Hariclea Darclée

Hariclea Darclée was born Hariclea Haricli in Brăila, into a Romanian family of Greek descent, and studied at the Iași conservatoire and then in Paris with Jean-Baptiste Faure. She made her debut at the Paris Opéra in 1888 as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, and sang for thirty years across Europe and South America. She created the title roles of Catalani's La Wally and Mascagni's Iris before Puccini's Tosca, and "Vissi d'arte" is said to have been written for her during rehearsals, at her own asking. She left the stage in 1918. Her son Ion Hartulari-Darclée became a composer.