Viorica Cortez - The 2000s

The 2000s

At the beginning of 2001, coming from Iaşi, the car her husband was driving crashed violently into a tree, killing the driver and seriously hurting the mezzo-soprano. After almost six months of recovery, she returned to the stage (La Comtesse de Coigny and Madelon in Giordano's Andrea Chénier in Seville), determined to pursue her career. Her comeback was emotionally highlighted by the Spanish press. Subsequently, as a confirmation of the very special relationship between the singer and the Spanish audience, she concentrated most of her career in Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, and Bilbao, without neglecting offers from Italy or France. At the Gran Teatre del Liceu, she added to her repertoire a role she had been dreaming of since the 80s: The Old Countess from Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, which she reprised in Madrid (Teatro Real, 2004). She later sang Buryovka in Janáček's Jenůfa in Barcelona (2005), where she also opened the 2007-2008 season as la Comtesse/Madelon. Again in 2008, Viorica Cortez made her return to the Monte-Carlo Opera (Starenka Buryovka in Janáček's Jenůfa). She also reprised one of her best recent characters, Madame de Croissy, in Les Dialogues des Carmelites, for the opening of the 2008-2009 season at Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo, in the famed production of Robert Carsen. The performances were highly acclaimed by the press. Later on, she was to debut with Teatro del Maggio in Florence (Cavalleria rusticana). In 2009, Viorica Cortez starred in the creation of a new opera (Une affaire etrangere) in Montpellier. Cortez is scheduled to return on stage in Cavalleria Rusticana for the 2010-2011 season of the Marseille Opera.