This document provides a biography of the renowned Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu. It notes that she was born in Adjud, Romania and studied music at the Music School in Bucharest and the Bucharest Music Academy. In the late 1980s she began performing leading roles at major opera houses across Europe. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1992 and established herself as one of the greatest sopranos with her performance of Violetta in La Traviata at the Royal Opera House in 1994. The document highlights her role in continuing the tradition of great Romanian opera singers.

1. LLP Comenius Multilateral Partnership 2013-2015
Material prepared by:
Mihaela Ţurcănaşu (Teacher of
History)
Daniela Livadaru (Teacher of
Religion)
Students:
Sorana Tucaliuc – 12th
Grade
Ana Toporeţ – 11th
GradeProject Meeting in Palermo, Italy
- the 16th
– the 21st
of October 2014 -

2.  one of the greatest composers of
the 20th
Century;
 he was a violinist, pianist,
conductor, and teacher as well;

3.  Born on the 19th
of August, 1881,
in Liveni, Romania, he was
considered a wonder child; as
early as the age of five, he
dreamed to be a composer;
 He started his musical career
very early, in 1886, at the advise
of Eduard Caudella, composer
and professor at the
Conservatoire in Iasi;
His first attempts as composer

4.  Between 1888 and 1894, George Enescu
was studying at the Vienna
Conservatoire (the youngest student
ever) with renowned professors of the
time.
 In 1891, the ten-year-old Enescu gave a
private concert at the Court of Vienna,
in the presence of Emperor Franz
Joseph.
 He continued his studies at the Paris
Conservatoire (1895 – 1899) under the
guidance of remarkable professors of
violin, composition, harmony, andA virtuoso violin player

5.  The four “school symphonies” date
back from the period he spent
studying in Paris, among which
The Romanian Poem Op. 1 (1898)
is the most famous one and
brought the young composer the
acknowledgement.
 George Enescu participated in
violin competitions at the
Conservatoire in Paris, winning
the second prize (1898) and the
first prize (1899); for this, he was
offered a precious Bernardel violin
with his name engraved on it.
He was “the only one [student] who
truly had ideas and spirit.“
(André Gedalge, harmony teacher)

6.  On the 6th
of February 1898, at the
age of only 16, George Enescu
presented in Paris his first mature
work, The Romanian Poem,
played by the Colonne Orchestra
(at the time, one of the most
prestigious in the world) and
conducted by Édouard Colonne.
 The Romanian folk music was a
source of inspiration for George
Enescu, such as in The Romanian
Rhapsodies (1901-1902) and in
Sonata for Violin and Piano.

7.  As a violin teacher, he mentored
Yehudi Menuhin, who continued to
cite Enescu as a major influence all
his life, and other legendary players.
 After the war, he resumed his tours
as a violinist and a much-admired
conductor in USA, Switzerland,
France, Holland, Spain, Portugal,
Canada etc.
 An esteemed musicologist and a
tireless organizer, he took on
spectacular tasks such as forming a
Philharmonic Orchestra, the
Romanian National Opera and a
Composers' Society in Romania.
George Enescu in 1930

8.  The international
acknowledgement and fame
brought George Enescu numerous
occasions to give music
interpretation courses, stylistic,
analysis and musical forms classes
worldwide.
 Due to the Communist regime,
George Enescu spent his last years
in France.
 On his death in 1955, George
Enescu was interred in Père
Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Grave of George Enescu

9.  The memory of the great Romanian
musician is revived by the biannual
International Festival that bears his
name, as well as by symposiums
taking place in Romania and abroad
and, not in the least, by the
specialized writings, the
exhibitions, and the concerts
organized by “George Enescu”
National Museum in Bucharest.
 Romania's greatest musical force
and a significant mind of the 20th
Century, George Enescu succeeded
in incorporating Romanian
spirituality into worldwide culture.
He was "the most extraordinary
human being, the greatest musician
and the most formative influence.”
Yehudi Menuhin

10.  one of the most influential
sculptors of the 20th
Century;
 a complex personality, he was a
painter and photographer as
well;

11. In Paris, 1905
 Born on the 19th
of February, 1876, in
Hobiţa, Romania, he displayed since
childhood an aptitude for carving
wooden tools.
 His parents Nicolae and Maria
Brâncuși were poor peasants who
earned a meager living through back-
breaking labour; from the age of
seven, Constantin herded the family's
flock of sheep.
 Formal studies took him first to
Bucharest , then to Munich, and to
the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris
from 1905 to 1907.

