Welcome to Nelly's Blog

The woman behind the diva
My photo
Hailed as a singing-actress, Nelly Miricioiu is one of the most versatile artists of our day. Her repertoire extends from Mozart and bel canto to Verdi, Puccini and the verismo to modern Italian opera Respighi and Zadonai, taking in French and Russian composers too. Her artistry has been praised by everyone, from fans to critics and fellow opera singers. She has sung all over the world on the most prestigious opera stages, from the Royal Opera House to La Scala, to the Met,to Sydney Opera House, to Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. For all that and more you can visit her official website, www.nellymiricioiu.com. This is something different. Rarely can all the official data and information convey the soul of an artist, the energy behind the artistry, the story behind each character, the person who goes home once the thick opera curtains have fallen. This is why Nelly and I, have come up with an idea of a blog. Welcome to Nelly's blog,the woman behind the diva.

Wednesday 13 January 2010

a Romanian interview

There is a new interview with Nelly for her Romanian fans on Operaonline.ro

Operaonline is the Romanian answer to Operachic or Intermezzo and Nelly thoroughly enjoyed answering her questions as well as browsing through her blog which for all of you Romanian opera lovers out there is a must.

To read the interview click here.


Romanian language knowledge or a Google/personal translator are a must!

Adriana in Timisoara with Marianne


Nelly and Marianne Cornetti are confirmed to sing Adriana Lecouvreur in Timisoara, Romania in April this year and it will be for the first time they will perform together in Romania although Marianne has visited Romania with Nelly on numerous occasions.

Here are some fun facts for you:

Although they have been best friends for a long time Marianne and Nelly will play the sworn rivals Adriana Lecouvreur and Principessa de Bouillon, bringing all the guns out for the love of Maurizio

After some fiery vocal displays in the second and third act, the princess is the one who kills Adriana by sending her a bouquet of poisoned flowers (the real Adriane Lecouvreur actually managed to survive an assassination attempt which involved poisoned cookies and died of dysentery in the arms of Voltaire).

Marianne and Nelly became friends during a 2002 Adriana Lecouvreur performance in Rome (see the picture, Nelly, Marianne ,Salvatore Licitra and Daniel Oren)

This is one of Nelly's favourite roles. She debuted it in 2000 at La Scala and sung it since then on numerous occasions to great acclaim.

Nelly in Netherlands

Nelly loves Netherlands. She adores singing there and meeting her Dutch fans and she performs there very often, a couple of times a year. This month she has been invited to perform during the Storioni Festival in Eindhoven, Netherlands which takes place between 14 and 27 January 2010.

Take a look at the schedule of the nights she is due to perform:

Saturday 16 January:

Concert, Muziekcentrum, Eindhoven Eindhoven Airport Hall (Muziekcentrum, Eindhoven), starting at 20:15

Charles Ives, The Unanswered Question - Alina Ibragimova, Alexander Kagan, Steven Dann, Marc Vossen, Aldo Baerten, Alexander Fiterstein, Bart Schneeman, Esther Ursem & Alain de Rudder
-
Peter – Jan Wagemans, Summer Concerto, Neuss Kammerorchester & Storioni Trio m.m.v. Yi-ping Yang
Joseph Haydn, Cello concerto hob.VIIb:1, Neuss Kammerorchester & Nathalia Gutman

-Intermission-

Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano trio 1 opus 8, Storioni Trio

Giovanni Bottesini, Grand Duo Concertante, Neuss Kammerorchester, Alina Ibragimova & Niek de Groot

Gioachino Rossini, Ermione 'Essa corre al trionfo!', Neuss Kammerorchester & Nelly Miricioiu
Vincenzo Bellini , La Sonnambula, 'Ah non credea mirarti – Ah non giunge' , Neuss Kammerorchester & Nelly Miricioiu
Vincenzo Bellini, Il Pirata 'Colsorriso d'inocenza' , Neuss Kammerorchester & Nelly Miricioiu


Monday 18 January:

Concert, Tilburg, starting at 20:15

Joseph Haydn, Divertimento, Wouter Vossen, Hervé Joulain & Adrian Brendel
Ludwig van Beethoven, Variations on Manner welche liebe, Markus Groh & Li Wei Qin Igor Stravinsky, Concertino, Daedalus Quartet
Robert Schumann, Marchenerzahlungen op 132, Markus Groh, Steven Dann & Alexander Fiterstein
Ottorino Respighi, Songs, Nelly Miricioiu & Bart vd Roer - 1.Stornellatrice /
2.Invito alla danza/
3.Notturno
4.Pioggia
5.Luce
6.E se un giorno tornasse
-Intermission-
Franz Schubert, Forellen quintet op. 114 D667, Storioni Trio, Vladimir Mendelssohn & Niek de Groot



Wednesday 20 January:
- Masterclass at the Fontys Conservatorium

For the complete info about the Festival check out the official website

Introduction

Nelly is a great artist and even a greater human being. She loves the stage, her devoted fans and laughs when she is called La Miricioiu or at the idea that she is a "cult diva". She just loves being on stage and giving it her all.

La Miricioiu considers herself as much British as Romanian. She lives in London with Barry, her wonderful husband, Daniel their 18 year old son and her mother who at 80 is a fervent artist.

When she is not singing she loves cooking, throwing dinner parties for her friends, playing the piano, she's currently very much into Beethoven and listening to all sorts of music like Led Zeppelin, Queen, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers or Queen.

When Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor are on TV, you will find her in front of the TV and voting for her favourites competitors, also making sure that the shows are recorded should she be away singing in some corner of the world.

And when she's not singing, or cooking or watching TV, she likes surfing the Internet. Yes, she is very tech-savy and thinks You Tube is one of the best inventions ever.

She admires people like Freddie Mercury or the Romanian folk singer Maria Tanase and has a soft spot for Dolly Parton.

And this blog will give you some of those insights, as well as photos, complete performance information and should you have any questions or curiosities feel free to contact me at contact@nellymiricioiu.com.

Enjoy!