Ruxandra Donose (born 2 September 1964, 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 ...

) is a Romanian operatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

. Donose studied singing with

Georgeta Stoleriu Georgeta Stoleriu (born 19 January 1946) is a Romanian soprano who has had a career in opera and as a music educator. She has won numerous singing awards and medals, and her students have received multiple honors. She established the Yolanda Marc ...

at the

Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory 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 ...

, where she graduated in 1989. In 1990 she was the runner up at the

ARD International Music Competition The ARD International Music Competition () is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and is held once a year in Munich, usually in September. Since its inception in 1952, it h ...

. After this, she had her first engagement abroad, in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. In 1992 she became a member of the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

. From there, she developed a fast-paced international career, as an opera singer (

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

Opéra Bastille The Opéra Bastille (, "Bastille Opera House") is a modern opera house in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. Inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand's '' Grands Travaux'', it became the main facility of the Paris N ...

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival () is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer, for five weeks starting in late July, in Salzburg, Austria, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart's operas are a focus of ...

etc.) and also as an interpreter for

Lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

and

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

. Donose is considered a distinguished

bel canto , )—with several similar constructions (, , , pronounced in English as )—is a term with several meanings that relate to Italian singing, and whose definitions have often been misunderstood. ''Bel canto'' was not only seen as a vocal technique ...

singer, but also one of the leading interpreters of the French and the Mozartian mezzo-soprano repertoire.A tale of two Carmens: Ruxandra Donose's Rosenblatt Recital, Bachtrack, review, 7 Oct. 2014
/ref> Her voice is "marked by a dark, warm tone, extreme mobility and light, shining heights". About her live recording with Rossini's ''

La cenerentola ("Cinderella, or Goodness Triumphant") is an operatic in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, based on the libretti written by Charles-Guillaume Étienne for the opera '' Cendrillon'' with music by Nico ...

'', in the title role, at Glyndebourne festival 2005, Barry Brenesal notes: "However, I will single out only Ruxandra Donose for praise. Hers is a dusky mezzo, even in coloration, volume, and support across the registers. The voice is able to handle exacting coloratura without any aspiration or evidence of strain. Her forthright, focused attack in her final aria ("''Non più mesta''") brought memories of

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Berneice Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient ...

in the 1970s; and like Horne, Donose builds her part from the text, not by working around it." (fro
''Fanfare Magazine''
Donose lives with her husband and two children in

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. ...

. She is currently working on her doctorate thesis.

Discography

*200
Rossini: La Cenerentola / Jurowski, Donose, Glyndebourne Festival (Blu-ray)
Label: Opus Arte. *200
Ruxandra Donose: The Songs of Nicolae Bretan, Vol. I
MP3 Album

References

External links

*

on Bach Cantatas Website
Ruxandra Donose
at

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

Ruxandra Donose
at

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...

Cheryl North interview with Ruxandra DonoseRuxandra Donose
at Intermusica.co.uk
La Cenerentola by Rossini, live recording with Donose at Glyndebourne, 2005
1964 births Living people Musicians from Bucharest Romanian operatic mezzo-sopranos Romanian expatriates in Austria National University of Music Bucharest alumni 20th-century Romanian women opera singers 21st-century Romanian women opera singers {{Romania-opera-singer-stub Prize-winners of the ARD International Music Competition