Nicknamed "The
Prince of Operetta", Nicolae Leonard or Nae Leonard, the son of the
locomotive driver from Galati Constantin Nae and the Viennese woman Carolina
Schäffer, was born on December 13, 1886 in Bădălani, Galaţi. Shortly afterwards
his mother died (March, 1887). His father remarried and moved to Buzău, where
he was a employee of the private railway Buzău-Nehoiaş. In December 1893 he
appeared at the school celebration and sang the song Soldan Viteazul by Vasile
Alecsandri. The celebration took place at the Moldavia Theater. Later he
finished primary school in 1897 and entered the high school "Al. Hâjdeu”.
Here he learns French very easily, memorizes perfectly the texts and the music
of opera and operetta. He also had a passion for the violin, starting to take
lessons with the Buzau professor N. Athanasiu. In 1900, Elena, Nae Leonard's
second mother, died of a chest disease. Together with his father, he arrives in
Bucharest, living in Leonard's grandmother's house. Constantin Nae gives his
son to a pension, the famous Otescu Institute. At the age of 16, he manages to
join Nicu Poenaru's band. It was in 1903, in Focsani. In 1904 Al . P. Marinescu
cast him in the role of an old man, in Fetiţă dulce. A full-fledged singer and
actor, he proves supreme maturity. Leonard has nothing to wait for; just the
triumph!. Due to the extremely demanding program and due to a pneumonia, in
1910, the tenor Nicolae Leonard is on the verge of death. At one point, the
news spread that the "operetta prince" - adored by all audiences, not
just women - had died. The country is in mourning, but soon finds out that the
information was wrong. And poor Leonard is besieged, literally, by the letters
of the fans. In 1916 he appeared with great success in the title role in J.
Massenet’s opera "Werther". His wife left for Moldova, with the
beginning of the First World War, the tenor remaining in Bucharest, where he
will meet the one, who would become his third wife, Dora Stauermann. On January
19, 1920, the Union of Dramatic and Lyrical Artists was created. The hall of
the "Lyric Theater" is taken by order of the City Hall, and the
company led by Maximilian and Leonard is finally established in Timisoara,
where it will have some success, but unfortunately the hall will be burned by
flames. The band Grigoriu Lyrical Company will tour in Arad and Oradea. The
first season of the lyrical company set up by Constantin Grigoriu ends in
September 1904. For a year, the band that Grigoriu had formed leaves the
cultural landscape of the Capital. In the summer of 1905, the Grigoriu company
recovered, but new people came, including the young tenor Nicolae Leonard. The
band is hugely successful with Winterberg's "Happy Heirs." For a long
time, Otetelişanu Garden remains the summer headquarters of the Grigoriu
Company. Almost a decade after the company's founding, Grigoriu fell ill and
relinquished leadership to Maximilian and Leonard. Shortly afterwards, in 1913,
he died. However, the band does not break up and continues to play on the stage
in Otetelişanu during the summer, touring in winter or playing at the Lyric
Theater. In 1922, the band moved back to Bucharest, but due to the decline of
the operetta, it would not be a resounding success, and Maximlian withdrew
completely from the band, joining the Bulandra couple. Leonard fell ill in
1924, when he received two offers of engagement from France and left for Paris,
where he was hired after an audition. In 1925 he made his debut in Lyon, in
"Baiadera", representing a great success. He returns to the country,
but fails to relaunch the operetta on the lands of Bucharest, being recalled to
France, where he will start the tour in Marseille. Sick, with chills and
temperature, Leonard will play as if he had nothing, with a resounding success.
Following is a series of 40 highly successful shows held in Marseille, with
crowded halls. He sang in Paris (1926), at "Mogador". Returns to
Bucharest, where he stages the operetta "Countess Maritza", but will
have only 10 shows with dubious success. His health is deteriorating. In 1928
he played at the "Alhambra" in the operetta "Fritz". He
gives 50 shows in a row, and due to his health, he finds it harder and harder
to cope, he has coughing fits right on the stage, and at the last show he
collapses on the stage and the show is suspended. He was hospitalized in a
sanatorium and not long after was transported to Câmpulung-Muscel, where his
father now lived. On December 24, 1928, he passed away, in his father's house,
while listening to the gramophone, the plate on which was printed an aria from
"Countess Maritza", performed by him.
