Vasile Moldoveanu

Vasile Moldoveanu (born 6 October 1935 in Constanța) is a Romanian tenor.

Vaile Moldoveanu - Luigi (Il tabarro), Metropolitan Opera, 1981

Biography

The Romanian tenor Vasile Moldoveanu was born in Constanța on 6 October 1935. He studied voice at the ”Ciprian Porumbescu” University of Music in Bucharest, under the supervision of the tenor Dinu Bădescu , as a student in the class prepared by Octav Enigărescu . His debut was at the Romanian Opera in Bucharest, on 9 January 1966, as Arlecchino in Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

His career in Romania was relatively short. He sang only at the Romanian Opera in Bucharest (today known as Bucharest National Opera) for seven seasons, between 1966 and 1971.[1] He sang in 22 operas, mainly secondary roles, but also some main roles such as Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Rodolfo (La bohème), Il Duca di Mantova (Rigoletto), Ernesto (Don Pasquale), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte – which was his last performance in Romania, on 23 June 1972). He also appeared on the first opera LPs from Electrecord, in secondary roles (La traviata, Samson et Dalila, Carmen).

In 1971 he was invited by the Viktor Vladarski and Friedrich Pasch agencies to a series of auditions in Germany. As he was not a member of the Romanian Communist Party, he had difficulties in obtaining the visa for this travel abroad. He arrived in Germany in 1972 and decided not to return to communist Romania.[2] The authorities started an inquiry and he received the death penalty,[3] During his absence, because of an abusive interpretation of a paragraph of the Penal Code of 1968, which associated the charge of "refusal to return to the country" during a "mission of representation of the Romanian state" with the charge of "country treason". After the penalty code was modified in 1973, the case was heard again in his absence, and he was sentenced to five years imprisonment and seizure of property.[4]

International career

In 1972, Moldoveanu made his first international appearance as Manrico (Il trovatore) at the Regensburg Opera. Then, in Amsterdam, he was Rodolfo (La bohème), followed by Il Duca di Mantova (Rigoletto) at the St. Gallen Opera. His debut at the Vienna State Opera was Alfredo (La traviata) in 1973, but he returned in 1987 as Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut). In 1973, he also appeared for the first time as Don Carlos in Verdi's homonymous opera, a role he would sing more than 75 times during his career.

In 1974 he signed a four-year-contract with the Stuttgart Opera, managed at that time by Wolfgang Windgassen. He sang in numerous productions there: Lucia di Lammermoor, La bohème, Un ballo in maschera, La traviata. In 1976 he was cast in Rigoletto, directed by Roman Polansky, at the Bavarian State Opera. Singing in Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, München, Berlin and Ludwigsburg, Moldoveanu was discovered by Nelly Walter, vice-president of Columbia Artists Management, who became his manager for eleven years and who proposed him at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1979, he made his debut at Covent Garden, London, in Don Carlos, directed by Luchino Visconti.

In 1977, Moldoveanu was named Kammersänger by the Stuttgart Opera.

His first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera took place on 19 May 1977, during a tour of the company in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as Rodolfo, in La bohème, with Renata Scotto as Mimi (he was to sing with her in several operas). At the Metropolitan Opera, he sang in 105 performances, more than any other Romanian tenor - Vasile Moldoveanu is the Romanian opera singer with the most presences in a main role, after the World War Two. For the comparison’s sake, during the same years when Vasile Moldoveanu was singing at the Met, 1977-1986, Luciano Pavarotti had 100 appearances, Plácido Domingo - 149, José Carreras - 51. 105 appearances had, between the two world wars, the soprano Amelita Galli-Curci, for a similar interval, of 10 years.

