Hariclea Darclée, the world's end 19th and early 20th century greatest soprano, rose to international glory and dazzled audiences in the world's most famous opera houses, making the name of Romania, a freshly independent European state, universally known. She won over the audiences, heads of state and important personalities of the time, as well as great contemporary composers who wrote operas especially for her to sing in premiere performances.

Throughout her career, Darclée sang at La Scala in Milan 116 times.

The one who was to become one of the world's most celebrated sopranos was born in the Danube town of Braila on June 10, 1860, to Ion Haricli - a large Teleorman County landowner with Greek ancestry, and Maria Haricli (née Aslan) - a direct granddaughter of princess Raluca Mavrocordat.

In her hometown, also called "the town with 2000 pianos", Darclée met composer George Cavadia who advised her to take singing lessons with Italian tenor Luigi Ademollo, settled in Braila. At Cavadia's encouragement, on March 25, 1881 Darclée debuted on the stage of the Rally Theater in Braila, in a concert organized by the Greek Embassy in Bucharest.

George Cavadia financially supported her studies in Paris with vocal professor Marie Sasse, baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure and composer-pianist Edmond Duvernoy, who all predicted the fledgling artist a bright future.

Hariclea Darclée makes her international debut at the Paris Grand Opera on December 14, 1888, with the role of Marguerite in Faust, entrusted to her by famous composer Charles Gounod. She garners huge success in Paris, which brings her an engagement for a tour she embarks on in summer next year, singing at the great opera houses of Europe.

Charles Gounod is the one who finds her an attention-catching pseudonym - from 'd'Hariclée', by shortening it French-style, her name becomes the slightly exotic Darclée, which will designate for at least a quarter of a century the greatest legend of opera music.

On December 26, 1890 she performed for the first time at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, in the role of Chimene in Jules Massenet's Le Cid, having great Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi himself in attendance. During her musical career, Darclée took to the stage of La Scala in Milan 116 times.

After her resounding successes abroad, Hariclea Darclée returned to Bucharest in April 1892, where she was welcomed at the train station "with a carpet of anemones and lilies, was frantically applauded and carried by the crowds," as musicologist Nicu Teodorescu evokes this moment.

"On the stage of the National Theater she sang in Romeo and Juliet, Faust and Cavalleria Rusticana. The audiences cheered her shouting 'Long live the nightingale of the Carpathians!', King Carol I awarded her the 'Bene Merenti' Medal 1st Class, actress Aristizza Romanescu and her colleagues Constantin Nottara and Grigore Manolescu wept for joy when listening to her, composer Grigore Ventura composed for her the romance 'I Loved a Certain Pair of Eyes' and writers Radu D. Rosetti, Victor Eftimiu and Cincinat Pavelescu dedicated verses to her," Nicu Teodorescu writes.

Her public appearances over 1893 - 1910 made her world famous, with Darclée asserting herself on the main stages in Paris, Berlin, Florence, Naples, Madrid, Rome, Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, Lisbon, Monte Carlo, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Petersburg, Moscow.

Operas were composed especially for her and performed by her in an absolute first.

Giacomo Puccini considered her the only singer who could embody Floria in his Tosca and, at her request, added the aria Vissi d'Arte to the opera score, casting Darclée in the premiere performance at the Teatro Constanzi in Rome on January 14, 1900, opposite tenor Emilio de Marchi and baritone Eugenio Giraldoni.

Hariclea Darclée was conversant in several foreign languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish, English, Greek, Russian), and enjoyed the appreciation of great composers, from Giuseppe Verdi, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Jules Massenet, Alfredo Catalani, to Giaccomo Puccini and sang with Enrico Caruso, Titta Ruffo, Francesco Tamagno or under conductor Arturo Toscanini.

Darclée stood out as an opera singer, but her exceptional voice allowed her to approach a vast repertoire which also included lieds, oratorios, even romances; she also boldly tackled original or rarely sung works.

Unfortunately, no recordings of Darclée's voice were preserved, just two Romanian songs with piano accompaniment dating from the end of her singing career.

The famous soprano was honored with several decorations, including the 'Bene Merenti' Order 1st Class awarded to her by King Carol I, and the Ottoman Empire's Artistic Medal and the Shefkat Order in the rank of Grand Officer. In 2004 she was posthumously awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of the Braila municipality.

She retired for good from the stage after a performance at the Pergola Theater in Florence, in May 1918. In September 1936 she returned to Romania with the intention of teaching at the Conservatory or sing on the stage of the Romanian Opera House. Also, one of her greatest desires was to establish a Romanian bel canto school, but the idea didn't find support from the Romanian state.

Darclée died on January 10, 1939 at the Filantropia Hospital in Bucharest, poor and forgotten, after living for almost three years in a small hotel near the North Railway Station. She was buried at the Bellu Cemetery, at the expense of the Italian Embassy.

In 1960, movie director Mihai Iacob made the film Darclée, which evokes the life of the Romanian famed soprano, with actress Silvia Popovici in the lead role. It became Iacob's best known film, representing Romania at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1961.

In 1995, at the 135th anniversary of the birth of the great operatic singer, the first edition of the Hariclea Darclée National Singing Competition was organized in her hometown of Braila; the festival meanwhile got to celebrate a quarter of a century in 2022.

Since 2015, the Hariclea Darclée International Singing Festival and Competition has been held under UNESCO's High Patronage, in recognition of the singer's contribution to the world cultural heritage.

Hariclea Darclée and Mariana Nicolesco were the sopranos with the most absolute premieres in the entire history of the La Scala Theater in Milan. AGERPRES (RO - author: Ecaterina Ignat, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)