Romanian pianist Ursuleasa dies

Internationally renowned Romanian pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa has been found dead in her apartment in the Austrian capital. She was 33.

The musician’s agent, Andreea Butucariu, said in a statement Friday that Ursuleasa died Thursday from the effects of a cerebral haemorrhage and asked for her family’s privacy to be respected. Police in Vienna confirmed the cause of death.

Butucariu told Romanian media that Ursuleasa had recently cancelled two concerts in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on unspecified health grounds.

Ursuleasa began playing the piano at 5 years old under the guidance of her Gypsy jazz musician father in then communist Romania. She obtained a grant to study in Vienna at 12, a year after communism collapsed.

She went on to play at New York’s Carnegie Hall, with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester in Berlin, with Orchestre National de France and also with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Romanian soprano Felicia Filip on Friday reminisced about Ursuleasa’s debut. “In my mind’s eye I see the child lost in the immensity of the piano,” she told Romanian news agency Mediafax, referring to one of the pianist’s first public performances. “I recall a child who couldn’t reach the piano pedals,” she said.

Ursuleasa is survived by a 5-year-old daughter.

Butucariu – in a statement released from Berlin – said Ursuleasa’s funeral would be held next week, but provided no details where she would be buried.