He sang ten parts at the Metropolitan Opera, and was broadcast live on TV in Don Carlo (1980 - 11 performances), Il tabarro (1981 - 12 performances), Simon Boccanegra (1984 - 27 performances). Besides these roles, he also sang 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 Madama Butterfly (12 performances). Starting with 1987, after a complicated surgery, he reduces his activity on the American continent. His last appearances in the United States are at the Denver Opera: Calaf (Turandot) and Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut).[5]

He returns to Europe and continues his career in Paris (Manon Lescaut - 9 performances in 1991 and 5 more in 1993), Monaco (I Vespri siciliani and Aida - directed by Giancarlo del Monaco), Nice (La fanciulla del West, directed by Petrică Ionescu), Roma (Turandot), Lisabona (Manon Lescaut), Parma (Don Carlo), Pretoria, South Africa (Un ballo in maschera) and different cities in Germany (mainly Stuttgart and Hamburg). In fact, the only important opera house where Vasile Moldoveanu did not sing was Teatro alla Scala, Milano, even though there were some discussions for a performance with I Vespri siciliani.

Vasile Moldoveanu’s voice had a very beautiful and vibrant timbre, of lyrical tenor, as he always considered himself to be, but with a very steady and strong acute register, which allowed him to successfully approach roles which were typical for spinto tenors (Calaf, Don Carlo, Don José, Manrico), but also dramatic roles (Radames, Dick Johnson). His voice, sometimes compared to the voice of the great tenors of the past, such as Giovanni Martinelli or Franco Corelli, was supported by a slim figure and ardent eyes. This made him to be highly appreciated in some roles, such as Luigi, from Il tabarro: after the TV broadcast of this performance, from the Met Opera, his fans and his colleagues started to call him “Luigi! Look, there’s Luigi!”[6]

Paradoxically, even though he had an important career, mainly at the Metropolitan Opera, and even though he was promoted by the media in an age when live TV broadcasts had just started, Vasile Moldoveanu is little known in Romania. This lack of notoriety was caused especially by the censorship in place during communism, exactly when the Romanian tenor was at the height of his career.

In 2010, Vasile Moldoveanu appealed against the sentence that had sent him to jail and was absolutely discharged.

In 2012, he was made a commander of the Order of the Star of Romania.[7]

At present, Vasile Moldoveanu lives in Monte Carlo and he gives master classes for young singers, mainly from Romania[8]

Recordings

There are few recordings with Vasile Moldoveanu, but still, we mention two LPs with opera arias, by Intercord, made in 1976 and 1978, and also those produced by Electrecord.

There are numerous live recordings of the radio broadcasts from the Metropolitan Opera and different bootlegs.

Mascagni: Cavalleria rusticana - Hamburg, 1986 - with: Galina Savova, Vasile Moldoveanu, Piero Cappuccilli; conductor: Ricco Saccani, the Orchestra of Budapest Opera House.

Video Recordings

Unlike the studio recordings, Vasile Moldoveanu’s videography is more consistent:

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Opera Română – deceniul cinci – 1961 - 1971 - Anca Florea, Editura Curtea Veche, 2006, Bucharest
  2. ↑ Vasile Moldoveanu - Un tenor român pe patru continente - Ioana Diaconescu, Editura Muzicală, 2011, Bucharest
  3. ↑ Arta de a ierta - TV broadcast "În premieră cu Carmen Avram", 3 November 2013 (in Romanian)
  4. ↑ Dream and Nightmare – Un’uccisione simulata - about the legal proceedings taken against Vasile Moldoveanu
  5. ↑ The Metropolitan Opera Archives - The online archive of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, latest update - July 2013
  6. ↑ "The opera is the mirror of a country..." - Interview with Vasile Moldoveanu - Interview, 23 septembrie 2012
  7. ↑ Tenorul Vasile Moldoveanu va fi decorat cu Ordinul Național "Steaua României" în grad de Comandor - Mediafax, 23 ianuarie 2013 (in Romanian)
  8. ↑ Master Class cu tenorul Vasile Moldoveanu - TeleM.ro - 15 January 2014 (in Romanian)

External links