Elena "Nina" Dan (née Burlacu, 1967–1996) was a Romanian opera singer.

Biography

Elena Burlacu was born in 1967 in

Adjud Adjud (; ) is a city in Vrancea County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It has a population of 15,178 inhabitants (as of 2021). It lies at a railway junction which has a classification yard and a passenger station. Adjud, situated north of the poin ...

, Romania. She was the younger sister and only sibling of

Angela Gheorghiu Angela Gheorghiu (; ; born 7 September 1965) is a Romanian soprano, especially known for her performances in the operas of Puccini and Verdi, widely recognised by critics and opera lovers as one of the greatest sopranos of all time. Embarking ...

. She joined Angela at the music boarding school in

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 ...

and also graduated from the

National University of Music Bucharest The National University of Music Bucharest (, UNMB) is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in 1931, it has functioned as a public university since ...

. She made her international debut in

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera ...

's ''

L'elisir d'amore ''L'elisir d'amore'' (; ''The Elixir of Love'') is a (comic melodrama, opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's (1831). ...

'' at

Opéra National de Lyon The Opéra National de Lyon (), marketed as Opéra de Lyon during the last decade, is an opera company in Lyon, based and performing mostly at the Opéra Nouvel, an 1831 theater that was modernized and architecturally transformed in 1993. Histo ...

in 1996. The opera was filmed and recorded and was made and is still available on DVD and CD. Angela and Elena were, as Angela puts it 'inseparable, like twins'. In 1994, Angela Gheorgiu described Elena as follows: 'she is more beautiful than I and sings even better!'.Matheopoulos, H., 'Diva: the New Generation' (Northeastern University Press, 1998), p.88 Angela dedicated her 'Mysterium' recording to her sister. Elena Dan died in 1996 in an accident. Angela Gheorghiu commented, "she was more than a sister to me... She was only a year younger. We were inseparable almost like twins, although she was blonde and green-eyed. She was another me. But, of course, it's worse for my mother. She is really very badly hit." Elena Dan married a doctor, Andrei Dan, whilst still attending the National University of Music in Bucharest. In 1990, she and Andrei had a daughter called Ioana. After Andrei's death in 2001, Ioana was adopted by her sister, Angela Gheorghiu. Ioana now lives in the UK and is a university student.

Recordings

*Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore (Alagna, Gheorghiu, Scaltriti, Alaimo, Dan / Pido, Lyon Opera) CD - complete recording (Decca, 1997) *Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore (Alagna, Gheorghiu, Scaltriti, Alaimo, Dan / Pido, Lyon Opera) DVD (Decca, 1997) *Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore (Alagna, Gheorghiu, Scaltriti, Alaimo, Dan / Pido, Lyon Opera) DVD Special Edition with Highlights CD (Decca, 2002)

References

External links

Angela Gheorghiu fansite with information about Elena Dan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dan, Elena 1967 births 1996 deaths Romanian operatic sopranos Road incident deaths in Romania National University of Music Bucharest alumni People from Adjud 20th-century Romanian women opera singers