Brăila

Hariclea Darclée was a celebrated Romanian operatic soprano. She possessed an agile, powerful, and beautiful voice that was wielded with a fine... technique. An extremely beautiful woman, Darclée's stage presence was as elegant and refined as her singing. Although universally admired, she displayed a coldness of temperament that at times diminished her conviction in the more passionate verismo repertory. A singer of prodigous talent, her repertoire ranged from coloratura soprano roles to heavier Verdi roles, including many in the Franco-Italian lyric repertory. Throughout her career she participated in several world premieres, including originating the title roles in Puccini's Tosca, Mascagni's Iris, and Catalani's La Wally. Darclée was born in Brăila to a family with Greek roots. Her father, Ion Haricli, was a landlord in the Teleorman district. Her mother, born Aslan, was a relative of the noble Mavrocordatos family. The family lived for a while in the town of Turnu Măgurele in southern Romania. She began her studies at Conservatoire of music in Iaşi, making her professional appearances as a concert performer in 1884.
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Johnny Răducanu was a Romanian jazz pianist of Romani ethnic background, whose family has a long musical tradition dating back to the 17th... century. He was born in Brăila and started playing the double bass at the age of 19 before switching to piano. During his musical career, some of his many collaborations outside Romania were those with Art Farmer and Slide Hampton , and Friedrich Gulda . In 1987, Răducanu received an honorary membership in the Louis Armstrong Academy in New Orleans. He was the founder of the Romanian Jazz school, and during a musical career spanning over half a century, he discovered, nurtured and trained several generations of Romanian jazz musicians. Leonard Feather called him "Mr. Jazz of Romania". He was the President of the Romanian Jazz Federation. Răducanu was married to Geta Costin from 1962 to 1970. Răducanu died at his apartment in the Banu Manta section of Bucharest and is interred in a local cemetery in Cernica, Ilfov County, close to the capital.
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Jean Moscopol was a Romanian singer of the interwar period. Moscopol's parents were Greeks. His mother, née Constantinidi, was from... Constanţa, while his father originated in Mesembria on the shores of the Aegean Sea. From there he settled in Brăila, where he opened a pastry shop and then worked as a jeweller, like one of his sisters. Jean Moscopol was born in Brăila, where he showed ease of learning from his early days. He could play several instruments and, besides Romanian, spoke French, Italian, English, German and Greek fluently. His first formal education took place at Brăila's Greek school, and he continued learning in that city, also taking classes at its Lyra conservatory, before finishing high school in Galaţi. From 1921-22, he was a clerk at the M. Embiricos et Co Maritime Agency. He then spent two years at the P. Macri et Son Agency in Brăila, and from 1925 to 1929 worked at the Chrissoveloni Bank in Bucharest. While an aeronautics student, someone advised him to put his musical talent to use and make some recordings. At that moment, music became his profession.
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Johnny Răducanu was a Romanian jazz pianist of Romani ethnic background, whose family has a long musical tradition dating back to the 17th... century. He was born in Brăila and started playing the double bass at the age of 19 before switching to piano. During his musical career, some of his many collaborations outside Romania were those with Art Farmer and Slide Hampton , and Friedrich Gulda . In 1987, Răducanu received an honorary membership in the Louis Armstrong Academy in New Orleans. He was the founder of the Romanian Jazz school, and during a musical career spanning over half a century, he discovered, nurtured and trained several generations of Romanian jazz musicians. Leonard Feather called him "Mr. Jazz of Romania". He was the President of the Romanian Jazz Federation. Răducanu was married to Geta Costin from 1962 to 1970. Răducanu died at his apartment in the Banu Manta section of Bucharest and is interred in a local cemetery in Cernica, Ilfov County, close to the capital.
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Hristos Tsaganeas was a Greek actor and a cinematographer. Tsaganeas was born in Brăila, Romania on July 2, 1906 and died on July 2, 1976. He... starred in several movies, his most famous role being the college headmaster in To xylo vgike ap' ton paradeiso. His first important role was in The Germans are Coming with Vassilis Logothetidis. Later he starred in Anthropoi, Anthropoi and Pros ti to missos ke o allilosparagmos. He married his second wife Nitsa Tsaganea. After his death, he was buried in the First cemetery where Vasilis Tsitsanis was later buried in the same spot.
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Valentin Popescu is a film actor.