Angela Gheorghiu

Angela Gheorghiu (IPA2|gjor'giu) (born Angela Burlacu) (born September 7, 1965) [John Warrack and Ewan West, 'Gheorghiu, Angela', "The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera", Oxford University Press, 1996; Nicolas Slonimsky and Laura Diane Kuhn , "Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians", Gale Group, 2001, p.1264; David M. Cummings, [http://books.google.com/books?id=48V3kmpJEEgC&pg=PA9&dq=angela+gheorghiu+1965&lr=&sig=yVJV4kqEtD64zSCefq0Cueh6d7A#PPA274,M1 'Gheorghiu, Angela'] , "International Who's Who in Classical Music", Routledge, 2003, p.274] is a prominent Romanian operatic soprano. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung leading roles at the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala Milan, and many other major opera houses in Europe and the United States. She has a substantial discography primarily with EMI Classics and Decca.

Biography

The daughter of a train driver, Gheorghiu was born in Adjud, Romania. Along with her sister Elena Dan, she sang opera music from an early age. [ [http://www.jcarreras.homestead.com/AlagnaArtPeople1999.html Roberto Alagna - People Magazine 21 June 1999 ] ] At age 14, Gheorghiu began to study singing at the Bucharest Music Academy, primarily under Mia Barbu. Her graduation in 1990 coincided with the overthrow of Nicolae Ceauşescu, enabling her to seek an international career immediately. Her professional opera debut took place at the Cluj Opera as Mimì in "La bohème" in 1990, the same year she won the Belvedere International Competition. [ [http://www.wienerkammeroper.at/gesangswettbewerb.en.php Vienna Chamber Opera: International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition ] ]

Gheorghiu made her international debut in 1992 at Covent Garden as Zerlina in "Don Giovanni". [http://www.angelagheorghiu.com/files/biography/biography-en.pdf Biography on Official website (2004)] ] She debuted at the Vienna State Opera as Adina in "L'elisir d'amore" and at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimi in "La bohème". [ [http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/season/bio.aspx?id=690&type=1 Bio of Angela Gheorghiu - The Metropolitan Opera ] ] 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 [Crory, Neil (2005) "Recommended CD Recordings: Puccini: Angela Gheorghiu" "Opera Canada" 46(2): p.47] , Gheorghiu is also able to sing "spinto" roles. She has recorded "Tosca" (also made into a film directed by the French 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.

She has recorded many recital albums and complete opera recordings and often appears on television and in concerts. The EMI recording of Massenet's "Manon" with Angela Georghiu in the title role won the 2001 Gramophone Award for "Best Opera Recording", was nominated for "Best Opera Recording" in the 2002 Grammy Awards. [ [http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2002/grammys/print.ballot3.html 2002 Grammy Nominees] , Grammy Award Spotlight, CNN. Note that the Grammy awards recognize accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.] [Paul Cutts [http://www.gramophone.co.uk/newsMainTemplate.asp?storyID=698&newssectionID=1 Alagna scores second Gramophone Awards success] , "Gramophone", October 19 2001.]

Gheorghiu at the Met and elsewhere

Frequently, Angela Gheorghiu has had tempestuous relationships with opera house managements and directors. Many, 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." ["que quiere expresar sus fantasías, olvidándose de los personajes. A veces, lo que se representa en el escenario va en contra de la historia y de la música." in Susana Gaviña, [http://www.abc.es/hemeroteca/historico-18-05-2007/abc/Espectaculos/yo-tengo-el-control-en-la-opera-angela-gheorghiu-_-soprano_1633176191100.html «Yo tengo el control en la ópera»] , "ABC", May 18, 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2008.] She has attributed her outspokenness to her upbringing in Romania under the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu:

"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." [Warwick Thompson, [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1742639.ece Her serene highness] , "The Times", May 4, 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2008.] .

