Yolanda Marculescu (also Yolanda Marculescu-Stern; 2 April 1923 â€" 19
December 1992) was a Romanian American coloratura soprano and diva of
the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest from 1948 to 1968. Fleeing
the communist bloc, Marculescu became a naturalized American citizen
in 1974. In the United States she founded the International Festival
of the Art Song at the University of Wisconsinâ€"Milwaukee in 1981.
The festival was held biennially until her death in 1992.Iolanda
Mărculescu was born on 2 April 1923 in Bucharest, Romania to a family
of Wallachian boyars. She studied at the Conservatory of Bucharest
under the direction of the tenor Constantin Stroescu. When she was
twenty years old, she joined the Romanian State Radio Chorus Ensemble.
At the end of World War II, she joined the Romanian National Opera in
Bucharest and by 1948 was the leading soprano.Mărculescu married
Sandu Stern, who was the first violinist of the Bucharest Symphony
Orchestra and of Jewish heritage. She was the prima donna of the
Bucharest Opera for 20 years, appearing in more than 1500
performances. She starred extensively throughout Europe and the Far
East in engagements in Austria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Finland,
Hungary, Poland, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, as well as China and
Vietnam. Some of her most noted roles were as the title role in Lakmé
by Léo Delibes; Despina in Così fan tutte, Susanna in The Marriage
of Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni by Mozart; and Lisetta in Amorul
doctor by Pascal Bentoiu. Besides Susanna, her personal favorite roles
included Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville; Gilda in Rigoletto
and Nannetta in Falstaff, both by Verdi. Her specialty was singing
lieder. In addition to performance, she taught voice at the Bucharest
Music Academy from 1962 to 1968.Shortly after Nicolae Ceaușescu
assumed control of the State Council in December 1967, becoming de
jure head of state of Romania, Mărculescu and Stern began making
plans to leave. It took from March to August 1968 to obtain the
tourists visas from Romania, but they were unable to secure permission
for Mărculescu's mother. The couple fled with her husband's mother to
Austria and their defection branded them as enemies of the state.
Convicted of treason, they were sentenced to twenty years in prison
should they return, forcing friends and relatives to distance
themselves or face persecution. Her records and television recordings
were destroyed, though a few managed to survive. When they left, she
had just recorded an album containing arias of Bizet, Gounod, Mozart
and Rossini. She was surprised that it was pressed, but received
copies of it from friends, though it was banned on the radio. With the
assistance of the Viennese branch of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society,
and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee they relocated to
the United States, in October 1968, first settling in Chicago, where
Marculescu taught at Roosevelt University.
December 1992) was a Romanian American coloratura soprano and diva of
the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest from 1948 to 1968. Fleeing
the communist bloc, Marculescu became a naturalized American citizen
in 1974. In the United States she founded the International Festival
of the Art Song at the University of Wisconsinâ€"Milwaukee in 1981.
The festival was held biennially until her death in 1992.Iolanda
Mărculescu was born on 2 April 1923 in Bucharest, Romania to a family
of Wallachian boyars. She studied at the Conservatory of Bucharest
under the direction of the tenor Constantin Stroescu. When she was
twenty years old, she joined the Romanian State Radio Chorus Ensemble.
At the end of World War II, she joined the Romanian National Opera in
Bucharest and by 1948 was the leading soprano.Mărculescu married
Sandu Stern, who was the first violinist of the Bucharest Symphony
Orchestra and of Jewish heritage. She was the prima donna of the
Bucharest Opera for 20 years, appearing in more than 1500
performances. She starred extensively throughout Europe and the Far
East in engagements in Austria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Finland,
Hungary, Poland, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, as well as China and
Vietnam. Some of her most noted roles were as the title role in Lakmé
by Léo Delibes; Despina in Così fan tutte, Susanna in The Marriage
of Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni by Mozart; and Lisetta in Amorul
doctor by Pascal Bentoiu. Besides Susanna, her personal favorite roles
included Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville; Gilda in Rigoletto
and Nannetta in Falstaff, both by Verdi. Her specialty was singing
lieder. In addition to performance, she taught voice at the Bucharest
Music Academy from 1962 to 1968.Shortly after Nicolae Ceaușescu
assumed control of the State Council in December 1967, becoming de
jure head of state of Romania, Mărculescu and Stern began making
plans to leave. It took from March to August 1968 to obtain the
tourists visas from Romania, but they were unable to secure permission
for Mărculescu's mother. The couple fled with her husband's mother to
Austria and their defection branded them as enemies of the state.
Convicted of treason, they were sentenced to twenty years in prison
should they return, forcing friends and relatives to distance
themselves or face persecution. Her records and television recordings
were destroyed, though a few managed to survive. When they left, she
had just recorded an album containing arias of Bizet, Gounod, Mozart
and Rossini. She was surprised that it was pressed, but received
copies of it from friends, though it was banned on the radio. With the
assistance of the Viennese branch of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society,
and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee they relocated to
the United States, in October 1968, first settling in Chicago, where
Marculescu taught at Roosevelt University.
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