Petre Munteanu

Petre Munteanu (November 26, 1916 - July 18, 1988) is a Romanian operatic tenor particularly associated with Mozart and lighter Italian roles.

Life and career

Born in Campina, Romania, Petre Munteanu studied at the Bucharest Music Conservatory. He made his operatic debut in 1940 at Bucharest Opera House. However, he continue his studies in Germany, notably in Berlin with H. Weissenborn. After World War II, he began to appear in Italy in concert.

In 1947, he made his debut at the Rome Opera House, as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and at [[La Scala] in Milan, as Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte. He took part in the premiere of works such as Igor Stravinsky's Persephone, Alban Berg's Wozzeck, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden, as well as a revival of Domenico Cimarosa's Il credulo.

He made guest appearances in Trieste, Florence, Naples, Munich, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London and the Edinburgh Festival. In 1961, he took part in the creation of Luigi Nono's Intolleranza 60 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

Other notable roles included Pedrillo in Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Cassio in Otello, Fenton in Falsaff, Felipeta in I quatro rusteghi. He was also admired in Bach's and Haydn's oratorios, and in Lieder recitals.