12.  He worked for two years in the workshop
of Antonin Mercié of the École des Beaux-
Arts, and was invited to enter the
workshop of Auguste Rodin;
 After leaving Rodin's workshop, Brâncuși
began developing the revolutionary style
for which he is known. His first
commissioned work, "The Prayer", was
part of a gravestone memorial. It depicts a
young woman crossing herself as she
kneels, and marks the first step toward
abstracted, non-literal representation; it
shows his drive to depict "not the outer
form but the idea, the essence of things“.
Mademoiselle Pogany II, 1925
polished bronze

13. Most works by Constantin Brâncuşi are currently exhibited
in museums and top collections all over the world.

14. Madame L.R.
 ‘Head’, ‘Mademoiselle Pogany II’, ‘The
Newborn’, ‘Sleeping Muse II’, and the ‘Fish’
are the five bronze masterpieces on display
which testify to Brâncuşi’s unsurpassed
sculptural frugality and witness how much he
was inspired by the Romanian folk art and
African sculpture.
 As for his relevance in today’s art world, suffice
it to say that on the 23rd
of February 2009, his
rare wooden ‘Madame L.R. ’ sculpture sold for
$37.6 million at the Yves Saint Laurent/Pierre
Bergé sale at Christie's in Paris, hitting number
eight in the list of the ten highest prices ever
paid for a sculpture as of November 2013.
Sleeping Muse

15. Endless Column
 In 1938, he finished the World
War I monument in Târgu-Jiu
where he had spent much of
his childhood. "Table of
Silence", "The Gate of the
Kiss", and "Endless
Column" commemorate the
courage and sacrifice of
Romanian civilians who in
1916 fought off a German
invasion. The restoration of
this ensemble was
spearheaded by the World
Monuments Fund and was
The Gate of the Kiss

16. Fish, 1926
The Kiss
“Simplicity is
complexity resolved”
“We do not see real life except by it’s
reflection” wrote Brâncuşi in 1919.
Brâncuși died on the 16th
of March, 1957, aged 81.
He was buried in the Cemetière du Montparnasse
in Paris.

17.  He looked for new means of
expression and followed the
trend of en plein air painting;
 He identified and brought to
light the profound characteristic
values of the Romanian
spirituality;

18.  He was born in Pitaru, Dâmboviţa
County, Wallachia.
 In 1843 the family moved to
Bucharest.
 At a young age (between 1846 and
1850), he became an apprentice at
the workshop of the painter Anton
Chladek and created icons for the
church of Băicoi and the monastery
of Căldăruşani.
 In 1856-1857 he painted the new
church of Zamfira Monastery
(Prahova County), then, until 1861,
the church of Agapia Monastery.

19.  Attracted by the artistic outlooks of the Barbizon School, he
would settle down in this place, achieving his pictorial
education by assimilating the experience of such artists as
Jean-François Millet, Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet.
Maidens at the entrance
 In the autumn of 1861, young
Grigorescu left for Paris,
where he was admitted to the
School of Fine Arts, attending
Sébastien Cornu's workshop
(1804-1870), where he was a
fellow student of Auguste
Renoir (1841-1919).

