Stella Roman Romanian opera singer Date of Birth: 23.08.1904 Country: Romania

Biography of Stella Roman

Stella Roman, the Romanian opera singer, possessed a warm lyrical soprano voice and had a successful international career, particularly in Italy and the United States. She was born Florica Viorica Alma Stela Blasu on August 23, 1904, in Kolozsvár, which was then part of Austria-Hungary. Today, it is the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Coming from a musical family, she studied singing for more than eight years before making her debut concert, first in Cluj and then in Bucharest.

She received a scholarship to continue her studies in Italy under the guidance of the renowned interpreter of verismo composers, Giuseppina Baldassare-Tedeschi. However, Stella later said that her teacher's style did not suit her well. Her next teacher was the celebrated Romanian soprano Hariclea Darclée, for whom many composers of that time wrote operas, including Giacomo Puccini, who created the immortal "Tosca" for her. Stella Roman wrote gratefully about Darclée, stating that she taught her to appreciate every word and phrase.

According to the singer herself, her professional opera debut took place in 1934 in Bologna as Maddalena in "Andrea Chénier," although other sources mention a performance in Piacenza in 1932. She sang Tosca at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, which marked the beginning of a long partnership with tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi. In 1937, Italian conductor Tullio Serafin offered Stella Roman a three-year contract with the Rome Opera House, and she soon made her debut at the Rome Opera as Aida. In 1941, Roman appeared for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, also as Aida, and continued to perform there throughout the 1940s, portraying the leading female roles in Italian repertoire such as "Il trovatore," "Otello," "Un ballo in maschera," "Cavalleria rusticana," "La Gioconda," "Tosca," and others. However, Roman often had to share these roles at the Metropolitan Opera with Croatian dramatic soprano Zinka Milanov.

Stella Roman left the Metropolitan Opera in 1951 after Rudolph Bing became the general manager. She had a special relationship with composer Richard Strauss, who chose her to play the Empress in the Italian premiere of "Die Frau ohne Schatten" at La Scala in 1940. In 1948, she visited Strauss in Pontresina to learn "Four Last Songs" from him and the role of the Marschallin in "Der Rosenkavalier." It was the role of the Marschallin that concluded her career at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Roman retired from the stage in 1953 when she remarried; her opera career lasted for 19 years.

After retiring, Stella Roman pursued painting, and her works were exhibited several times. She passed away on February 12, 1992, in New York at the age of 87. During her time at the Metropolitan Opera, several performances by Stella Roman were recorded and have been reissued on CD. Among them are recordings of her performances as Amelia in "Un ballo in maschera," dated February 1942; Leonora in "La forza del destino," made in January 1943; and Desdemona in "Otello," recorded in 1946. Additionally, there are recordings of various opera arias accompanied by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The singer mentioned that she made several recordings of Romanian folk songs with her compatriot George Enescu, but she was unsure if they were ever released on a record.