Leontina Vaduva (Romanian: Leontina Văduva; born in

Roșiile Roșiile is a commune located in Vâlcea County, Oltenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hung ...

, on December 1, 1960) is an acclaimed Romanian soprano. She studied at the Bucharest Conservatory and with

Ileana Cotrubaș Ileana Cotrubaș (; born 9 June 1939) is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages. Life and career Cotrub ...

, and debuted in the title role of ''Manon'' at Toulouse, in 1987. A recipient of the Laurence Olivier Opera Award, she has often appeared at Covent Garden, in ''Rigoletto'' (opposite Ingvar Wixell and

Jerry Hadley Jerry Hadley (June 16, 1952 – July 18, 2007) was an American operatic tenor. He received three Grammy awards for his vocal performances in the recordings of ''Jenůfa'' (2004 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording), ''Susannah'' (1995 Grammy Awar ...

, 1989), ''Carmen'' (as Micaëla, 1991 and 1994), and ''Roméo et Juliette'' (1994). Leontina Vaduva is the daughter of the

Romanian popular music Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

singer

Maria Ciobanu Maria Ciobanu (born 3 September 1937 in Roșiile) is a Romanian folk music, folk singer. Her repertoire include more than 700 recorded songs for Romanian, Yugoslavian and Holland Record Companies, Romanian Radio and TV... Some of her famous so ...

. In 2000, Vaduva appeared at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

, in six performances of ''La bohème'' (as Mimì, with

Luis Lima Luis Lima (born 12 September 1948 in Córdoba, Argentina) is an Argentine operatic tenor, who studied in Buenos Aires under Carlos Guichandut and in Sicily under Gina Cigna. He made his opera debut in 1974, in Lisbon, in ''Cavalleria rusticana ...

). The soprano has also sung with the companies of Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Chicago, Cologne, Vienna, and Paris. Her discography includes ''Rigoletto'' (1993), ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'' (as Antonia, with

Roberto Alagna Roberto Alagna (; born 7 June 1963) is a French operatic tenor. He obtained French citizenship in 1981, while also retaining his previous Italian citizenship. Early years Alagna was born in Clichy-sous-Bois, outside the city of Paris, in 1963 t ...

, conducted by

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 202 ...

, 1994–96), ''La bohème'' (again with Alagna, led by Sir

Antonio Pappano Sir Antonio Pappano (born 30 December 1959) is an English-Italian conductor and pianist. He is currently music director of the Royal Opera House and of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He is scheduled to become chief c ...

, 1995), and an album of "Opera Arias," conducted by

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

(1997). Especially noteworthy is her DVD of ''Roméo et Juliette'', with Alagna, conducted by Sir

Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...

and directed by Nicolas Joël (1994).

References

* ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', Oxford University Press, 1996.

External links

Leontina Vaduva in an excerpt from ''Roméo et Juliette''
(1994). 1960 births Living people Romanian operatic sopranos Laurence Olivier Award winners 21st-century Romanian women opera singers People from Vâlcea County 20th-century Romanian women opera singers National University of Music Bucharest alumni Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres {{Romania-opera-singer-stub