Vasile Moldoveanu

He was born in Constanța. After attending the Mircea cel Bătrân High School in his native city, Moldoveanu 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; he played Arlecchino in Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.

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

In 1971 he was invited by the Viktor Vladarski and Friedrich Pasch agencies to a series of auditions in Germany. After initial difficulties in obtaining a visa because he was not a member of the Romanian Communist Party, he arrived in Germany in 1972 and decided not to return to Romania. The authorities started an inquiry and he was sentenced to the death penalty in his absence, his refusal to return to the country during a "mission of representation of the Romanian state" being interpreted as treason. After the relevant penal 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.

In 1972, Moldoveanu made his first international appearance as Manrico in 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; 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, including Lucia di Lammermoor, La bohème, Un ballo in maschera and La traviata. In 1976 he was cast in Rigoletto, directed by Roman Polanski, 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.

Source: Article "Vasile Moldoveanu" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.