De miei bollenti spiriti

Ion Buzea, Tenor (*1934)
Giuseppe Verdi: LA TRAVIATA
"Lunge da lei ... De' miei bollenti spiriti"
Conducted by Jean Bobescu / Recorded in 1968

My personal opinion: With the term 'opera' we usually associate Italy, France, Germany, Russia or Great Britain (Purcell, Britten). At the best we still think of Sweden (Naumann), Spain (de Falla), Czechia (Smetana, Dvorak, Janácek) or even America (Moore, Gerswhin, Bernstein, Barber, Menotti). Like Hungary (Bartók's BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE), also Romania gave the world only one important opera: George Enescu's OEDIPE; one of the more tolerable musical stage works of the 20th century (recorded in 1989 with José van Dam).
Even if Romania has produced only a few opera composers, there was in contrast a whole flock of interesting singers: Maria Cebotari, Viorica Cortez, Stella Roman (Björling's Leonora in a 1947 Met broadcast of TROVATORE), Viorica Ursuleac, Ileana Cotrubas, Angela Gheorghiu and the baritones Nicolae Herlea and Eduard Tumagian - to name a few.
A special chapter deals with Romanian tenors. In my essay about Georgy Vinogradov, I pointed out similar characteristics of Russian tenors: Bright, clear and sometimes wiry voices, paired with a strange melancholic wistfulness. Frequently we also find similarities between Romanian tenors. Their voices are as radiant as those of the Russian colleagues, but in general they are more virile and powerful. Five Romanian tenors may serve as a good example: Traian Grozavescu (1895-1927, murdered by his wife), Ludovic Spiess (1938-2006), Ion Piso (*1926) and his cousin Ion Buzea (*1934 in Cluj), partner of Virginia Zeani in a complete LA TRAVIATA recording. I've already discussed Vasile Moldoveanu (*1935) in this series.
Compared to Ion Piso (a tenor of loud and stentorian high notes), the career of Buzea had more profile. While Piso had acceptable successes at the opera houses of Bucharest and Moscow, Buzea sang almost all over the world, including the Vienna State Opera (nine roles between 1968 and 1976), where Piso never appeared. Piso also vanished from the Met in 1965 after only two performances of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR with Anna Moffo, while Buzea at least sang there in the 1970/71 season eight roles (Rodolfo, Pinkerton, Cavaradossi, Dick Johnson, Alfredo, Duke, Edgardo, Alvaro). The reviews were good, albeit not euphoric. It was still hard to fight against the shadow of Corelli. Not without reason a critic wrote, at that time some Eastern European tenors served more or less a "Second-hand-Italianità".
Ion Buzea was an interesting singer, perhaps the best Romanian tenor. His recordings are the testimony of a solid spinto voice with a metallic top and "squillo", an Italian term for a trumped-like sound. As far as I can see, Buzea is present in only two complete operas on records: The said TRAVIATA and RIGOLETTO (with a superb Nicolae Herlea), both conducted by Jean Bobescu (and not Stelian Olariu, as claimed by the often inaccurate German author Jürgen Kesting). Buzea's Alfredo is straightforward and freed from all flourishes. Refined nuances, as we know them from Bergonzi, Valletti or Kraus, are not to be expected. Of course, TRAVIATA is the soprano's opera, and Virginia Zeani once again shows her sovereignty. With the right vocal "physique du role" she is the definite Violetta. On the other hand, RIGOLETTO stands and falls with the baritone, and Nicolae Herlea, as always, makes the jester a remarkable thing. Ion Buzea's gleaming Duke is a little rough, but far away from Mario del Monaco's violence in the failed Alberto Erede recording with a boring Hilde Güden and a rude Aldo Protti.
If you are willing to look away from some slight bumps (not least because of the strong Romanian accent), Ion Buzea might please you. Surely he was not as beguiling as di Stefano, not as polished as Kraus and not as captivating as Corelli, but Buzea was a sincere and natural singer, at least in the field of Italian opera. In French opera he did not master the subtleties of language and technique: In a scene from Auber's FRA DIAVOLO, he simply avoids all delicate voix mixte passages ("Grâce, monseigneur le brigand, je ne suis qu'une pauvre enfant"). In such moments of truth, the difference becomes evident between a good singer (Buzea) and an admirable stylist (Gedda).
In 1974, German TV discovered Ion Buzea's vocal and physical exoticism, and cast him as the gypsy Jószi in Lehár's ZIGEUNERLIEBE - a portrayal, that fulfills all stereotypical expectations when you think of Hungary, Puszta romanticism and fiery violin-sounds ...