Romanian baritone, b. 1927 Biographical notes: He
was born Nicolae Herle in Bucharest and studied at the Bucharest
Conservatory with Aurelius Costescu-Duca and later at the Accademia di
Santa Cecilia in Rome as well. He made his debut at the Bucharest Opera
in 1951 as Silvio in Pagliacci. In the same year he won first prizes in
singing competitions in Geneva, Prague and Brussels. Nicolae Herlea
became the leading Romanian baritone of his generation. He toured
widely (see the following list) and was a member of the Met from 1964
until 1967. In 1962 he was awarded the title “People’s Artist of
Romania.” His repertory included Italian and Russian parts in which his
beautiful voice was considered to be one of the finest after the War. As Don Carlo in “La Forza del Destino” “Don Carlo di Vargas was sung with rich warm suavity, implicit with feeling and acted with grace and intelligence.” New York Herald Tribune As Figaro “Covent
Garden has found a new and immensely Figaro in Nicolae Herlea. With a
voice so rich and smooth that it made one think of brown velvet, his
style - raguishly debonair - and his inexhaustible gusto...have
dominated the performance. Herlea has everything that belongs to
Figaro: the nimbleness, the verve, the mischievous jollity, the
invulnerable self-possession, in brief, the personality of one of
nature’s masters of resource.” Daily Mail
CDs: |
Donizetti - Lucia di Lammermoor (Petrovici 1987/Voinea, Georgescu) |
Cantus-Lin Vox Box |
Leoncavallo - I Pagliacci (Popa 1966/Florescu, Stavru) |
Cantus-Lin Vox Box |
Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (Karajan 1964 live/Ghiaurov, Usunov, Wächter, Jurinac, Stolze, Gjuselev)
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Hunt |
Puccini - Tosca (Trailescu 1977/Zeani, Fanateanu) |
Cantus-Lin Vox Box |
Rossini - Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Brediceanu 1961/Ianculescu, Teodorian) |
Cantus-Lin Vox Box |
Verdi - Don Carlos/scenes (Adler 1964 live/Corelli, Rysanek) |
GOP |
Verdi - La Forza del Destino (Litvin 1972/Nistor-Slatinaru, Spiess) |
Cantus-Lin Vox Box |
Verdi - La Forza del Destino/scenes (Savini live 1971, Kabaivanska, Bergonzi) |
Arkadia |
Verdi - Rigoletto (Bobescu 1965/Ianculescu, Buzea) |
Cantus-Lin Vox Box |
Verdi - La Traviata (Bobescu 1968/Zeani, Buzea) |
Cantus-Lin Vox Box |
Festliche Oper - Nicolae Herlea and Vasile Moldoveanu (Herlea: Arias by Leoncavallo, Giordano,
Verdi/Moldoveanu: Arias by Cilea, Gounod, Verdi, Puccini, Godard) |
Intercord |
As Rigoletto “His
Rigoletto last night was in the best traditions of great singing and
great acting. Here was a Rigoletto of astonishing bounce in his moments
of gnomish force and even more astonishing passion in anguish and
ferocity.” New York World Telegram As Tonio “In
Pagliacci Nicolae Herlea offered the evening’s excitement with
dramatically convincing interpretation of the Prologue. He is a high
baritone who takes those spectacular top tones easily...an interesting
personality that can convey ideas and emotions...” The New York Post Comment: Romania
has produced a number of superb baritones: Serban Tassian, Petre
Stefanescu-Goanga, David Ohanessian, Vasile Martinoiu, Dan Iordachescu,
and - Nicolae Herlea. The Romanian public was able to enjoy all these
singers during the 1950s and 1960s. They were closely associated with
the Bukarest Opera which was nicknamed “The House of Opera and
Baritones”. Nicolae Herlea is the only artist who became widely known
in the Western world. One
of today’s most sought-after baritones asked me once about my favorite
baritones performing after Worldwar II. I mentioned Nicolae Herlea, Theodor Uppman, Georg Ots
, Pavel Lisitsian and Giuseppe Taddei.
Herlea’s is a beautiful, rich and viril voice of a “velvety” color. He
shows no difficulty in singing Verdi’s high tessitura and there is a
glorious ringing top. Herlea sings with fine legato (breath-control!)
in a wide-ranging and perfectly matched scale. Maybe there have been a
few baritones who have shown a greater flair for drama (he was not a
“singing actor” like Gobbi), and he was certainly not the most
adventurous singer in terms of repertoire, but what lasts is that
beautiful sound which I call “Herlea sound”!
Il balen del suo sorriso
(Conte di Luna in Il Trovatore / Verdi / date ?) My warmest thanks to Robert Herle,Vladimir Ladighin and Dr P. Razvan
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