Narcis Iustin Ianău (; born February 24, 1995 in

Bacău Bacău ( , , ; hu, Bákó; la, Bacovia) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. At the 2016 national estimation it had a population of 196,883, making it the 12th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

) is a Romanian classical singer. In Romania he became famous by taking part in the first season of ''

Românii au talent ''Românii au talent'' ( en, Romanians got talent) is a TV show which began airing on 18 February 2011. The project acts as a Romanian version of the franchise Got Talent, developed by Syco, Simco Limited. The show is hosted by Smiley and Pavel B ...

'' and becoming the runner-up.

Childhood and youth

Narcis was born on February 24, 1995, in Barați, Bacǎu as the son of Eduard and Felicia Ianǎu. At the age of five he began singing in the Catholic church choir in his hometown. There his teacher put him in the group of the

sopranist A sopranist (also, sopranista or male soprano) is a male singer who is able to sing in the vocal tessitura of a soprano usually through the use of falsetto or head voice vocal production. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor. In ra ...

s. After graduating the ''Liceul de Artă "George Apostu"'' (''Secondary school of arts "George Apostu"''), Narcis started studying at the ''Academia de Muzică "Gheorghe Dima"'' (''Music academy "Gheorge Dima"'') in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

Career

''Românii au talent'' and ''Io canto''

In 2010, Narcis competed for the first season of ''Românii au talent''. In the audition he interpreted ''O mio babbino caro'', taken from the opera

Gianni Schicchi () is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. The work is the third and final part of Puccin ...

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

. With the agreement of all three judges Narcis made it to the semifinal, where he presented ''Adagio'' by

Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera comp ...

and was voted into the final. On April 25, 2011, he interpreted an own version of an aria of ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pierr ...

'' in the final. With 24.40% of all votes he became the runner-up of this competition. Still in 2011, Narcis took part as a special guest in the Italian TV-show ''Io canto'', in which adolescents compete in singing songs with the objective of gaining ground in music business. One year later, Narcis got invited as liveact to the semifinal of the second season of ''

, where he interpreted '' Scarborough Fair''.

Romanian National opera, Cluj-Napoca

In January, 2015, Narcis debuted in the ''Opera Română din Cluj'' (''

Romanian National Opera, Cluj-Napoca The Romanian National Opera, Cluj-Napoca ( ro, Opera Națională Română din Cluj-Napoca) is one of the national opera and ballet companies of Romania. The Opera shares the same building with the National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca. History The ...

'') by playing the herdsman in

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

, an opera by Giacomo Puccini.

Working with Gregorian

Since 2013, Narcis has been working together with Gregorian, a German band of mainly English, classically educated singers who present

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe durin ...

-inspired versions of pop and rock songs. The first album together with Narcis was released in 2013 by the title of ''Masters of Chant Chapter 9''. On this album he sang the song ''Gloria'', written and originally performed by German singer-songwriter

Joachim Witt Joachim Witt (born 22 February 1949) is a German rock musician and actor. Biography Witt was the guitarist/singer in the 1970s krautrock band Duesenberg. He released three albums with them, ''Duesenberg'' (1977), ''Duesenberg 2'' (1978) and ...

. One year later, the next album ''Winter Chants'' was released with the common songs ''Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring'' and ''Ave Maria''. In 2015, Gregorian released their last album for now, ''Masters of Chant: The Final Chapter'', again in cooperation with Narcis by singing the song ''Cry Softly''. On February 25, 2016, he and Gregorian competed in ''Unser Lied für Stockholm'', the German preliminary decision for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2016 The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting ...

. However, they achieved the fifth place. From the beginning until the middle of 2016 Narcis, is attending Gregorian on their good-bye tour, ''Masters Of Chants - The Final Chapter Tournee 2016''.

On Tour With Sarah Brightman

In late 2018, and through 2019, Narcis has been on tour with Sarah Brightman on her Hymn: Sarah Brightman In Concert tour.

Discography

''Masters of Chant''-albums with Gregorian

* 2013: ''Masters of Chant Chapter IX'' * 2014: ''Winter Chants'' * 2015: '' Masters Of Chant: The Final Chapter''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ianau, Narcis Iustin 1995 births Contemporary classical music performers Singing talent show contestants Living people 21st-century Romanian male singers