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Biography
Infobox musical artist|name = Violetta Villas|image = Violettavillas1967.jpg|caption = Violetta Villas in 1967|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Czeslawa Maria Cieslak|alias = mlle. Villas; VV|birth_date = birth date|1938|6|10| death_date = death date and age|2011|12|5|1938|6|10|mf=yes| death_place = Lewin Klodzki , Poland |origin = Liège , Belgium |genre = jazz , opera , operatic pop , revue , torch song , Traditional pop music|traditional pop |instrument = trombone , piano , violin , vocals |occupation = singer , songwriter , composer , actress |years_active = 1960–2011 Violetta Villas (IPAc-en|icon|'|v|?|l|l|æ|s; born Czeslawa Maria Cieslak , June 10, 1938 & ndash; December 5, 2011) was a Belgium|Belgian -born Poles|Polish and international cabaret star, singer, actress, composer and songwriter. Her voice was characterized as coloratura soprano . She could play the piano , violin and trombone and had absolute pitch .Tygrysica z Magdalenki, Witold Filler (1993) She has been nicknamed "the voice of the atomic age",L'Humanité, 1966 "the singing toast of the continent","Dunes show will star toast of Europe, Violetta Villas", The Vista Press, 1967 "a voice like French champagne", http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ZpIWn6PUgOA/SzaIYDk6_wI/AAAAAAAADLY/48xjJMWJg0M/s320/Violetta%2BVillas%2BViolettaVillas.jpg Casino de Paris brochure "Polish Yma Sumac ". Villas was the first star of the Casino de Paris at Dunes (hotel and casino)|Dunes Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas (1966–1971).
Villas was known for her conspicuous, outstanding appearance and numerous number-one hits on her account. During her career in show business Violetta Villas starred in 6 films, performed in numerous musical shows, and recorded almost 300 songs in 10 languages, including Polish language|Polish , English language|English , French language|French , German language|German , Italian language|Italian , Latin language|Latin , Neapolitan language|Neapolitan , Russian language|Russian , Spanish language|Spanish and Portuguese language|Portuguese . She was an animal rights activist.
Violetta Villas was a very controversial person for her alcohol Villas. Nic przeciez nie mam do ukrycia - J. Danielewicz, I. Michalewicz; Villas' biography ISBN - 978-83-7799-068-1 (2011) and morphine addiction cite web|url= http://www.pudelek.pl/artykul/16125/villas_braa_morfin/12/|title=Villas brala morfine& #33; (Villas took morphine!) |publisher= http://pudelek.pl/|accessdate=2009-03-09 and being a Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa|Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs informant Institute of National Remembrance (IPN BU 1386/486988)cite web|url= http://ksiazki.wp.pl/gid,1801,page,3,tytul,Co-ukryla-przed-swiatem-Violetta-Villas-Rozmowa-z-autorami-nieautoryzowanej-biografii-piosenkarki,galeria.html? ticaid=1dab3|title=Akta "Gabrielli" - kontakty Villas z SB ''(Gabriella's files - contacts Villas with SB) |publisher= http://ksiazki.wp.pl/|accessdate=2011-12-06 with a code name Gabriella Institute of National Remembrance (IPN BU 00170/618). Moreover VV had a delusional disorder cite web|url= http://www.tvp.pl/styl-zycia/magazyny-sniadaniowe/pytanie-na-sniadanie/wideo/rodzina-violetty-villas-walczy-o-spadek/6056035|title=Rodzina Villas walczy o spadek (Villas' family fights for inheritance )|publisher= http://tvp.pl/|accessdate=2011-12-27, which has a bad influence on her contacts with her environment and family.
In 2011 Villas received the Zasluzony Kulturze - Gloria Artis|For Merits to Culture - Gloria Artis . http://www.thenews.pl/culture/artykul149045_violetta-villas-to-take-final-bow.html Violetta Villas to take final bow http://www.tvn24.pl/-2,1692768,0,1,ostatni-koncert-violetty-villas,wiadomosc.html Ostatni koncert Violetty Villas; tvn24.pl http://www.wprost.pl/ar/231640/Violetta-Villas-otrzymala-srebrna-Glorie-Artis/ Violetta Villas otrzymala srebrna Glorie Artis; wprost.pl
Biography
Early life
Violetta Villas was born in Heusy , Liège (province)|Liège province , the third of four children. She spent her childhood in Belgium . Her father Boleslaw Cieslak (December 4, 1907–May 9, 1960) was a miner and bandmaster , and her mother Jane (January 26, 1914–February 17, 1985) was a housewife. In 1948 she came with her parents to Poland and settled in Lewin Klodzki where she began studying music. Young Violetta Villas played the piano and violin .
