Mihaela Ursuleasa (27 September 1978 – 2 August 2012) was a

Romanian 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, traditional ...

concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. In 1995, she won the

Clara Haskil International Piano Competition The Clara Haskil Piano Competition (French: Concours international de piano Clara Haskil) was founded in 1963 in order to honour and perpetuate the memory the Romanian-Swiss pianist Clara Haskil. The competition is a member of the World Federati ...

Biography

Ursuleasa began playing the piano at the age of five under the tutelage of her

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

father, a jazz musician. In 1990, at the age of 12, she obtained a grant to study in Vienna. She went on to perform at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

, with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, with the

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre national de France (ONF; literal translation, ''National Orchestra of France'') is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France since ...

, as well as with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...

. In 2000, she received an honorable mention at the

XIV International Chopin Piano Competition The XIV International Chopin Piano Competition ( pl, XIV Międzynarodowy Konkurs Pianistyczny im. Fryderyka Chopina) was held from 4 to 22 October 2000 in Warsaw. Li Yundi of China won the First Prize, becoming the first Chinese pianist to do so ...

. In 2010, she was awarded the

Echo Klassik award The Echo Klassik, often stylized as ECHO Klassik, was Germany's major classical music award in 22 categories. The award, presented by the , was held annually, usually in October or September, separate from its parent award, the Echo Music Prize E ...

for her debut album ''Piano & Forte''. She released her second album, ''Romanian Rhapsody'' in 2011.

Death

Ursuleasa was found dead in her

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

home on 2 August 2012 of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

. She was 33. She is interred at the

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

. Ursuleasa was memorialised by her musician colleagues, such as the violist,

Maxim Rysanov Maxim Rysanov (born 1978) is a Ukrainian violist and conductor. Rysanov was born in Kramatorsk, and studied at the Central Special Music School in Moscow and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2000 he won the Gold M ...

, who paid homage to Ursuleasa with his 2012 album "PAVANE" and reckoned her as a wonderful musician and a very special person.The booklet of the album "PAVANE"
by Maxim Rysanov and Ashley Wass, released by BIS in 2012

Discography

Solo albums

* 2010: ''Piano & Forte'' (Berlin Classics) **featuring Ludwig van Beethoven's ''32 variations on an original theme'', WoO 80;

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

' ''Three Intermezzi'', Op. 117;

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

's ''Gaspard de la nuit'';

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentinian composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography Ginastera was born in Buen ...

's first piano sonata, Op. 22; and

Paul Constantinescu Paul Constantinescu (; 30 June 1909, Ploieşti – 20 December 1963) was a Romanian composer. Two of his main influences are Romanian folk music and Byzantine chant, both of which he used in his teaching. One of his students was composer Margar ...

's ''Joc dobrogean'' * 2011: ''Romanian Rhapsody'' (Berlin Classics)—featuring violinist Gilles Apap. ** featuring

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biog ...

's ''Romanian Rhapsody No. 1'', Op. 11, No. 1; Paul Constantinescu's ''Suite for Piano'';

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

's ''Three Piano Pieces'', D.946;

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

's ''Two Romanian Dances'', Op. 8a, Sz. 43, and ''Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 2'', Sz. 90.

Ensemble albums

* 1995: ''XVIth Clara Haskil Competition 1995'' with the Orchestre De Chambre De Lausanne & Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conducting. (Claves Records) ** featuring

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's ''Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major'', K. 271, "Jeunehomme" and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

's ''Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major'', Op. 73, "Emperor". * 2010: ''Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Rapsodia'' (Naïve)--featuring violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja,

cimbalom The cimbalom (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by V. Josef Schunda in 1874 in ...

ist Viktor Kopatchinsky, violinist Emilia Kopatchinskaja, pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa

References

1978 births 2012 deaths Romanian classical pianists Romanian women pianists People from Brașov Musicians from Vienna Romanian Romani people Romani musicians Burials at Bellu Cemetery 20th-century classical pianists Women classical pianists 20th-century women pianists {{Romania-musician-stub