Mariana Nicolesco ( or ; 28 November 1948 – 14 October 2022) was a Romanian operatic soprano who had an international career after she studied in Rome on a scholarship. She was a regular performer at La Scala in Milan where she performed Baroque opera such as Euridice in Rossi's Orfeo, Mozart roles such as Cinna in Lucio Silla in 1984, and contemporary including the world premiere of Luciano Berio's La Vera Storia in 1982. Career Born in Găujani, Giurgiu County, Nicolesco studied violin at the Music High School in Brașov, graduating playing Bruch's Violin Concerto. She then turned to voice studies at the Music Conservatory in Cluj-Napoca, before winning a scholarship at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome to be taught canto by Jolanda Magnoni; she also worked with Rodolfo Celletti and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. In 1972, she graduated and won the Voci Rossiniane competition in Milan, which launched an international career. American conductor Thomas Schippers invited her to Cincinnati as Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème, and later she was invited by Luchino Visconti to appear in Verdi's Don Carlos at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. She appeared at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino first as Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata, directed by Visconti and conducted by Thomas Schippers, a role she reprised over 200 times. Nicolesco made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1978 as Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, a role she performed there until 1986, followed by Verdi's Violetta and Gilda in Rigoletto. She sang in the world's major opera houses such as Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where she had her debut in the world première of Luciano Berio's La Vera Storia in 1982. Later roles there included Donna Anna in Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest in 1983, Cinna in Mozart's Lucio Silla in 1984, the soprano solo of Penderecki's Polish Requiem in 1985, Euridice in Rossi's Orfeo in 1985, La Protagonista in Berio's Un re in ascolto in 1986, Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni in 1987, 1988 and 1993, Queen Climene in Jommelli's Fetonte in 1988, Ravel's cantatas Alcyone and Alyssa in 1990, and three recitals in 1988 and 1993. She interpreted a wide repertoire from Baroque, belcanto, verismo and contemporary music, and has been described as "an arresting personality with a vibrant voice"; highlights were the roles of Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Elettra in Idomeneo and Vitellia in La