Viorica Cortez (born 26 December 1935) is a noted Romanian-born
mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
, later French by naturalisation. Starting her operatic and concert career in the mid-1960s, she went on to become one of the most prominent female performers of the '70s and '80s. An example of professional longevity, she is present on some of the most prestigious European opera scenes.
Early life
With a well-determined Spanish origin, Viorica Cortez is the eldest sister of the soprano
Mioara Cortez, and of Ștefania Șerban, a professor of piano. She was born in Bucium, a village in the vicinity (nowadays a neighbourhood) of
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
. Cortez enjoyed an artistic milieu in her parents' house, finding her passion and intense desire of studying music. Later on, she was admitted to the
Iași Conservatory and, for her final three years of academic studies, she switched to Bucharest's
Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory
The National University of Music Bucharest ( ro, Universitatea Naţională de Muzică București, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in ...
. In Iași, at only 17, Cortez made her debut in the alto part of
Beethoven's ''Ninth Symphony''. She then toured the towns of
Moldavia for years, almost exclusively in vocal-symphonical repertoire.
Studies and international recognition
In
Bucharest, Viorica Cortez was the student of Arta Florescu, a post-war Romanian soprano and professor (besides Cortez, some of her important apprentices were
Marina Krilovici
Marina Krilovici (born 11 June 1942) is an opera soprano of Romanian birth.
Early life
Her first teacher and the most important was Mme Livia Vațianu-Vrăbiescu. Krilovici completed her studies at the Ciprian Porumbescu music academy in Buc ...
, Eugenia Moldoveanu, Maria Slătinaru-Nistor,
Leontina Văduva and even
Angela Gheorghiu). She vividly encouraged the young mezzo-soprano to consider international competitions. Cortez took her advice and applied for the International "George Enescu" Contest in Bucharest (1964), where she ranked only fourth. The same year, she won the International Singing Contest in
Toulouse, along with Romanian fellow tenor Ludovic Spiess. In ''
Le Monde'', the well-known critic
Jacques Lonchampt praised her dark, velvety mezzo, her artistry and technique, as well as her glittering beauty on the stage. This victory at Toulouse was immediately followed by a contract in the city's noted
Théâtre du Capitole
The Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse is an opera house within the main administration buildings, the Capitole, of the city of Toulouse in south-west France. It houses an opera company, ballet company and symphony orchestra, Orchestre nation ...
for the year to come. In the final gala, Cortez sang Leonora's aria from Donizetti's ''
La favorita'', which was to become one of her signature concert and recital pieces.
Also in 1964, Cortez graduated from the Bucharest Conservatory, making her debut in a staged opera production -
Gluck's ''
Orphée et Eurydice
' (; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...
''. Next year, she won the Great "
Kathleen Ferrier" Prize at the
International Vocal Competition 's-Hertogenbosch.
She made her debut in
Saint-Saëns' ''
Samson et Dalila'' opposite Ludovic Spiess in Cluj and then in Toulouse the same year, and she returned as ''
Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...
'' one year later. Cortez then established herself as one of the most respected and recognized young Romanian opera singers, though in her native country she appeared mostly in concerts and recitals. After being hired by the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest in 1967, this changed, as she toured the country and Europe (the former Yugoslavia, France, Greece and especially Ireland), making her debut in
Ambroise Thomas' ''
Mignon'',
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...
's ''
Don Carlo'', ''
Aida'' and ''
Il trovatore'',
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
's ''La Favorita'' and
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
's ''
Werther''.
In 1967, she won the Grand Prize and the Golden Medal of the International "
George Enescu" Contest in Bucharest, ending her competition itinerary. Already an established name in Romania, she toured France alongside Arta Florescu (in ''Aida'') and made her
Chorégies d'Orange debut (as Amneris from ''Aida''). The same year, she auditioned for the first and only time in her career for Sir
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...
