Born
as Herle on 28 August 1927, Bucharest, he discovered
his talent by fortune as he tells in an interview. He
caught a bad cold and he needed some surgery, but the
doctor, being familiar with the singers noticed he
had exceptional vocal cords and
did not intervene. After that he started singing, training
himself as a tenor. In 1945
he succeeded in getting admitted at the Astra Conservatory
and met Prof. Costescu Duca who became his
mentor. Mr. Duca was himself an acclaimed baritone
in Bucharest, but Herlea never
had the chance to hear him live due to his age. Herlea
turned to the baritone
repertoire and continued his studies at the Ciprian
Porumbescu Conservatory. Later
he participated at specialization courses at the Accademia
di Santa Cecilia in Rome
under Maestro Giorgio Favaretto. He
started performing from 1948, but his operatic
debut came on 14 April
1950 as Silvio in Pagliacci at the Romanian National
Opera of Bucharest. Within short time he became a
soloist and took on all major baritone roles, but the
way to the west
and the grand opera stages was blocked by the communists.
The artist himself said that
it was a miracle he succeeded in west. Many other
very good singers from the east did
not get this opportunity. To give you an idea of how
hard the times were during the
'50s in Romania, I will just say that many soloists
were made redundant from at the
Romanian National Opera: baritone Serban Tassian,
tenor Dinu Badescu and soprano
Valentina Cretoiu. Other Romanian opera singers chose
to leave: sopranos
Mariana Nicolesco (she was lucky to get out early and
had a successful career at the
Met), Ileana Cotrubas, Marina Krilovici1,
Viorica Cortez, Leontina Vaduva, Nelly
Miricioiu; tenors Ion Buzea, Ioan Piso; baritone Eduard
Tumageanian. Singers like
soprano Virginia Zeani, tenors Petre Munteanu and
Tomel Spataru began their studies
outside the country and remained there. The situation
was similar in all communist
countries (Russia, Poland, Czech, Hungary, Bulgaria
etc.).
The first big success outside Romania was at the Bolshoi
Theatre in Moscow in 1958
(after which he was was invited to sing many times
there).
An important step in his international career was his
debut at Covent Garden in "Il
Barbiere Di Siviglia" and "Le nozze di Figaro" opposite
Teresa Berganza. Both performances were
a huge success and opened the way to La Scala. Here
is the press comment on
Herlea’s debut at Covent Garden:
"Covent Garden has found a new and immense
Figaro in Nicolae Herlea.
With a voice so rich and smooth that it made one
think of brown velvet, his
style - roguishly 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."
The La Scala debut came in 1963 in "Don Carlos" as
Marquis, under Gabriele Santini,
also a triumph. The artist himself recalls this debut
as being unique, because La
Scala is the only great theatre that require an audition,
no matter how famous the singer is. As a detail,
he was the one that spoke with Siciliani (the La Scala
director in those
times) to receive for an audition the unknown
tenor named Luciano Pavarotti. Two
years later, Pavarotti debuted as the Duke gaining
his popularity.
He was a member of the Metropolitan Opera from 1964
to 1967. His
performance of "La Forza del Destino" in
1966 in particular is remembered, as it was the revival
of this opera at the Met. Forza had not been staged
after Warren's death on the
stage in 1960 (third act on March 4, 1960); Herlea
was the one who assumed the
role. After this huge success, he sang Rigoletto with
Corelli, and Lucia di
Lammermoor with Sutherland. Also Corelli and Herlea
sang together in his Don
Carlos debut, under Kurt Adler's conduction. Herlea
always had words of admiration for the great
tenor, but he also declared his voice better suited
with Bergonzi.
They sang together many times in "La Forza Del
Destino," which
seemed to be a
successful combination at the Met. He also did Otello
with the great Mario Del
Monaco.
The maestro’s respect for the older
generation of singers is well known. He remembers
singing Tonio in Berlin together with the
great tenor Helge Rosvaenge. Here are his
words:
"I remember very well a Pagliacci in East Berlin
featuring the great tenor
Helge Rosvaenge as Canio. He may have been in the
fall of his career, but to
sing next to a living legend like that was quite
an experience for a young
baritone. Especially since I was still studying
at the Conservatory."
The artist received at the age of 35 (in 1962) a
supreme distinction from the
romanian state, that is the title "Artist Of The
People." He has been awarded
some important international prizes, or titles, like:
- Golden Medal and Grand Prize at the 1954 Prague
Spring Festival
- Laureate of the 1955 International Canto Contest
in Geneva
- Golden Medal and Grand Prize at the 1957 Canto
Contest in Verviers
- Giuseppe Verdi Golden Medal in Milan (1963)
- Key of The City Detroit
- "Golden Record" for his musical activity
and for the collaboration during 40
years with the record company "Electrecord" (2002,
August 28th).
- "State Prize" (1964)
- Order "Meritul Cultural" (1968)
- Order "Republic’s Star" (1971)
- Order "Romanian star – commander
degree" (1999)
By giving this high distinction, the communists authorities
acknowledge Herlea’s
contribution to the cultural development in Romania.
Other memorable performances were "Il barbiere
Di Seviglia" with Fiorenza Cosotto
at La Scala, Tonio in "I Pagliacci" at
the Met, and "Tosca" in Tokyo in 1972 with
Monserrat Caballe. Here the artist declared that he
always regretted never having been able to
sing with Callas, as he came too late to Europe. The
Tosca in Tokyo was
supposed to have been sung opposite Callas, but the
diva cancelled in the last moment,
so Caballe stepped in. Another grand performance is
Faust at La Scala with Nicolai
Ghiaurov as Mefistofeles and Nicolai Gedda as Faust.
