Narcis Iustin Ianău (; born February 24, 1995, in

Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

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

Românii au talent ''Românii au 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 Simco Limited. The show is hosted by Smiley and Pavel Bartoș, while the opening jud ...

'' and becoming the runner-up.

Childhood and youth

Narcis was born on February 24, 1995, in Barați, Bacău as the son of Eduard and Felicia Ianău. 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 known as male soprano) is a male singer who is able to sing in vocal tessitura of a soprano, usually through falsetto or head voice technique. This voice type is a specific kind of countertenor. In rare cases an adult man may b ...

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 Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

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 (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...

. 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 co ...

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 may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

'' 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 () 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 Romanian Opera was officially opened on 18 Sep ...

'') 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 plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

-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 who has been active since 1977. During his prolific 50-year career, Witt has released 20 studio albums and a further 8 compilation and live albums as a solo artist. Early i ...

. 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 (Måns Zelmerlöw song), Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organis ...

. They achieved fifth place. From the beginning until the middle of 2016, Narcis was with 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 was 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 21st-century Romanian singers