Angela Gheorghiu

Biography

Angela Gheorghiu (Romanian pronunciation: [an%CB%88d%CD%A1%CA%92ela ɡe̯orˈɡi.u]; born 7 September 1965) is a Romanian soprano.

Since her professional debut in 1990, she has performed in leading roles of several operas at New York's Metropolitan Opera, London's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States. She has a substantial discography primarily with EMI Classics and Decca and is especially known for her performances in the operas of Puccini.

Gheorghiu was born in 1965 in Adjud, Romania. Along with her sister Elena Dan, she sang opera music from an early age.[2] At age 14, Gheorghiu began to study singing at the National University of Music Bucharest, primarily under Mia Barbu. Her graduation in 1990 followed the overthrow of Nicolae Ceaușescu the previous year, enabling her to seek an international career immediately. Her professional opera debut took place at the Cluj-Napoca Romanian National Opera as Mimì in La bohème in 1990, the same year she won third prize in the Belvedere International Competition.

Gheorghiu made her international debut in 1992 at the Royal Opera House as Zerlina in Don Giovanni.[4] She debuted at the Vienna State Opera as Adina in L'elisir d'amore and at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimì in La bohème.[5] In 1994, she was auditioned by the conductor Sir Georg Solti for a new production of La traviata at the Royal Opera House. Her debut as Violetta led her to international stardom.

Gheorghiu has concentrated her repertoire on several different roles: Violetta, Mimì, Magda, Adina, and Juliette. In 2003, she debuted as Nedda in Pagliacci and as Marguerite in Faust. A soprano with a large range and a dark coloured voice,[6] Gheorghiu is also able to sing spinto roles. She has recorded Tosca (also made into a film in 2001, directed by the French director Benoît Jacquot) and Leonora in Il trovatore for EMI and sang in her first Tosca at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2006. Her performance was an overall success, although because the famous Zeffirelli production of 1964 was replaced by a new production (which premiered with her), there was comparison between the Toscas of Gheorghiu and Maria Callas, for whom the Zeffirelli production was designed.

Gheorghiu took part in many concerts, singing alone or together with her colleagues. Among the most important ones, the reopening of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (1999) and Teatro Malibran in Venice (2001) and at the opening the new Opera House in Valencia, in the presence of the Queen Sofia of Spain (2005). She sang at the Prom at the Palace (2002), the event that marked the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, a concert that is available on DVD. In 2012, Gheorghiu was the guest of honor at a London Royal Opera House gala which was also attended by Elizabeth II. The Romanian soprano sang at the event, which was organized to raise funds for the Royal Opera House Foundation. She also sang at the Queen Beatrix's Jubilee Gala in Amsterdam (2005), at the New Year's Eve Concert at Palais Garnier in Paris (2006), at the Met Summer Concert in Prospect Park, New York (2008), and at the Memorial Concert for Luciano Pavarotti in Petra, where she also performed an unconventional duet of "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni with Sting (2008).

In 2009, Gheorghiu was invited to honor Grace Bumbry during the 32nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors, in Washington, DC. She performed "Vissi d'arte" from Puccini's Tosca in the presence of Barack Obama.

In December 2000, Gheorghiu performed the title role in the film Tosca, directed by Benoit Jacquot, together with Roberto Alagna and Ruggero Raimondi.[10] One year later, in 2002, Gheorghiu interpreted Juliette in the movie Roméo et Juliette, alongside Roberto Alagna and Tito Beltrán, also released on DVD.

In November 2010, Gheorghiu made her debut in Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, a new production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The Observer wrote, "It's hard to imagine anyone bettering Angela Gheorghiu in this part. Her voice, feather-light and creamy yet with a core of steel, matches the liquid way she moves on stage. She's a natural actress and made the improbable death scene heartbreakingly believable and her signature aria 'Poveri fiori' simply unforgettable."[12] The Telegraph wrote, "Adriana is known as a nice, easy sing for ageing or challenged prima donnas (no difficult top notes, and a tame orchestra), so Gheorghiu, in her vocal prime, should have found it a doddle. But her first aria was bumpy and nervous, and she fudged the end of the second. Elsewhere, in duet and declamation, she often sang exquisitely."

In July 2011, Gheorghiu sang the title role in Tosca at the Royal Opera House conducted by Antonio Pappano, and the following September returned there for the revival of Faust, which was broadcast live in cinemas all over the world. In April 2012, she appeared for the first time at the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires, in a concert of duets with Roberto Alagna.

In February 2012, Gheorghiu was the special guest at the Vienna Opera Ball, where she performed accompanied by conductor Georges Prêtre and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

In June 2012, Gheorghiu celebrated 20 years since her debut on the stage of the Royal Opera House, London, by performing in La bohème with Roberto Alagna. In July 2012, she held her first master class at the Georg Solti Accademia in Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy. She returned to Tuscany for a second masterclass at the Georg Solti Accademia in 2016.[16] In November 2012 she returned to San Francisco Opera to perform in Puccini's Tosca. In an interview[17] with Kurier from February 2014, Gheorghiu expressed interest in performing the role of Norma and in recording the role of Desdemona (Otello). Her most recent role debut was as Charlotte in Massenet's Werther in March 2015 at the Vienna State Opera, to great critical acclaim.[18] Gheorghiu also performed the role of Charlotte in August 2015 at the Salzburg Festival in a concert version with great success.

