The piano world has suffered a loss this week with news of the tragic death of excellent Romanian pianist, Mihaela Ursuleasa, who was just 33 years old. It is believed she died of a brain haemorrhage at her apartment in Vienna.
Mihaela Ursuleasa was born in Brasov, Romania. Her father was a jazz musician and her mother a singer. She began to play the piano at the age of five and was giving concerts by the time she was nine. As a teenager she won second prize at the International Piano Competition in Senigallia. Then on the advice of Claudio Abbado, Mihaela studied with Prof. Heinz Medjimorec at the Vienna Conservatory. She won the Clara Haskil Competition aged 16 and in 1999, she graduated with a diploma cum laude.
Ursuleasa has appeared with many major orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, Orchestre National de Paris, Mozarteum Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Bamberg Symphony, Dresden Philharmonic, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, Weimar Staatskapelle. Conductors she has worked with include Daniele Gatti, Kurt Sanderling, Sir Colin Davis, Sir Neville Marriner, Neeme Järvi, and Osmo Vänska. She also made frequent festival and chamber music appearances.
Mihaela Ursuleasa was awarded the Echo Klassik award for her debut album Piano & Forte. She released her second album, Romanian Rhapsody, last year. Mihaela leaves a 7 year old daughter.
Here are some memories……..
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Melanie Spanswick 
I had not heard of her (so many great pianists who are just under the radar) but listened to the clips and she was extremely talented. The You Tube sound is not the best (even listening with decent headphones) but her accents in the music were original and enjoyable and she brought the old Liszt war horse to life. I bought on Amazon a very nice track of her playing the Roumanian Rhapsody. Thank you for remembering her.
Pleasure – glad you enjoyed my article and sorry about the sound quality on the YouTube clips.
So sad. According to her management, she was due to perform tonight at the Konzerthaus Berlin.
Reblogged this on The Glass and commented:
Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa has tragically died at the age of 33 of what was believed to be a brain hemorrhage. Melanie Spanswick (ClassicalMel) has posted this tribute to Mihaela on her blog.
Grateful there’s such things as CDs and videos of great musicians such as this young lady. May she rest in peace and God bless family
Absolutely Babs – thank you for taking the time to read my blog 🙂