20.  He participated in the Universal
Exhibition of Paris (1867) with seven
paintings, and exhibited the Young
Gypsy Girl painting at the 1868 at Paris
Salon.
 Grigorescu returned to Romania several
times and, starting with 1870, he
participated in the Living Artists'
Exhibitions and in those organized by
the Society of the Fine Arts' Friends.
 In 1873-1874, he took study trips to Italy
(Rome, Naples, and Pompei), Greece
and Vienna.
Young Gypsy Girl
The Fisherwoman in Granville

21.  The same originality is evident in his series of Carts Pulled by
Oxen, in the landscapes painted in the country or during his
journeys abroad (At Posada, Earthen House in the Forest,
Flower-strewn Path, The Fisherwoman in Granville, City
Crossroad at Vitré).
The Attack on Smârdan
 Aspects of a completely
original style and vision claim
recognition in his portraits,
in compositions inspired by
his experience of participating
in the War of Independence
(The Attack on Smârdan,
Soldier in the Cavalry Troops
on Horseback).

22. Nicolae Grigorescu caused a fundamental change
in the evolution of painting and artistic taste in
Romania. A strong and complex temperament,
lyrical through his nature, endowed with a
sensitivity that enabled him to adapt the poetic
idealization inspired by the Barbizon School to the
Romanian environment and landscape, he remains
the first Romanian painter of European circulation.

23. Sales prices for Grigorescu’s paintings increased from September 2010, when the famous “Ox cart“ was amounted to EUR
155,000 and then last year’s December when the “Shepherdess” was sold to EUR 175,000 at the Artmark auctions.
“Nicolae Grigorescu is Romanian with all his heart and throughout his work.
(…) His friendship with French artists failed to tear him away from Romanian
meditation, from the memory of doinas, from the image of the vast Danube Plain,
silvered with dust, from this sweet country of hillocks, with vineyards and shingle-
covered little houses.”
Henri FOCILLON
Ox cartShepherdess

24.  One of the best sopranos of the
world;
 She is following the tradition of
great Romanian opera singers
(Hariclea Darclée , Mariana
Nicolescu, Viorica Cortez etc.)

25.  Angela Gheorghiu was born on the
7th
of September, 1965 in Adjud,
Romania.
 She attended the Music School in
Bucharest and at the age of 14
enrolled at the Bucharest Music
Academy, where she studied with
the famous music teacher Mia
Barbu.At Peleş Castle, Romania, on
the 8th
of January 2013

26.  The same year, she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New
York, as Mimi in La Bohème and at the Vienna State Opera, as
Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore.
 Two years later, she imposed herself as one of the greatest
sopranos when she performed the Violleta role in La Traviata,
at the Royal Opera House.
 In 1992, she made her
international debut at the Royal
Opera House in London, as
Zerlina in Don Giovanni.

27.  Since then, she gave concerts in opera
houses and concert halls around the
world;
 Her opera repertoire includes roles
such as Mimi in La Bohème, Violetta
in La Traviata, Adina in L’Elisir
d’amore, Liù in Turandot, Micaela in
Carmen, Juliette in Roméo and Juliette,
Magda in La Rondine, Suzel in
L’Amico Fritz, Zerlina in Don
Giovanni, Manon in Manon and
Charlotte in Werther.
 Her discography primarily recorded
with EMI Classics and Decca includes
Angela Gheorghiu as Floria Tosca at
San Francisco Opera, November 2012

28.  Divorced from her first husband,
from whom she retained her
surname, Gheorghiu married tenor
Roberto Alagna in 1996.
 The couple have sung together often
on stage and on studio recordings. In
October 2009, Alagna said in an
interview in Le Figaro that he and
Gheorghiu had separated.
 However, in January 2013, she
announced that they had agreed to
divorce.
Angela Gheorghiu and
Roberto Alagna

29.  Ms. Gheorghiu was honoured with “La Medaille Vermeille de la Ville
de Paris” and she was appointed an “Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et
Lettres” and “Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres” by the French
Ministry of Culture and by her native country Romania.
 In December 2010 she was awarded the honorific title of “Doctor
Honoris Causa” by the University of Arts in Iasi (Romania) and the
“Star of Romania”, the highest decoration given by the by the President
of Romania.
 In October 2012 she was conferred the “Nihil Sine Deo” royal
decoration from His Majesty King Michael I for promoting Romanian
cultural values abroad.
 All these performances and recitals
have confirmed Ms. Gheorghiu’s
status as one of the most beloved
stars of opera.