In 1956 she began studying solo singing at the State Musical High School in Szczecin . She continued her artistic education in Wroclaw with a professor Gisela Posh. In 1959 she began classical vocal lessons with a professor Eugenia Falkowska in Warsaw . Her 5-octave vocal range and timbre abilities were significant, worthy of a promising operatic career, but she had decided to pursue more contemporary forms of music, touring and giving vocal performances on stage.
1960-1965: Early career
In 1960 Villas was given her debut on Polskie Radio by its director of music, Wladyslaw Szpilman http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/12/the-pianists-protegee-dies-on-his-100th-birthday.html. Her first broadcast songs were Gdy zakwitna czeresnie and Ja nie moge tamtej drugiej zniesc . She recorded her first album, "Rendez-vous with Violetta Villas" in 1962. She received her first noteworthy prize at the Sopot Festival in 1961 and 1962. In 1964, 1965 and 1966 she performed at National Festival of Polish Song in Opole .
In the early 1960s Violetta Villas toured many countries in Europe , including Germany , Belgium , Switzerland , Spain , Russia , Czechoslovakia , Bulgaria and Romania , also in United States , Canada and Israel .
In 1964 at the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole she was approached by Bruno Coquatrix , who invited her to France . At the 3rd Festival International des Variétés et Music-Halls in Rennes , Villas received her Grand Prix International d'Interpretation (she sang including Ave Maria). In 1965 she performed at Fontaine Theatre (show Roue de la Chance, director - André Chanu). In 1966, at a personal request of Bruno Cocquatrix, Villas appeared in the Grand Music Hall de Varsovie , revue program at Olympia (Paris)|Olympia . The premiere was July 26, 1966. Violetta Villas sang including Ave Maria no Morro and Hiroshima Mon Amour. In Paris she was approached by Frederic Apcar, who invited her to Las Vegas.
1966-1971: Las Vegas and Casino de Paris
In December 1966 Villas was the star of the Casino de Paris at Dunes (hotel and casino)|Dunes Hotel & Casino , where she sang songs, operettas and operatic arias in nine languages. In her first program she sang including Under Paris Skies , Granada , O Sole Mio , Strangers in the Night and '' Libiamo ne' lieti calici . Violetta Villas sang in duets with Frank Sinatra , Paul Anka , Barbra Streisand , Charles Aznavour , Sammy Davis, Jr. , Eartha Kitt , Dean Martin .
Her personal stylist was Patrick Valette, a Frenchman from fashion house Dior . She performed her show with 100-personnel French ballet. She lived in a villa with private swimming pool. In late 60s Villas recorded 20 songs for an American Television and Capitol Records . In March 1968 began a screen test for MGM|MGM film studio , where she was later signed to a movie contract. She acted in films including: the musical "Paint your wagon" with Lee Marvin and the western "Heaven with a gun" with Glenn Ford . Citation needed|date=December 2011
1971-1987: Isolation and great comeback
Villas was offered a lucrative 8-year contract with Paramount Pictures but turned it down because of her mother's illness which saw her to return to Poland. Later in the 1970s Violetta Villas had to return to Poland to her dying mother. Authorities of the Communist regime confiscated her passport, and she was forced to stay in Poland for more than a decade. However, she was not completely banned from the media and was able to pursue her career locally. In 1985 she had her great comeback, just a few years after martial law ended. The performances were sold out even weeks beforehand. Authorities returned her passport, and she resumed her international career. She later toured the USA and Australia .
In 1987 she went to the tour, "Violetta" after the United States and Canada . The premiere was September 14 at Carnegie Hall , where she received a standing ovation. In New York her concert was sold out. Villas performed in Las Vegas, Denver , Miami , Texas , Montreal and Chicago too.
Personal life
In 1954, when she was 16, Villas married lieutenant Gospodarek but they divorced just two years later in September 1956. Her parents had pressured her into the marriage but she did not truly love him.Wideoteka Doroslego Czlowieka, Polish talk-show, 2004 She left her husband to study music in Szczecin . They had one child, Krzysztof Gospodarek. In 1987 she met an American businessman and millionaire of Polish descent, Ted Kowalczyk, and married him on January 6, 1988 in Chicago. The wedding ceremony was held at a banquet room of the "Orbit" Restaurant. They divorced in December 1988. He gave many interviews in the media about their marriage, but she said on a TV show "I made an error, that I believed so fast."Ibisekcja, polish talk-show, 1999
Death
Villas died on 5 December 2011 in Lewin Klodzki at the age of 73cite web|url= http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/coloratura-soprano-cabaret-star-violetta-villas-dies-at-73/2011/12/07/gIQAstNgdO_story.html|title=Coloratura soprano, cabaret star Violetta Villas dies at 73|publisher=waschingtonpost.com|accessdate=2011-12-06.