, who was looking for a Carmen in the London Royal Opera House's new production. Apparently, after hearing Cortez, he declared: "This IS the Carmen we've been looking for. We found HER". Her debut came in 1968 and, although the critics were not unanimously favorable to her, the performances were hailed as one of the season's most notable events. For Cortez, that meant not only the launching in a new dimension of her professional career, but also an encounter with
Sandor Gorlinsky, the agent who added her to his star-studded roster.
More capital debuts came. While maintaining a particular relationship with French opera houses (Toulouse, Rouen, Bordeaux, Avignon, Nice) and still a member of the Bucharest Opera, Cortez sang her first performances in
Barcelona (
Gran Teatre del Liceu, ''
La favorita'', 1969),
Vienna (Staatsoper, ''
Don Carlo'', 1969), Salzburger Festspiele (''Carmen'', 1969), Naples (
Teatro di San Carlo, ''
Norma'' and ''Aida'' opposite
Leyla Gencer), and Paris (Grand Opera, ''Carmen'', 1970).
1970s career
By 1970, Cortez was being considered by virtually every major opera house, but for a Romanian artist, getting out of the country was a major challenge, often insurmountable. The lack of a passport and endless difficulties with the authorities were obstacles not only for her, but for every Romanian performer who hoped for an international career. Many contracts were annulled because of this issue. In the winter of 1970, Viorica Cortez was in Naples for a series of performances of ''Samson et Dalila'' opposite Mario del Monaco. She did not return to Romania, deciding to continue her artistic destiny abroad and for quite some time was separated from her family members and friends.
Cortez's American debut occurred in 1970. She performed in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, then finally New York, where she first appeared alongside Martina Arroyo in Verdi's ''Messa da Requiem'' in Carnegie Hall. Both La Scala and the Metropolitan scheduled her, the first in ''Samson et Dalila'', the other in ''Carmen''. In Milan, succeeding Shirley Verrett's Dalila, Cortez was asked by the opera management and conductor Georges Pretre to consider an extra performance, an exceptional decision of the theatre following the enormous success of her first appearance with the house. In New York, Richard Tucker, her Don Jose for the debut night, hailed her as one of the most attractive and convincing Carmens he has ever sung with.
From then on, Cortez's career covered every major opera house in the world. Claudio Abbado invited her for the Verdi Requiem at La Scala, along with
Plácido Domingo and
Nicolai Ghiaurov. The celebrated Bulgarian bass was her partner for Massenet's freshly revived opera, ''Don Quichotte'', both in Paris and Chicago, the Parisian
mise en scène being assigned to
Peter Ustinov
Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (born Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov ; 16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, filmmaker and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits ...
. In Chicago, Cortez was a commanding and electrifying Elisabetta in ''Maria Stuarda'' opposite
Montserrat Caballé (1973). The friendship and mutual respect between the two divas represented a milestone in Cortez's career. For ''Norma'' and ''Maria Stuarda'', as well as for ''Don Carlo'' and ''Il Trovatore'', the Catalan soprano and the Romanian mezzo-soprano were scheduled together in Lisbon, Naples, Nice, Vienna, Cologne, Madrid and La Scala (''Norma'', 1974) and at the Met (''Il Trovatore'', 1973).
In 1972, Viorica Cortez acceded to the Arena di Verona "hall of fame", interpreting Amneris opposite the Radames of
Franco Corelli
Franco Corelli (8 April 1921 – 29 October 2003) was an Italian tenor who had a major international opera career between 1951 and 1976. Associated in particular with the spinto and dramatic tenor roles of the Italian repertory, he was cel ...
. In the following years, she would become a favourite of the notoriously picky audience of what is Italy's most demanding opera festival.
In 1975, having become a French citizen, she returned to her long-missed Bucharest for a recital at the Atheneum.
