"What Caruso is for the Italians and Shaliapin for the Russians
is Herlea for the Romanians"

Oper und Konzert, München


  • "Covent Garden has found a new and immensely Figaro in Nicolae Herlea. With a voice so rich and smooth that it made one think of brown velvet, his style - roguishly debonair - and his inexhaustible gusto...have dominated the performance. Herlea has everything that belongs to Figaro: the nimbleness, the verve, the mischievous jollity, the invulnerable self-possession, in brief, the personality of one of nature's masters of resource."
    Percy Cater, DAILY MAIL, London

  • "A bright star of the lyric stages in the world, Nicolae Herlea is the ideal of Verdi's and Rossini's operas and a baritone with a splendid voice - a world famous and distinguished actor."
    TA SIMERINA, Athens

  • Met Debut : High note of success "the evening's big event - the first Figaro at the Met by the Romanian baritone Nicolae Herlea was outstanding by the singer's elegant, tasteful use of a rich, beautifully modulated voice and his humorous, inventive acting style."
    Will Bender, NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, USA

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    Figaro

    Figaro

  • "...Monsieur Herlea est le meilleur Figaro que j'ai jamais entendu. Voix de bronze, superbe, de caractère tragique, mais quis se plie tout naturellement á la vivacité requise par l'emploi : de ces voix polyvalentes, a leur aise dans le rôle de Hagen, du Crepuscule des Dieux, comme dans celui du Barbier."
    Clarendon LE FIGARO, Paris

  • "Nel ruolo di Figaro sarà impegnato il baritono rumeno Nicolae Herlea ...uno dei migliori interpreti di Figaro che si siano avuti in questi ultimi anni." 
    LA SICILIA, Italy

  • "His strong and colourful baritone voice sounds with amplitude in all registers. Nicolae Herlea has shown us an original art, cantilena and a very broad breath ... Splendid as Figaro!" 
    SOVETSKAYA MUZYKA, Moskow

  • "Monsieur N. Herlea est un Figaro tel que Beaumarchais l'a crée, tel que Rossini l'a souhaité. La voix du baryton, l'art du chanteur, la rondeur, la vivacité du comédien, son entrain endiablé ont été la joie de la soirée. .."
    René Dumesnil, LE MONDE, Paris

  • "La voce é quella di un astro del bel canto di prima grandezza: calda e possente, si alza fino a toni tenorili e scende a belle sonorità basse e virili … In scena Nicolae Herlea è di una disinvoltura unica, di una padronanza stupefacente, cali- brata al massimo. E'il Figaro ideale di Beaumarchais e di Rossini, pratico, inventivo, sfacciato..."
    MONDO LIRICO, Rome

  • "Herlea est certainement I'un des meilleurs F i g a r o qui se puisse actuellement entendre et voir, car c'est un excellent acteur." 
    LES LETTRES FRANÇAISES, Paris

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    "Herlea creates great Rigoletto"

    Rigoletto

    Rigoletto

  • "Ein Hofnarr von Range einer Elite-Klasse - ... in der Titelrolle Nicolae Herlea, der grosse Star des Abends - ein magnifizend tonender Baryton, ein realistischer Schauspieler, echten Stils... Herleas Gesang ist in musikalischer Hinsicht perfekt..., in dramatischer Hinsicht exceptionell... Herleas Leistung erweckte bedingungslose Bewunderung."
    HELSINGIN SANOMAT, Helsinki

  • "Il celebre baritono Nicolae Herlea dà a Rigoletto al squillo della sua voce ampia, pastosa, rica e di affascinante belleza timbrico. La sua eccezionale voce ed il suo temperamento tipicamente italiano fanno di mirabile incisione un capolavoro che sta alla stessa altezza di quelle dei grandi Stracciari, Gobi o Taddei..." 
    MUSICA E DISCHI, Rome

  • "Herlea creates great Rigoletto - Add Nicolae Herlea to your Metropolitan musts of the new season. His Rigoletto was in the best tradition of great singing and great acting. Here was a Rigoletto of astonishing bounce in his moments of gnomish farce and of even more astonishing passion in anguish and ferocity. Heightening the portrait was a voice of searching power." 
    Louis Biancolli, NEW YORK WORLD TELEGRAM

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  • "El baritono Nicolae Herlea presentó un Rigoletto modélico, servido por sus dotes de cantante, bien dotado de potente y mórbida voz, y unas dotes dramaticas, que fueron unánimemente aquilatadas." 
    Hoja del Lunes, Barcelona

  • "Rigoletto brings a splendid jester - Nicolae Herlea, a dramatic actor with a rich powerful voice, - used to maximum effect, - dominated the opera. This was one of the finest renderings we have heard in Dublin. .." 
    THE IRISH INDEPENDENT, Dublin

  • "Nicolae Herlea fue un Rigoletto de autentica categoria. Poses voz potente de muy agradable timbre sonore y altamenta ductil a las inflexiones de matiz musical que sabe con auténtico talente artistico..." 
    EL CORREO CATALAN,Barcelona

  • "Excelente Actuación del Baritono Nicolae Herlea en "Rigoletto" -"Nicolae Herlea, plasmó sus extraordinarias facultades vocales… … Su voz bien templada es atenorada en los agudos, incisiva en el registro central y penetrante en el bajo. Hizo gala de un fuerte temperamente artistico demonstrando además unas dotes de gran actor..."
    Juan Guinjoán, DIARIO DE BARCELONA

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    "At the MET a night to sit back and relax!"

