Carmen
"Carmen du siecle" - this is what the French press was headlining in the 1970s. Without any doubt, Cortez was one of the most sought-after Carmens of the 1970s and '80s. She sang the opera 278 times, more than Gianna Pederzini or Giulietta Simionato, and since her big Covent Garden break (1968), she relentlessly deepened the character, almost identifying herself with Mérimée's and Bizet's heroine. The critics applauded her creamy, very extended voice, able to cover all three registers, her exquisite technique, her refinement in the French way of punctuating, as well as her breathtaking beauty and charisma on stage. With Carmen, Viorica Cortez entered the exclusive club of opera stars. She sang the role at La Scala (1972, with Giuseppe di Stefano), Metropolitan Opera (1971, 1979), Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1968, 1969, 1974), Grand Opera, Paris (1970), Staatsoper, Vienna (1970, 1971, 1973, 1976), Arena di Verona (1975, 1980), but also in Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Salzburg, Bilbao, Oviedo, Rome, Trieste, Bologna, Chicago, Naples, Toulouse, Beograd, Piacenza, Rio de Janeiro, Pistoia, Montreal, Lille, Avignon, Málaga, Genova, Philadelphia, Strasbourg, San Antonio, Seattle, Lisbon, Messina, Lausanne, Bucharest, etc. Her last "Carmen" was in her native Iaşi, in 1991.
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