In July 2015, Gheorghiu made her debut at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland with guitarist Miloš Karadaglić in a special recital at The Église.

In October 2015, Gheorghiu appeared for the first time ever in Australia, performing in two exceptional gala concerts at the Sydney Opera House and at Hammer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne.[21][22][23] In November 2015, Gheorghiu performed at the Richard Tucker Opera Gala, "opera world’s most highly anticipated event of the season", at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,in New York City. The gala was broadcast on February 5, 2016 on PBS.[24] Gheorghiu also sang at the Richard Tucker Opera Gala in 1999.[25] In November 2015, Gheorghiu sang at the Elena Obraztsova Opera Ball at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia.[26] On the 29th of November 2015, Gheorghiu held a humanitarian concert at the Romanian Athenaeum to raise funds for the victims of the Colectiv nightclub fire. The concert was organized in partnership with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and conductor Tiberiu Soare.[27] In December 2015, Gheorghiu sang together with Ramón Vargas and Ghiță Petean in a gala concert at Opéra de Monte-Carlo. All proceeds from this concert went to the Foundation established in the disappearance of Ramon Vargas's son, Eduardo, at the age of six ("Fund in memory of Eduardo Vargas").

In 2016, Gheorghiu returned in the title role of Puccini's Tosca at the Royal Opera House and received great critical acclaim.[29][30][31][32] Gheorghiu was scheduled to appear in 5 performances, but sang in a total of 7 performances.[33] She also returned as Tosca at the Wiener Staatsoper alongside Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel[34] in April 2016. In September 2016, Gheorghiu performed in Tosca at the Staatsoper Berlin with "loud and prolonged ovation".

2017 marks 25 years since Gheorghiu's international debut at the Royal Opera House in 1992.[36] She performed in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera House in London in February 2017.

Gheorghiu at the Met and elsewhere

On occasion, Gheorghiu has had difficult relationships with opera house managements and directors. Some, but not all, of them have stemmed from her opposition to directors who, as she put it in an interview with ABC "want to express their own fantasies, forgetting about the characters. At times, she says, what they put on stage goes against both the story and the music."[57] She has attributed her outspokenness to her upbringing in Romania under the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu:

"Because I grew up in a country where there was no possibility of having an opinion, it makes me stronger now. Lots of singers are frightened about not getting invited back to an opera house if they speak out. But I have the courage to be, in a way, revolutionary. I want to fight for opera, for it to be taken seriously. Pop music is for the body, but opera is for the soul."

Gheorghiu had a problematic relationship with former Metropolitan Opera General Manager Joseph Volpe after her debut there as Mimì in 1993. In 1996, Gheorghiu was cast as Micaela in a new production of Bizet's Carmen, opposite Waltraud Meier and Plácido Domingo. The production by Franco Zeffirelli called for Micaela to wear a blonde wig, which Gheorghiu disliked. When the Met toured the production in Japan in 1997, she refused to wear it on the first night to which Volpe famously declared, "The wig is going on, with you or without you" and replaced her with an understudy.

She appeared at the Met again in 1998 for six performances of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette with her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna as Roméo. Volpe had planned to engage Gheorghiu in Violetta Valery for a new production of La traviata, to premiere in November 1998 and directed by Zeffirelli. Alagna was to sing the role of Violetta's lover, Alfredo Germont. According to Volpe, Gheorghiu and Alagna argued with the staff and the director over production details and continually delayed signing the contract. They eventually signed their contracts, and faxed them to the Met one day past their deadline. Volpe refused to accept them. The production opened with Patricia Racette and Marcelo Álvarez as the lovers.

Despite these issues, Gheorghiu and Alagna returned to the Metropolitan Opera for five performances of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore in 1999 and for four performances of Faust in 2003. Gheorghiu also performed at the Met as Liù in Puccini's Turandot in 2000; as Violetta in La traviata opposite Jonas Kaufmann in 2006 and 2007; as Amelia in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra in 2007; as Mimì in La bohème in 2008; as Magda in the 2008/2009 season in the ROH/SFO production of La rondine, the Met's first performance of the opera since 1936; and for the 2009/2010 season she appeared as Violetta, replacing her previous engagement as Marie Antoinette in a rare revival of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, which was replaced due to the recession.

In September 2007, Gheorghiu was dismissed from Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of La bohème by General Manager William Mason, for missing rehearsals and costume fittings, and generally "unprofessional" behavior. Gheorghiu said in a statement that she had missed some rehearsals to spend time with her husband, who was singing at the Met in Roméo et Juliette and rehearsing for Puccini's Madama Butterfly and added, "I have sung Bohème hundreds of times, and thought missing a few rehearsals wouldn't be a tragedy. It was impossible to do the costume fitting at the same time I was in New York.