His relationship with Nicolai
Ghiaurov was very warm, they became friends and sang
together many times. Herlea was also good friends
with tenor Luigi Alva, due to the many Barbieres they made
together.
Being asked which was his favourite role, the artist
declared surprisingly that it
was Rigoletto, even if he sang Figaro about 550 times
in his career! (I guess this is
an absolute record).
Herlea's voice was very well
suited for major dramatic roles.
Having a bronze timbre, vibrating top note and an admirable
technique, Maestro
Herlea gave unprecedented shades to Verdi's characters.
Many critics had nothing but words of
admiration about him, saying he was born to sing
Verdi.
His Rigoletto is an exceptional combination of a sweet
voice with beautiful pianissimo
when talking to his beloved daughter Gilda, or becomes
fearful and threatening in pari
siamo, planning the revenge against the Duke.
Than he finds himself as a weak
old, man, humiliated in front of the cortigiani.
Every time he climbed on the stage he
simply dominated the representation by his impressive
presence, being an excellent
actor.
He was also an excellent
Scarpia, being able to transmit to the public
all
the madness of the evil baron. He simply intimidates
Tosca!
Tonio... the freaky clown
from Pagliacci is in fact the engine of all conflict
in opera. Maestro Herlea plays and sings Tonio in
a way you cannot forget. In his hands, the
character becomes a fearful man animated by his love
to Nedda, suddenly
transformed into hate, so he almost manipulates Canio
to murder Nedda and Silvio.
Today he is retired from the stage, but he leads at
the moment master classes,
specialisation courses at the Academy of Music in Bucharest
and is the president of
the jury of the Hariclea Darclée2 -
Foundation. He also is in process of
writing his memoirs and has promised to publish them.
Even if he is now considered one of the most important
figures in opera of all times,
Mr. Herlea is modest about himself:
"I never felt like a star. I am a modest person with a natural vocal
gift that I am very much aware of. My belief is that true talent
doesn't need artificial publicity. Music didn't start with me, nor will
it end with me. I was never attracted to the glitter and glamour of
showbiz," he declared in an interview he recently gave.
The reputed romanian writer Mircea Horia Simionescu
said about Mr. Herlea:
"When famous critics often throw away their
analysis tool only to acclaim
Herlea’s electrifying power, that charms and
dominates the ones listening to
him, when the most famous publications are talking
of "the Herlea
phenomenon," it is obvious that all we understand
and love about his
admirable creation is universally valued."
I reproduce here
also some of the dedications of the greatest artists
Mr. Herlea sang or worked with:
- Carlo Bergonzi: "A Nicolae Herlea, con
multi auguri e per ricordo del nostro
primo Rigoletto a Metropolitan Opera";
- Mario Del Monaco: "A caro collega Herlea,
con sincera stima il ricordo del
nostro Otello";
- Monserrat Caballe: "Per Nicolae Herlea con
grande affetto ed ammirazione";
- Franco Corelli: "Caro Herlea sei stato meraviglioso
nel tuo debuto in Posa.
Auguri per futuro. Tuo colega Franco Corelli"
- Giuseppe Di Stefano: "A Nicola grande TONIO
e SCARPIA ammirazione ed
sincera amicizia auguri"
- Kurt Adler: "A mio amico, il eccelente baritono
N. Herlea, con ammirazione";
- Nicolai Gedda: "A Nicolae Herlea pel bel
ricordo di suo amico. E del nostro
FAUST ala Scala di Milano";
- Nicolai Ghiaurov: "A caro amico Nicolae Herlea,
dal tutto il cuore";
- Tito Gobbi: "A caro ed ilustre colega ed
amico Nicolae Herlea per ricordo. Con
molti auguri";
- Luigi Alva: "A Nicola, ottimo collega e migliore
amico, con il piu vivo auguri di
sempre maggiori succesi e l’incondizionata
amicizia"
The only thing we regret about this great singer is
that he never came to record
his memorable performances on the world's greatest
stages, but still he recorded
much of his work in Romania with the Romanian National
Opera of Bucharest.
There are also some video recordings:
- "Tosca" in Tokyo with
Caballe and Di Stefano (1975)
- "Andrea Chenier" / TV-Film 1971 / Cornel
Stavru tenor, Mariana Nistor-Slatinaru soprano,
Nicolae Herlea baritone
- "La Forza del Destino" / TV-Film / Mariana
Nistor-Slatinaru soprano, Ludovic
Spiess tenor, Nicolae Herlea baritone
- "Rigoletto" / TV 1984 / Silvia Voinea
soprano, Octavian Naghiu tenor, Nicolae
Herlea baritone
- "Il Barbiere" / Film 1983 / Silvia Voinea
soprano, Valentin Teodorian tenor,
Nicolae Herlea baritone
- "La Traviata" / TV 1984 / Vasile Moldoveanu
tenor, Octavian Naghiu tenor,
Nicolae Herlea baritone
- "Un Ballo in Maschera" / Film 1987 /
Silvia Popp soprano, Ludovic Spiess tenor,
Nicolae Herlea baritone.
- "Lucia Di Lammermoor" / Film 1985(?)
/ Silvia Voinea soprano, Florin
Georgescu tenor, Nicolae Herlea baritone.
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