Hariclea Darclée (born Hariclea Haricli; June 10, 1860–January 12, 1939) was a celebrated Romanian operatic soprano. She possessed an agile, powerful, and beautiful voice that was wielded with a fine technique. An extremely handsome woman, Darclée's stage presence was as elegant and refined as her singing. Although universally admired, she displayed a coldness of temperament that at times diminished her conviction in the more passionate verismo repertory. A singer of prodigous talent, her repertoire ranged from coloratura soprano roles to heavier Verdi roles, including many in the Franco-Italian lyric repertory. Throughout her career she participated in several world premieres, including originating the title roles in Puccini's Tosca, Mascagni's Iris, and Catalani's La Wally.

Contents 1 Career 2 Recordings 3 Sources 4 External links

[edit] Career

Darclée was born in Brăila to a family with Greek roots. Her father, Ion Haricli, was a landlord in the Teleorman district. Her mother, born Aslan, was a relative of the noble Mavrocordatos family. The family lived for a while in the town of Turnu Măgurele in southern Romania. She began her studies at Conservatoire of music in Iaşi, making her professional appearances as a concert performer in 1884. She continued her studies in Paris under Jean-Baptiste Faure. She married a young officer, Iorgu Hartulari, and became known for a while as Hariclea Hartulari-Darclée, Darclée being the nom de théâtre she adopted when she made her debut at the Paris Opéra in 1888 as Marguerite in Charles Gounod's Faust. In 1889, she replaced Adelina Patti as Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, to increasing acclaim.

In 1890 Darclée scored a great success in her La Scala debut as Chimène in Massenet’s Le Cid, and was immediately engaged by all the leading Italian theatres. Highlights of her later career in Italy from 1890 on included the world-premières of the part of Odalea in Antônio Carlos Gomes' Condor at La Scala in Milan in 1891, the title-role in Alfredo Catalani's La Wally at the same theater in 1892, Luisa in Mascagni's I Rantzau at the Teatro della Pergola in 1892, and the title roles in Pietro Mascagni's Iris and Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, both at Teatro Costanzi in Rome in 1899 and 1900, respectively. Between 1893 and 1910 she appeared frequently in Moscow, St Petersburg, Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid and Buenos Aires. She was very popular in Spain and South America, where she participated in many local premières of new operas by Puccini, Mascagni and Massenet. Among the many roles she portrayed are Gilda in Rigoletto, Ophélie in Hamlet, Valentine in Les Huguenots, Violetta in La traviata, Desdemona in Otello, Mimì in La boheme, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, and the title roles in Manon, Manon Lescaut, Aida, and Carmen. The last performance of her career was as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Teatro Lirico in Milan in 1918.

Darclée was the mother of composer Ion Hartulary Darclée (1886-1969) who was known particularly as a writer of operettas. Both she and her son are buried at Bellu cemetery, in Bucharest.

Started in 1997, the Hariclea Darclée National Voice Competition is held every two years in Brăila.

[edit] Recordings

She made only a handful of recordings for Fonotipia in 1905, all exceedingly rare.

[edit] Sources

• Darclée website

[edit] External links

• The First Hariclea Darclée International Canto Contest
• Hariclea Darclée International Voice Competition

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