Who was Gabi Luncă, one of the great voices of the “classical” generation of slum violin music / She began her career in 1951, and after 1993 she sang only in Pentecostal services – VIDEO – Essential

The violinist Gabi Luncă, who had been infected with the new coronavirus and was hospitalized, died on Friday night, at the age of 82.

Gabi (Elena-Gabriela) Luncă was born on October 16, 1938 in the Vărbilău commune, Prahova county. He inherited his musical talent from his father, Dumitru Luncă, a violinist in the Ploieşti Army Orchestra, according to folklore-romanesc.ro and Agerpres.

Along with Dona Dumitru Siminică, Romica Puceanu and Victor Gore, Gabi Luncă belongs to the “classical” generation of urban violin music (poor neighborhood).

He began singing in 1951, with his father, and after 1953 he became a soloist in the Folk Music Orchestra of the Workers’ Club de Băicoi.

In the period 1955-1957, he recorded for the first time on Romanian Broadcasting, where he debuted with the song “Above my house”. He also started collaborations with the Ploieşti Club Folk Ensemble “1 Mai”, the conductor and accordionist Sile Ungureanu and with the “Flacăra Prahovei” Orchestra of the Ploieşti Philharmonic, conducted by the violinist George Botez.

Gabi Luncă became famous at the age of 17, when she was working in the Prahova Flame Orchestra in Ploieşti. At age 19, she was invited by Electrecord to record her first album, with only four songs. The resistance song was “Let my wife go home.”

In 1964, Gabi Luncă married accordionist Ion Onoriu, with whom she had four children.

Beginning in 1973, she recorded songs, until the end of her career, with her husband, Ion Onoriu, who was later joined by clarinetist Mieluţă Bibescu, trumpeter Costel Vasilescu, and drummer Toni Iordache.

In 1980 he had his first concert abroad, in Israel, followed by other tours, highlighting Berlin (1982), New York (1983), Paris and Madrid (both in 1992).

In 1991, Gabi Luncă organized together with Ion Onoriu the largest urban violin music concert (slum) in the history of Romania, at the Dinamo stadium in Bucharest, and the two also established themselves as leaders of the Roma ethnic group in the first Middle of the ’90s.

Starting in 1993, the singer completely retired from the violin music scene, singing only at the services of the Pentecostal Church in Bucharest.

The singer’s discography includes numerous recordings (ebonites, vinyl, tape recorders, audiotapes, CDs and DVDs) containing recordings made between 1959-1991 on Electrecord. Throughout his career he has collaborated with important conductors such as Nicu Stănescu, Ionel Budişteanu, Constantin Mirea, Zisu Georgescu or Florian Economu, prestigious instrumentalists such as Nicolae Florian, Nicolae Vişan, Nicolae Crăciunescu and Marcel Budală.

In the late 1990s, the Electrecord recordings reached the UK and caught the attention of the BBC radio station, with the album “Gabi Luncă – Sounds From A Bygone Age Vol. 5″ weather”).

Gabi Luncă printed numerous albums during the collaboration with Electrecord, among which are: “Gipsy Songs” (1974), “Măi neicuţă din Piteşti” (1983), “Anii mei şi tinereţea” (1991), “Două mame pentru – a girl “(2005),” Mother with a whip in me. Treasures of violin music “(2009).

In 2002, she was nominated for “The Listeners Award” in the World Music category.