Puscas, Valentina
No. 42
Voice type: Soprano
Country: Romania
Date of birth: 20 May, 1996
In 2019 she graduated from University of Oradea, Faculty of Arts (studied with Prof. Lavinia Cherecheş) She obtained her Master’s degree at the National University of Music Bucharest in 2021.
In 2015 she won a special prize in National Contest of Interpretation Sigismund Toduta in Bistrita, Romania. She also won the prize for Best Young Singer in 2016 in the National Contest of Romanian Lied “Mariana Nicolesco” in Bucharest. In 2015 she participated in a USA Tour with 23 representations along the East Coast; vocal-symphonic and religious repertoire, with baritone Geani Brad, conducted by Ovidiu Niculas.
Her opera debut was at the Hunedoara Lirica Festival as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro (29, 31 May 2018 at Teatrul de Arta Deva, Romania; 10 July 2018 at Teatrul Dramatic "Ion D. Sîrbu" – Petroşani, Romania) – director: Eugenia Arsenis; conductor: Theodore Coresi.
In 2019, Valentina Puscas attended the Atelidra Lyric Dramatic Workshop in Vienna, under the guidance of baritone Marian Pop and mezzosoprano Mihaela Ungureanu-Binder. Not long after, in June 2019, she collaborated with the Bucharest National Opera House and the ‘Ludovic Spiess’ Opera Studio for several youth concerts with piano accompaniment. On 19th December 2019, she performed as a soloist with the Oradea State Philharmonic Orchestra in Saint-Saëns’s Christmas Oratorio, conducted by Romeo Rîmbu.
In 2020 she participated in 2 Opera Workshops: with tenor and coach Kalle Koiso-Kanttila, of IOA Management – Bavarian Opera Academy: at the National University of Music Bucharest in January and the “Gheorghe Dima” Music Academy in March.
In 2021 she won First Prize in the Elite Musicians International Competition, Iasi, Romania. The same year she also won 2nd Prize in the Musicum Laude 2021 International Competition and Masterclass, founded by baritone Levente Molnár and with a jury of important musical personalities from Hungary (soprano Andrea Rost, soprano Klára Kolonits, tenor János Berkes, bass-baritone Ionel Pantea, baritone Marian Boboia). The opera gala was accompanied by the Oradea State Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of György Budányi.(Oradea, August-September 2021).
Competition Repertoire
Preliminary
Liszt: Oh! quand je dors
Mozart: Temerari, sortite fuori... Come scoglio – Fiordiligi’s recitative and aria from Così fan tutte
Puccini: Tu che di gel sei cinta – Liù’s aria from Turandot
Semi-final
Korngold: Glück das mir verblieb – Marietta’s aria from Die tote Stadt
Wagner: Dich, teure Halle, grüss’ ich wieder – Elisabeth’s aria from Tannhäuser
Final
Verdi: Tacea la notte placida... Di tale amor – Leonora’s cavatina from Il trovatore
Leoncavallo: Qual fiamma avea nel guardo… Stridono lassù – Nedda’s recitative and aria from Pagliacci
Boito: L’altra notte in fondo al mare – Margherita’s aria from Mefistofele