Mihaela Ursuleasa

Mihaela Ursuleasa
Ursuleasa during a recording session in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Mihaela Ursuleasa
Born	(1978-09-27)27 September 1978 Brașov, Romania
Died	2 August 2012(2012-08-02) (aged 33) Vienna, Austria
Genres	classical, chamber
Occupation	concert pianist
Instrument	Piano
Years active	1995–2012
Website	ursuleasa.com

Mihaela Ursuleasa (27 September 1978 – 2 August 2012) was a Romanian concert pianist. In 1995, she won the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition.

Biography

Ursuleasa began playing the piano at the age of five under the tutelage of her Romani father, a jazz musician. In 1990, at the age of 12, she obtained a grant to study in Vienna. She went on to perform at Carnegie Hall, with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, with the Orchestre National de France, as well as with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.[1]

In 2000, she received an honorable mention at the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition.

In 2010, she was awarded the Echo Klassik award for her debut album Piano & Forte.[2] She released her second album, Romanian Rhapsody in 2011.

Death

Ursuleasa was found dead in her Vienna home on 2 August 2012 of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 33. She is interred at the Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest.[3][4][5]

Ursuleasa was memorialised by her musician colleagues, such as the violist, Maxim Rysanov, who paid homage to Ursuleasa with his 2012 album "PAVANE" and reckoned her as a wonderful musician and a very special person.[6]

Discography

Solo albums

• 2010: Piano & Forte (Berlin Classics)
  • featuring Ludwig van Beethoven's 32 variations on an original theme, WoO 80; Johannes Brahms' Three Intermezzi, Op. 117; Maurice Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit; Alberto Ginastera's first piano sonata, Op. 22; and Paul Constantinescu's Joc dobrogean
• 2011: Romanian Rhapsody (Berlin Classics)—featuring violinist Gilles Apap.
  • featuring George Enescu's Romanian Rhapsody No. 1, Op. 11, No. 1; Paul Constantinescu's Suite for Piano; Franz Schubert's Three Piano Pieces, D.946; Béla Bartók's Two Romanian Dances, Op. 8a, Sz. 43, and Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 2, Sz. 90.

Ensemble albums

• 1995: XVIth Clara Haskil Competition 1995 with the Orchestre De Chambre De Lausanne & Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conducting. (Claves Records)
  • featuring Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat Major, K. 271, "Jeunehomme" and Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 73, "Emperor".
• 2010: Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Rapsodia (Naïve)--featuring violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, cimbalomist Viktor Kopatchinsky, violinist Emilia Kopatchinskaja, pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa

References

1. Renowned Romanian pianist Ursuleasa dead at 33. 3 August 2012 USNews. Retrieved 8-5-2012
2. "Mihaela Ursuleasa, piano - Philadelphia Chamber Music Artists". Retrieved 1 May 2024.
3. Dowling, Siobhan (3 August 2012). "Romanian concert pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa dies, aged 33". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
4. "Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa dies aged 33". BBC News. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
5. "Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa dies in Vienna aged 33". Romania-Insider.com. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
6. The booklet of the album "PAVANE", by Maxim Rysanov and Ashley Wass, released by BIS in 2012