  • "At the MET a night to sit back and relax! Forza del Destino - ... It was Nicolae Herlea's first Don Carlo, and his was the one stage figure who lent dramatic credence. It was sung with rich warm suavity, implicit with feeling and acted with grace and intelligence." 
    New York Herald Tribune

  • "Sensacional interpretación de "La Forza del Destino" - Herlea compuso un brillante Don Carlos di Vargas. Su voz grave, el agudo es claro, potente, facil y bien colocado..." 
    TELE/EXPRES, Barcelona

  • "...Con todo, en este buen baritono es admirable su seguridad y el estilo noble, como pudimos confirmar en la interpretación del andante <Morir, tremenda cosa> y en el aria 'Urna fatale'." 
    Teleexpress, Barcelona

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    Don Carlo

    Don Carlo


    "Triumph auf Italienisch!"

    Count Di Luna

    Count Di Luna

  • "...Herlea sang den Luna mit gleicher bekannter Beherrschung und weichem Timbre und doch kraftvoll, sympathisch auch in der Darstellung." 
    Der Abend, Berlin

  • "Count de Luna, Trovatore Triumph auf Italienisch! Zwanzig Minuten Ovationen: - ... Nicolae Herlea sang den Luna mit gleicher Belkanto-Beherrschung und weichem Timbre und doch kraftvoll..." 
    NEUESTE ÖSTERREICH, Vienna

  • "Triumph des Belcanto! Carlo Bergonzi und Nicolae Herlea wurden mit Beifall überschüttet. Die Krone gebührte diesen Künstlern. Herlea verfügt über ein wunderbares samtenes Baritonmaterial von erlesener Qualität und seine Spitzentöne sind von grosser Schönheit (Trovatore)." 
    DEUTSCHE OPER, Berlin

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    "tridimensional voice"


  • "Der Bariton Herleas ist geschmeidig, und wird in bester Belcantomanier geführt. Die Spitzentöne kommen rund und exakt placiert über die Rampe. Der Vortrag der Arie war von grosser Schönheit und die Figur gewann an Konturen (Trovatore)." 
    Karl Löbl EXPRESS, Vienna

  • "Nicolae Herlea created the fiery and inhumanly pitiless Count de Luna as an imposing personality both vocally and artistically by sober and arresting means. His voice has an exceptional expressivity and plenitude, irrespective whether he renders a sentiment or bursts into dramatic notes. An imposing, flexible, and tridimensional voice." 
    NEA POLITIA, Athens

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    "The famous prologue to Pagliacci gave Mr. Herlea his big moment!"

  • "In Pagliacci Nicolae Herlea offered the evening's excitement with dramatically convincing interpretation of the Prologue. He is a high baritone who takes those spectacular top tones easily…an interesting personality that can convey ideas and emotions..." 
    Hariet Johnson, NEW YORK POST

  • "The famous prologue to Pagliacci gave Mr. Herlea his big moment! He met the test most impressively." 
    NEW YORK JOURNAL AMERICAN

  • "In "Pagliacci" a brilliant Tonio from Nicolae Herlea - The evening's most distinguished performance all around was that of Mr. Herlea in Pagliacci. There is a singer and an artist someone really worth watching..." 
    Allan Rich, NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE

    		•

    Tonio

    Tonio


    "Nicolae Herlea è un baritono che si è inserito
    fra le grandi voci della nostra epoca."

    Musica e dischi, Milano

    Rodrigo

    Rodrigo in Don Carlo

  • "...Nicolae Herlea made an impressive American debut as Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlo at the Metropolitan Opera......an artist with valid dramatic gifts and solid vocal capabilities...Moreover, an authoritative presence and a strongly-projected sense of involvment brought his Rodrigo into focus with the rest of a topnotch cast..." 
    Louis Snyder, NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE

  • "NUOVO GRANDE SUCCESSO ALLA SCALA: DON CARLO CON NICOLAE HERLEA - Al suo debutto scaligero, ha mostrato elementi di qualità superiori e di splendidi, educati mezzi vocali." 
    CORRIERE DELLA SERA, Milan

  • "Herlea in "Don Carlo" at Metropolitan - Of primary interest was the debut of Nicolae Herlea, who appeared as Rodrigo.It was a role in which he has just had a success at la Scala in Milan. What was important was the easy brilliance of his voice and the fine legato he could summon for Per me giunto..." 
    Raymond Ericson, NEW YORK TIMES

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