Gheorghiu had locked horns several times with the Met's former General Manager, Joseph Volpe since her debut there as Mimi in 1993. In 1996, Gheorghiu was cast as Micaela in a new production of "Carmen", opposite Waltraud Meier and Placido Domingo. The production by Franco Zeffirelli called for Micaela to wear a blonde wig, a nuance to which the soprano vehemently objected. Volpe famously declared, "The wig is going on, with you or without you". [Alan Kozinn, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9504E6D71731F932A15750C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon= Debriefing/Joseph Volpe; How Pavarotti Got a Proper Farewell] , "New York Times", March 21, 2004. Retrieved 3 June 2008.] Gheorghiu eventually relented and appeared in ten performances of "Carmen" that season, including the Met's tour to Japan, although she kept the hood of her cloak up to cover the wig as much as possible. She appeared at the Met again in 1998 for six performances of "Roméo et Juliette" with her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna as Roméo. Volpe had planned to engage Gheorghiu in her signature role, 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 the soprano and her husband squabbled with staff and 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 expiration date. Holding the singers to the letter of the contracts, Volpe refused to accept them after the deadline. The production opened with Patricia Racette and Marcelo Alvarez as the lovers. [Anthony Tommasini, [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE3D8123AF937A35757C0A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print Hesitating Celebrity Couple Loses a Met Opera Contract] , "New York Times", April 4, 1998. Retrieved 3 June 2008]

Nevertheless Georghiu and Alagna returned to the Met for five performances of "L'elisir d'amore" in 1999 and for four performances of "Faust" in 2003. Gheorghiu also performed at the Met as Liu in "Turandot" in 2000; as Violetta in "La traviata" opposite Jonas Kaufmann in 2006 and 2007; as Amelia in "Simon Boccanegra" in 2007; and as Mimì in "La bohème" in 2008. [ [http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm MetOpera Database. Retrieved 3 June 2008] ] Gheorghiu's future engagements at the house include Magda in Puccini's "La Rondine", the company's first performance of the opera since 1936; Marie Antoinette in a rare revival of John Corigliano's "The Ghosts of Versailles"; and another new production of "Carmen", this time in the title role.

In September 2007 Georghiu 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 'Boheme' 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. [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/28/arts/NA-A-E-MUS-US-Opera-Gheorghiu-Fired.php Lyric Opera of Chicago fires soprano Angela Gheorghiu] Associated Press, via "The International Herald Tribune", September 28, 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2008.] .

Six weeks later, Gheorghiu made her house debut at San Francisco Opera receiving favorable reviews for her Magda in the company's new production of "La Rondine". [Joshua Kosman, [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/09/DDJLT8QN6.DTL Gheorghiu's debut worth the wait in Opera's 'La Rondine'] , "San Francisco Chronicle", November 9, 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2008.] [Georgia Rowe, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20071113/ai_n21101016 Angela Gheorghiu is the wind beneath the wings of 'La Rondine'] , "The Oakland Tribune", November 13, 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2008] The San Francisco Opera production originated with London's Royal Opera House, where it premiered on May 7, 2002 with Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna as Magda and her lover Ruggiero. 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?" [Robert Thicknesse, [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article443639.ece?token=null&offset=12 The angel comes down to earth] , "The Times", June 11, 2004. Retrieved 3 June 2008.]

Personal life

Divorced from her first husband, from whom she retained her surname, Gheorghiu married the French tenor Roberto Alagna in 1996. The couple have sung together often on stage and on studio recordings. She was once chosen the 74th "most beautiful" woman in the world by the magazine FHM. [Ed Vulliamy, [http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/story/0,,1973773,00.html Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna: A double act of arias and anger] , "The Observer", December 17, 2006; [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article673558.ece With a voice like that, she’s allowed to be a nightmare] , "The Times", June 11, 2006.]

Partial Discography

* "Arias" Decca 1996
* "L'elisir d'amore" (Donizetti) Decca 1997
* "Mysterium - Sacred Arias" Decca 2001
* "La Bohème" (Puccini) Decca
* "La Traviata" (Verdi) Decca
* "La Rondine" (Puccini) EMI
* "Werther" (Massenet) EMI
* "Manon" (Massenet) EMI
* "Tosca" soundtrack (Puccini) EMI
* "Il Trittico" (Puccini) EMI
* "Verdi: Requiem" (Verdi) EMI
* "Il Trovatore" (Verdi) EMI
* "Romeo et Juliette" (Gounod) EMI
* "Live From La Scala" EMI 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.angelagheorghiu.com/en/gheorghiu.html Angela Gheorghiu: Official website]
* [http://www.emiclassics.com/artistbiography.php?aid=114 Official Angela Gheorghiu page on EMI Classics] (Biography, discography, schedule)

Persondata
NAME= Gheorghiu, Angela
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Burlacu, Angela
SHORT DESCRIPTION= opera singer
DATE OF BIRTH= September 7, 1965
PLACE OF BIRTH=Adjud, Romania
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=