Voice characteristics
Violetta Villas was a soprano whose voice had an extraordinary register and a very wide range of vocal color. Na kazdy temat - Polish television program, 1996 It covered five octaves from the baritone middle E2 to the soprano E7. Villas' best range was from C4 to C6. In her songs she showed a remarkable ability for naturally assimilative styles and for eliciting a multiplicity of voices. Villas could perform as a baritone , tenor , contralto , mezzo-soprano , and as a soprano, a unique attribute amongst singers of any gender, in the fields of both classical and popular music.
Theatre
Before Villas started her theatre career in Poland , she performed in international revue shows in France and United States . In 1978 she played at the Grand Theatre in Lódz in the musical show Kochajmy sie . In the 1970s/80s Villas was a star of the Siren Theatre in Warsaw . Villas played several roles in her theatre career, including Lygia in The third programme ( Trzeci program , 1978) and the main role in the revue Violetta (1986–1988). In 1986 she returned to theatre, performing in Violetta , a with an orchestra and ballet. Singer was a star of the Syrena to late 1980s. After 1988 she never performed at this theatre. Citation needed|date=December 2011 In 1992, Villas played in the musical Hello, Dolly& #33; (musical)|Hello, Dolly! at Cracow|Cracow Operetta House . In 90s she performed at Warsaw Operetta House in her author's programme, The Violetta Villas Show .
Discography
Studio albums
1962 in music|1962 Rendez-vous with Violetta Villas
1966 in music|1966 Violetta Villas
1967 in music|1967 Violetta Villas (reedition)
1968 in music|1968 For you my darling
1968 in music|1968 About Love...
1977 in music|1977 There is no love without jealousy
1985 in music|1985 Las Vegas
1986 in music|1986 Violetta Villas (reedition)
1992 in music|1992 The most beautiful Christmas carols
1996 in music|1996 Daddy 2 guest star
1997 in music|1997 Christmas carols
1997 in music|1997 Villas sings Christmas carols
2001 in music|2001 When Jesus Christus was born...
2001 in music|2001 Violetta Villas (reedition)
2001 in music|2001 There is no love without jealousy (reedition)
2001 in music|2001 For you my darling (reedition)
2003 in music|2003 Valentine hits
2004 in music|2004 Christmas carols from heart
2008 in music|2008 To comfort the heart and warmth the soul
2009 in music|2009 The most beautiful Christmas carols (reedition)
; 5. "Villas Revue", Congress Hall (Warsaw)|Congress Hall in Warsaw (1968):
Dark Eyes
Hello, Dolly!
''L'amour Est Un Oiseau Rebelle
''Libiamo ne' Lieti Calici
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
Strangers in the Night
This Is My Song
; 6. "Violetta", international concert tour started at Carnegie Hall in New York (1987–1988):
Arias from Carmen
Dark Eyes
Granada (song)|Granada
Happiness (polish - Szczescie )
If You Go Away|If you go away
Kiss me hotly (polish - Caluj goraco )
Mechanical doll (polish - Mechaniczna lalka )
Strangers in the night
Summertime (song)|Summertime
Violetta
References
reflist
External links
commons|Violetta Villas
http://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/116340 Villas's biodata and filmography (in Polish)
imdb name|name=Violetta Villas|id=0898111
Persondata | NAME = Villas, Violetta | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Cieslak, Czeslawa Maria | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Singer, actress | DATE OF BIRTH = June 10, 1938 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Liège, Belgium | DATE OF DEATH = December 5, 2011 | PLACE OF DEATH = Lewin Klodzki , Poland
DEFAULTSORT:Villas, Violetta Category:1938 births Category:2011 deaths Category:20th-century actors Category:Animal rights advocates Category:Ballad musicians Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Contraltos Category:Belgian emigrants to Poland Category:English-language singers of Belgium Category:French-language singers of Belgium Category:German-language singers Category:Italian-language singers Category:Las Vegas musicians Category:Mezzo-sopranos Category:People from Liège (city) Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Polish composers Category:Polish sopranos Category:Polish film actors Category:Polish emigrants to the United States Category:Polish musical theatre actors Category:Polish Roman Catholics Category:Polish television actors Category:Polish songwriters Category:Polish pop singers Category:Portuguese-language singers Category:Russian-language singers Category:Singers with a five octave vocal range Category:American sopranos Category:Spanish-language singers of the United States Category:Torch singers Category:Traditional pop music singers
