967 Metropolitan Opera bow as Cavaradossi, sang in Zurich, Paris, Vienna, and Jerusalem, and settled in Germany where he appeared in almost all of the country's principal houses. With the fall of Communism, he returned home where he taught voice, worked with UNESCO, and in 2014 was honored by the President for his services to Romania. At his sudden death from heart disease, he could be heard on a number of live and studio recordings.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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