Mihaela Ursuleasa (27 September 1978 – 2 August 2012) was a

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. In 1995, she won the

Clara Haskil International Piano Competition The Clara Haskil Piano Competition (French: Concours international de piano Clara Haskil) was founded in 1963 in order to honour and perpetuate the memory the Romanian-Swiss pianist Clara Haskil. The competition is a member of the World Federat ...

Biography

Ursuleasa began playing the piano at the age of five under the tutelage of her

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

father, a jazz musician. In 1990, at the age of 12, she obtained a grant to study in Vienna. She went on to perform at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, with the

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre National de France (; ; abbr. ONF) is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France since 1975), the ONF performs mainly in the Grand ...

, as well as with the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

. In 2000, she received an honorable mention at the

XIV International Chopin Piano Competition The XIV International Chopin Piano Competition () was held from 4 to 22 October 2000 in Warsaw. Li Yundi of China won the First Prize, becoming the first Chinese pianist and youngest first-prize winner. He was the first competitor to be awarded ...

. In 2010, she was awarded the Echo Klassik award for her debut album ''Piano & Forte''. She released her second album, ''Romanian Rhapsody'' in 2011.

Death

Ursuleasa was found dead in her

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

home on 2 August 2012 of a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

. She was 33. She is interred at the

Bellu Cemetery Șerban Vodă Cemetery (commonly known as Bellu Cemetery) is the largest and most famous cemetery in Bucharest, Romania. It is located on a plot of land donated to the local administration by Baron Barbu Bellu. It has been in use since 1858. T ...

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 ...

. Ursuleasa was memorialised by her musician colleagues, such as the violist, Maxim Rysanov, who paid homage to Ursuleasa with his 2012 album "PAVANE" and reckoned her as a wonderful musician and a very special person.The booklet of the album "PAVANE"
by Maxim Rysanov and Ashley Wass, released by BIS in 2012

Discography

Solo albums

* 2010: ''Piano & Forte'' (Berlin Classics) **featuring Ludwig van Beethoven's ''32 variations on an original theme'', WoO 80;

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

' ''Three Intermezzi'', Op. 117;

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

's ''Gaspard de la nuit'';

Alberto Ginastera Alberto Evaristo Ginastera (; April 11, 1916June 25, 1983) was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered to be one of the most important 20th-century classical music, 20th-century classical composers of the Americas. Biography G ...

's first piano sonata, Op. 22; and

Paul Constantinescu Paul Constantinescu (; 30 June 1909, Ploiești – 20 December 1963) was a Romanian composer. Two of his main influences are Romanian folk music and Byzantine chant, both of which he used in his teaching. One of his students was composer Margar ...

's ''Joc dobrogean'' * 2011: ''Romanian Rhapsody'' (Berlin Classics)—featuring violinist Gilles Apap. ** featuring

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanians, Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor, teacher and statesman. He is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history. Biography En ...

's ''Romanian Rhapsody No. 1'', Op. 11, No. 1; Paul Constantinescu's ''Suite for Piano'';

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

's ''Three Piano Pieces'', D.946;

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

's ''Two Romanian Dances'', Op. 8a, Sz. 43, and ''Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 2'', Sz. 90.

Ensemble albums

* 1995: ''XVIth Clara Haskil Competition 1995'' with the Orchestre De Chambre De Lausanne & Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conducting. (Claves Records) ** featuring

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major'', K. 271, "Jeunehomme" and

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's ''Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major'', Op. 73, "Emperor". * 2010: ''Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Rapsodia'' (Naïve)--featuring violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja,

cimbalom The cimbalom, cimbal (; ) or concert cimbalom is a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box on legs with metal strings stretched across its top and a damping pedal underneath. It was designed and created by József Schunda, V. ...

ist Viktor Kopatchinsky, violinist Emilia Kopatchinskaja, pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa

References

1978 births 2012 deaths Romanian classical pianists Musicians from Brașov Musicians from Vienna Romanian Romani people Romani musicians Burials at Bellu Cemetery 20th-century Romanian classical pianists Romanian women classical pianists 20th-century Romanian women pianists 20th-century Romanian pianists {{Romania-musician-stub