I was reading a few days ago about the first Romanian honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy, and it reminded me of the wonderful artistic family of Radu Varia – who is the first member of the aforementioned society - and his wife, the well known soprano Mariana Nicolesco. They are both currently very appreciated among members of European artistic life, and they are two famous Romanians we should know a little more about.

Radu Varia was born in 1940 in the city of Iasi, which is usually considered as the traditional historical and cultural capital of Moldavia. After graduating the University of Bucharest, he got a PhD in the History of Art and Civilization from the University of Paris. Varia wrote essays and books about the famous Romanian artist Constantin Brancusi, which were first published in New York and then in Paris and Tokyo; he set up exhibitions of Horia Damian, a French painter and sculptor of Romanian origin, in the most important museums in the world, among those, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Musee National d’Art Moderne (Centre Pompidou) in Paris. He collaborated in preparing the 1974 opening of the Dali Museum in Figueras, Spain, as Dali’s good friend. In fact, in 1972 Salvator Dali dedicated a poem to Varia.

Radu Varia has lectured widely since the 1970s, including at an afternoon tutorial held by Marshall McLuhan at the University of Toronto, at Waseda University in Tokyo, at the Museum der Weltkulturen in Frankfurt, at the Romanian Academy in Bucharest and at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. He has several important awards, such as the Knight of the Legion of Honor (2000), Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity (2005), the Romanian Order of Cultural Merit (2011), the Silver Medal of the Royal Scottish Academy. In 2012, Radu Varia became the first Romanian member of the Royal Scottish Academy.

Mariana Nicolesco was born in 1948 in a small village in Giurgiu County, in Southern Romania near the border with Bulgaria. She studied violin at the Music High School in Brasov and canto at the Music Conservatory in Cluj. She won a scholarship to the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, where she studied voice with Jolanda Magnoni.Later on, with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Rodolfo Celletti. 1972, the year of her graduation, was also the beginning of a long and very famous career for Mariana Nicolesco. She performed in famous operas houses at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma (Luchino Visconti’s invitation), Metropolitan Opera in New York, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona or the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich as well as in prestigious concert halls like Carnegie Hall in New York, Royal Festival Hall in London, Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Musikverein in Vienna, Salle Pleyel in Paris and the Great Conservatory Hall in Moscow.

Mariana Nicolesco took part in great music festivals such as Salzburg Festival, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Martina Franca Festival in Italy or Casals Festival in Puerto Rico. Invited by Pope John Paul II, she sung Romanian Carols in the First Christmas Concert in the Vatican (1993) which was followed through Mondovisione by one billion people. She performed the soprano part, composed for her voice, in the world premiere, in 1997, of Krzysztof Penderecki’s “Seven Gates of Jerusalem”, presented for the three thousand years of the Holy City.

Mariana Nicolesco created the Romanian National Festival and Song Competition, celebrating the International George Enescu Year (2005) proclaimed by UNESCO with the world premiere of the great composer’s complete songs in Japan at the World Exhibition in Aichi, then in Tokyo and Nagoya , as well as in Prague, Rome, Paris and New York.. She initiated the Hariclea Darclee International Voice Competition and Festival at Braila, offering young artists the opportunity to attend Master Classes. Mariana Nicolesco has a very rich discography containing her best performances on the works of Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini, Verdi, Puccini, Meyerbeer or Ravel.

She received national and international awards and she is a member of various prestigious cultural and educational institutions. In 2005, she was named UNESCO Artist for Peace.An Honorary Member of the Romanian Academy since 1993 she was awarded the Order of the Star of Romania in the Rank of Grand Cross (2008) and is Officer of the Order of the Arts and Letters in France (2000)

In 2004 she was elected the Most Successful Woman in Romania and in 2007 she was conferred the Special Award Kultur Preis Europa Medal in Sibiu, European Capital of Culture.

By Mariana Ganea, guest writer

(photo source: Haricleea Darclee competition website)