Cortez felt at home both in the Italian and French repertoire. She portrayed a rapturous Dalila (Teatro Sao Carlos, Lisabona - 1975, Grand Opera, Paris - 1978), a powerful, intense Azucena (Metropolitan, New York - 1973, 1977, 1978, Grand Opera, Paris - 1975, Staatsoper, Vienna - 1973, 1974, 1976, Teatro alla Scala, Milan - 1978), a fragile Charlotte in Massenet's ''Werther'', almost always with
Alfredo Kraus, who named her his "absolute favourite Charlotte", a dramatic Eboli, notably in Vienna, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Bilbao and for La Scala Bicentennial - 1978, a delicate and interiorised Marguerite in Berlioz's ''La Damnation de Faust'' (Paris, Verona), and a sovereign and shining Amneris (La Scala, Milan - 1973, Arena di Verona - 1977, Metropolitan, New York - 1979).
Nevertheless, her repertory widened every year. She was a shockingly tempestuous Klitemnestra in Richard Strauss' ''Elektra'' opposite Birgit Nillson (Rome, 1971). She felt no boundaries or shyness in jumping from one composer to another, mixing Monteverdi (''L'Incoronazione di Poppea'', Naples, 1976) with Giordano (''Fedora'', Bologna, 1977), Stravinsky (''Oedipus Rex'', La Scala, Milan, 1972, 1973, 1980) with Mussorgsky (''Boris Godunov'', Paris, 1980), Rossini (''Tancredi'', Martina Franca, 1976) with Lalo (''Le Roi d'Ys'', Nancy, 1979).
Career of the 1980s
During the 1970s, Viorica Cortez went from one opera to another, across the world, singing Dalila in Paris one day, Azucena in Milan the next, and Giulietta in Chicago the following week. This intensity was about to take its toll.
At the beginning of the '80s, Cortez's voice seemed to be slowly but surely deteriorating. Critiques and objections became more and more frequent. Still, as the contracts were signed five years in advance, she had to sing. She was forced to cancel some ''L'Hérodiade'' performances in Avignon, some others in Marseille, and she searched for support besides her family and her vocal trainer. Recovering, she returned to the stage after a couple of months, more cautious, more balanced, decided to abandon the tremendous turmoil of the past. She became quite selective in arranging her schedule. For almost four years, she was rarely in Europe, due to her long-term Metropolitan engagements (''Samson et Dalila'' - 1981, ''Il Trovatore'', ''Les Contes d'Hoffmann'', ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' - 1982, 1983, 1984). She starred in some, star-directed productions in Paris (''Nabucco'', alongside Grace Bumbry and Sherrill Milnes - 1979, Jorge Lavelli's ''Oedipus Rex'' - 1979, Joseph Losey's ''Boris Godunov'' - 1980 or Sonja Frissell's ''Un ballo in maschera'', alongside José Carreras - 1981).
In 1984, she was a vehement Klitemnestra in Regina Resnik's San Francisco Opera production of ''Elektra''. She sang in Denver, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Bagdad, Tokyo, Osaka, and Amsterdam, but she also returned to stages such as L'Arena di Verona (''La Gioconda'' and ''Aida'' - 1988), Grand Opera, Paris (Herodias in Richard Strauss' ''Salome'' in the fascinating mise-en-scene of her dear Jorge Lavelli), Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (''Il Trovatore'', ''La Gioconda'', ''Les Contes d'Hoffmann'', ''Il Matrimonio Segreto'' - 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989), Teatro Comunale di Bologna (''Un Ballo in maschera'' with Luciano Pavarotti - 1989). Still in 1989, she awed Paris, this time as La Star in Zygmund Krause's eponymous opera, directed by
Jorge Lavelli. The former editor in chief of ''Opera International'', Sergio Segalini, called her "diva assolutta".
