Tosca's Prayer by Giacomo Puccini

Margareta Pâslaru or Pîslaru (Romanian pronunciation: [marɡaˈreta pɨsˈlaru]; born July 9, 1943, in Bucharest) is a Romanian-American singer, actress, composer, lyricist, TV producer, and artistic director. Debuting in 1958, Pâslaru celebrated the 50th anniversary of her career at The Romanian Union of Composers in Bucharest in 2008. Pâslaru was married to Gheorghe Sencovici, a former Olympic skeet shooter, until his death, and the couple had a daughter, Ana Maria, and a grandson, Luca. Pâslaru has lived and worked in the United States since 1983, splitting between Manhattan and Bucharest. She was formerly a resident of Summit, New Jersey.

A multi-talented artist, Pâslaru studied piano, ballet, and painting. Sung in Romanian, the style of her repertoire is very similar to the light pop music of the 1960s by artists such as Barbra Streisand and Petula Clark. She has collaborated numerous notable musicians, among them Radu Goldiș. Two songs from her repertoire were used for the 2005 international prize-winning Romanian film, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu: "Cum e oare" (Telling It Like It Really Is) and "Chemarea mării" (The Waves of the Ocean). Throughout her career, over 65 Romanian composers wrote music for Margareta Pâslaru.