Dona Dumitru Siminică (13 September 1926 – 27 November 1979) was a Romanian violinist and singer of

lăutărească music Lăutărească music (, ) is a musical tradition widespread in the historical regions of Romania (Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania. Its performers, known as lăutari, are professional musicians, typically of Romani origin, who play at wedding ...

. He recorded prolifically for the Romanian state record label

Electrecord Electrecord is a Romanian record label which was founded in 1932 being a major company in the field of music production in Romania, particularly popular for the large number of LPs released on the Romanian music market. Among the musicians who ...

from the late 1950s until the end of his life.See Dona Dumitru Siminică's discography in Romanian Wikipedia and on .

Biography

Siminică was born in Teiș near

Târgoviște Târgoviște (, alternatively spelled ''Tîrgoviște'') is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Dâmbovița County, Romania. It is situated north-west of Bucharest, on the right bank of the Ialomița (river), Ialomița River. Târgoviște was ...

, a small villages not far from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romania. He was the son of a

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

violinist named Nicolae Siminică, from whom he also learned to play the violin. His father also worked in construction, a trade which Dona Dumitru trained in as well. It was to work in construction that the family relocated to Bucharest. In the mid-1940s, at age 18 Siminică became the leader of a lăutar music group in the Piața Amzei and then after five years he led another in the Piața Sfantul Gheorghe. He became known for his immense repertoire of vocal and instrumental music, including XIX century court music and other rare pieces inherited from his family. In 1956, he made his first appearances performing on the radio. In 1958, he then made his first recording for the state record label

in 1958, accompanied by the orchestra of . Thereafter, he recorded a long list of

78rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

and 33rpm singles at Electrecord with the orchestras of , Nicolae Băluță, Ion Mărgean, and others. During this time, he also collaborated with other singers such as , Maria Tănase or Gabi Luncă. It was only in 1979 that he finally recorded a full-length LP album ''Inel, inel de aur'' with the orchestra of Nicolae Stan. Robert Garfias mentions thin high pitched voices of several urban Roma singers in Romania, Dona Dumitru Siminică among them, as "something for which there is no known precedent in Romanian folk music and yet something not unusual in old Greek-Turkish popular music." He died of a heart attack on 27 November 1979 in his apartment in Bucharest. He was 53 years old.

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siminică, Dona Dumitru Lăutari and lăutărească music Romanian Romani people People from Dâmbovița County 20th-century Romanian male singers 20th-century Romanian singers 1926 births 1979 deaths