Basis for a new career: the 1990s
From the middle of the 1980s, Cortez, extremely conscious of the status of an artist of her calibre, started to abandon the prima donna roles in favour of more mature, real-life and age correspondent parts. She sang her last Eboli in 1982, her last Giulietta and Dalila in 1987, and her last Amneris in 1988. For someone who had been hailed "the most beautiful mezzo-soprano in the world" it required refinement and elegance to maintain that image. She then alternated her signature roles with the ones that would become the landmarks of her new repertoire: La Cieca in ''La Gioconda'' (Verona, Barcelona), Madame Flora in Menotti's ''Medium'' (Paris, Catania), Zia Principessa in ''Suor Angelica'' (Nice, Madrid, Bilbao, Lisbon), La Marquise de Berkenfield in ''La Fille du Regiment'' (Torino, Oviedo, Madrid, Monte-Carlo, Strasbourg), Anaide in Leoncavallo's ''Zaza'' (Palermo), Ulrica in ''Un Ballo in maschera'' (Barcelona, Genova), Madame de Croissy in "Les Dialogues des Carmelites" (Avignon, Vichy), Quickly in "Falstaff" (Bordeaux, Buenos Aires, Hamburg). Her acting abilities, as well as the richness of her voice, made her a sought after mezzo for composition roles (character roles), a trend she followed for the next decade of her career.
Equally important, Cortez was able to sing in her native country again, after 20 years of exile. She appeared in numerous benefit galas and concerts and gave recitals in Bucharest and Iasi, as well as opera performances ("Carmen" in Iasi - 1991, "Il Trovatore" at the National Opera in Bucharest - 1992).
The 2000s
At the beginning of 2001, coming from Iaşi, the car her husband was driving crashed violently into a tree, killing the driver and seriously hurting the mezzo-soprano. After almost six months of recovery, she returned to the stage (La Comtesse de Coigny and Madelon in
Giordano's ''
Andrea Chénier
''Andrea Chénier'' () is a verismo opera in four acts by Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed on 28 March 1896 at La Scala, Milan. The story is based loosely on the life of the French poet Andr ...
'' in
Seville), determined to pursue her career. Her comeback was emotionally highlighted by the Spanish press. Subsequently, as a confirmation of the very special relationship between the singer and the Spanish audience, she concentrated most of her career in Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, and Bilbao, without neglecting offers from Italy or France. At the Gran Teatre del Liceu, she added to her repertoire a role she had been dreaming of since the 80s: The Old Countess from
Tchaikovsky's ''
The Queen of Spades'', which she reprised in Madrid (Teatro Real, 2004). She later sang Buryovka in
Janáček's ''
Jenůfa'' in Barcelona (2005), where she also opened the 2007-2008 season as la Comtesse/Madelon. Again in 2008, Viorica Cortez made her return to the Monte-Carlo Opera (Starenka Buryovka in Janáček's ''Jenůfa''). She also reprised one of her best recent characters, Madame de Croissy, in ''Les Dialogues des Carmelites'', for the opening of the 2008-2009 season at Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, in the famed production of
Robert Carsen. The performances were highly acclaimed by the press. Later on, she was to debut with Teatro del Maggio in Florence (''Cavalleria rusticana''). In 2009, Viorica Cortez starred in the creation of a new opera (''Une affaire etrangere'') in Montpellier. Cortez is scheduled to return on stage in ''Cavalleria Rusticana'' for the 2010-2011 season of the Marseille Opera.
Carmen
"Carmen du siecle" - this is what the French press was headlining in the 1970s. Without any doubt, Cortez was one of the most sought-after Carmens of the 1970s and '80s. She sang the opera 278 times, more than
Gianna Pederzini
Gianna Pederzini (10 February 1900 - 12 March 1988) was an Italian mezzo-soprano.