Six weeks later, Gheorghiu made her debut at San Francisco Opera receiving favorable reviews for her Magda in that company's new production of La rondine.[62][63] The San Francisco Opera production originated with London's Royal Opera House, where it premiered on May 7, 2002 with Gheorghiu and Alagna as Magda and her lover Ruggero. It is one which she particularly admires: "When the curtain opened on La rondine at Covent Garden, the audience gasped and applauded. People want to dream. If directors want to do something new with operas, why not do something beautiful?"

On December 31, 2008, Gheorghiu premiered the new production of La rondine at the Metropolitan Opera, together with Roberto Alagna, Marius Brenciu, Lisette Oropesa and Samuel Ramey. The opera was last performed at the house over 70 years ago. She received some favorable reviews for her Magda: "Gheorghiu embodies the part, as actress and singer, with her natural charisma."[65] The New York Times opinion was more mixed: "Vocally, both leads are somewhat disappointing. Ms. Gheorghiu, as Magda, sings with gleaming sound and wonderfully dusky colorings in the strong top register of her voice. But the earthy richness of her mid-range singing sometimes turns breathy, and her low voice is curiously weak."

In August 2009, Gheorghiu canceled all her scheduled 2010 Met performances of Carmen, for "personal reasons".[67] It was to have been her first public performance of the title role (written for and normally sung by a mezzo-soprano). This was later attributed to her separation from her husband, Roberto Alagna, who was scheduled to sing opposite her.[68] She also cancelled other Met performances scheduled near the end of 2010. In March 2011 she cancelled all her scheduled performances of Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Met, citing illness. Only days later she cancelled all her performances in the scheduled new production of Faust during the Met's 2011/2012 season. According to her manager, "She felt uncomfortable in the concept". Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, said that her frequent cancellations had become "an increasingly difficult problem for (the Met)." Gelb went on to say that, as of then, plans were still in place for Gheorghiu's return to the Met stage. He also said, "This has nothing to do with wigs.".

Gheorghiu returned to the Met in December 2014 to perform to great critical acclaim as Mimì in La bohème, opposite Michael Fabiano.

Gheorghiu performed her first Met Tosca in the Luc Bondy production in the 2015/16 season with great reviews: "the famous "Vissi d'arte" was easily the most poignant moment of the night from every angle...At the climax of the aria, her voice soared through the theater in painful anguish and her final notes were held out with seemingly endless breath"; "The color of her voice is gorgeous—her tone is smooth and full, mellow but with a hint of lemon"; "Her idiosyncratically alluring, sometimes maddening, always fascinating Floria Tosca inevitably became the evening’s unmissable raison d'être!".

Personal life

Divorced from her first husband, from whom she retained her surname, Gheorghiu married tenor Roberto Alagna in 1996. The couple have sung together often on stage and on studio recordings. In January 2013, she announced that they had agreed to divorce.

Opera audio recordings

• 1994 La traviata (Verdi) Decca 000289 448 1192 6 CD
• 1996 L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti) Decca 000289 478 2491 6 CD
• 1996 Carmen (Bizet) Teldec B000000S8P CD
• 1998 Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) EMI 0094635862423 CD
• 1999 La bohème (Puccini) Decca 000289 466 0702 2 CD
• 1999 Il trittico (Puccini) EMI 0724355658722 CD
• 1999 Werther (Massenet) EMI 0724355682024 CD
• 2000 Manon (Massenet) EMI 0724355700520 CD
• 2001 Messa da Requiem (Verdi) EMI 0724355716828 CD
• 2001 Tosca (Puccini) EMI 0724355717320 CD
• 2002 Il trovatore (Verdi) EMI 0724355736024 CD
• 2003 Carmen (Bizet) EMI 0094635243529 CD
• 2009 Madama Butterfly (Puccini) EMI 5099926418728 CD
• 2009 L'amico Fritz (Mascagni) Deutsche Grammophon 00289 477 8367 CD
• 2010 Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) EMI Classics 5099964070025 CD
• 2010 La rondine (Puccini) EMI Classics 509996407482 CD
• 2011 Fedora (Giordano) Deutsche Grammophon 000289 477 8367 1 CD

Opera videos

• 1994 La traviata (Verdi) Decca DVD
• 1996 L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti) Decca DVD
• 1996 La rondine (Puccini) EMI DVD
• 2001 Messa da Requiem (Verdi) EMI DVD
• 2001 Tosca (Puccini) EMI DVD
• 2003 Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) Arthaus Musik DVD
• 2007 La traviata (Verdi) Arthaus Musik DVD/Blu-ray
• 2007 La traviata (Verdi) Arthaus Musik DVD
• 2008 La bohème (Puccini) EMI DVD
• 2010 La rondine (Puccini) EMI DVD
• 2010 Faust (Gounod) EMI DVD
• 2012 Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea) Decca DVD/Blu-ray
• 2012 Tosca (Puccini) EMI DVD/Blu-ray

Biographies

• https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Gheorghiu
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Gheorghiu_discography
• http://www.angelagheorghiu.com/biography.html