Cornel Stavru

Opera Singer. A dramatic tenor, he shall be remembered for his long career as primo tenore of Bucharest's Romanian National Opera (RNO) as well as for his appearances in many of the principal venues of Europe. Raised in the ancient city of his birth, he studied both piano and voice from a young age, took third place in a 1953 Young Artist's Competition, and after further training made his 1958 RNO bow in what would become his most frequently sung role, that of Manrico in Verdi's "Il Trovatore". Though based in Bucharest throughout his time before the public, he toured to France, Germany, Egypt, Cuba, and elsewhere, his roles including the painter Mario Cavaradossi of Puccini's "Tosca", Turridu from Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana", Siegfried of Wagner's "Ring Cycle", Don Jose in Bizet's "Carmen", the tragic clown Canio from Leoncavallo's "I Pagliacci", Calaf in Puccini's "Turandot", and the title leads of Verdi's "Otello" and "Ernani" and Wagner's "Tannhauser", with him stating that