Pederzini was born in Trento. She studied in Naples with Fernando de Lucia, and made her stage debut in Messina, as Preziosilla, in 1923. She sang widely in Ita ...
or
Giulietta Simionato, and since her big Covent Garden break (1968), she relentlessly deepened the character, almost identifying herself with Mérimée's and Bizet's heroine. The critics applauded her creamy, very extended voice, able to cover all three registers, her exquisite technique, her refinement in the French way of punctuating, as well as her breathtaking beauty and charisma on stage. With Carmen, Viorica Cortez entered the exclusive club of opera stars. She sang the role at La Scala (1972, with Giuseppe di Stefano),
Metropolitan Opera (1971, 1979),
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1968, 1969, 1974), Grand Opera, Paris (1970), Staatsoper, Vienna (1970, 1971, 1973, 1976), Arena di Verona (1975, 1980), but also in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Salzburg, Bilbao, Oviedo, Rome, Trieste, Bologna, Chicago, Naples, Toulouse, Beograd, Piacenza, Rio de Janeiro, Pistoia, Montreal, Lille, Avignon, Málaga, Genova, Philadelphia, Strasbourg, San Antonio, Seattle, Lisbon, Messina, Lausanne, Bucharest, etc. Her last "Carmen" was in her native Iaşi, in 1991.
Discography
Viorica Cortez arrived in Western Europe when all the major recording labels had exclusive contracts with more famous mezzo-sopranos. Thus, Cortez had to content herself with sporadic recordings. The first international one, made for EMI France, was maybe another missed step: Mercedes in "Carmen" alongside Grace Bumbry, Jon Vickers, Mirella Freni and Kostas Paskalis, under the baton of Raphael Fruhbeck de Burgos. By that time, Cortez had already sung the role at Covent Garden and all over France, being a demanded Carmen herself. She then had the chance of recording Azucena in ''Il Trovatore'' with Bruno Bartoletti and Maddalena in ''Rigoletto'' with Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, both operas being filmed for German television. A celebrated recording was that of ''
Il Cappello di Paglia di Firenze'' by the world-famous film music composer
Nino Rota. In 1977, Cortez recorded in Luxembourg her one and only aria recital, which won the Grand Prize of Académie Lyrique du Disque in France. It was later released as a CD. The lack of official recordings kept Cortez one step behind her illustruous colleagues Fiorenza Cossotto, Grace Bumbry, Shirley Verrett or Elena Obraztsova. Fortunately, the last decade brought a flourishing of in-house live recordings: ''Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio'' (Bologna, 1977), ''Aida'' (Vienna, 1973, Denver, 1986), ''Elektra'' (Rome, 1971), ''Norma'' (Naples, 1973, Caracas, 1975), ''Maria Stuarda'' (Chicago, 1973), ''Il trovatore'' (Paris 1975, New York 1978, 1981), ''La favorita'' (Genova, 1976), ''Don Carlo'' (Milan, 1978), ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' (New York, 1983), ''Gioconda'' (Verona, 1988), ''Suor Angelica'' (Madrid, 1993), ''Zaza'' (Palermo, 1994), ''La fille du régiment''" (Madrid, 1996), ''Les contes d'Hoffmann'' (Orange, 2002), ''Jenůfa'' (Barcelona, 2005).
Personal life
Viorica Cortez was married three times: first, to the Romanian sculptor Marcel Guguianu, then to the French composer
Emmanuel Bondeville, former manager of the Paris Opera and Opéra Comique, and finally to the Romanian-born historian Adolf Armbruster. From the first marriage, the singer has one daughter - Catalina.
References
Sources
* Adolf Armbruster - "Viorica Cortez. Enciclopedia unei cariere", Editura Enciclopedica, Bucuresti, 1994
*
Metropolitan OperaViorica Cortez performance record MetOpera Database
*
Alain Pâris
Alain Pâris (born 22 November 1947) is a French conductor and musicologist.
Biography
Born in Paris, Alain Pâris was trained as a pianist and has a law degree. He studied conducting with Pierre Dervaux, Paul Paray and Georg Solti and won the ...
, ''Le dictionnaire des interprètes'',
Éditions Robert Laffont, 1989.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cortez, Viorica
1935 births
Living people
National University of Music Bucharest alumni
Romanian emigrants to France
20th-century Romanian women opera singers
Romanian operatic mezzo-sopranos
Musicians from Iași
Romanian people of Spanish descent
Naturalized citizens of France