Letter from Florence

September 1999

Dear Miss Nicolesco,

At the end of the wonderful Hariclea Darclée International Voice Competition, please allow me to express my warmest thanks for the numberless unforgettable moments experienced during those highly intense days. I would also like to express my delight with the very high level of the organization, definitely impeccable since the very moment when I landed in Bucharest, until my departure; the availability of your team, of the Darclée Foundation, has been equaled only by their efficiency and kindness; everything went on perfectly. And I must also add my thanks addressed to the city of Braila, to the Municipality of Braila, to all the people who did such a splendid job, standing by us at every moment of this event. I would also like to mention the remarkable level of competence of the Jury selected with particular care to allow the most important Romanian personalities to join the most valuable international experts, such as Dr. Alberto Triola from the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and Dr. Josef Hussek, director at the Kammeroper of Vienna and president at the same time of the most famous voice contest in the world, the Belvedere in Vienna.

But I was particularly impressed (and I shall always be grateful to you for it) by your relationship with all the candidates; although I have participated in more than 5,000 auditions, I have never had the opportunity to experience anything comparable to the way in which you addressed each competitor, with such sincerity, respect, loyalty, clarity, affection, rigour and patience.

The immediate capacity to place yourself on the same wavelength with the soul of each of them, as if you had always known them, is unbelievable and the remarks you made with a great psychological finesse to all the young artists were always the mirror of a highly valuable, classical, immutable artistic truth, letting them share the feeling that your words embraced each one of them, with a great love for them, but also for that unique spark which enraptures and conquers any artist in the name of music and singing.

I think that each one of the young artists, the accompanists, the members of the Jury and of the orchestra, the audience who attended the final concerts, will be always grateful to the great artist you are, for this act of incomparable and generous dedication.

Marco Balderi
Conductor