If
you love Angela Gheorghiu,
you'll love Puccini... (and
vice-versa!)
Yes, in a sense
that transcends time, it seems they were made for each other.
She was, in her own estimation, born "with tears in her voice"
- a quality that makes her supremely equipped to sing the vulnerable
but courageous heroines of Giacomo Puccini, opera's master of
high drama and sweet melodies.
With this newest recording, Angela Gheorghiu, one of today's foremost
opera stars, can claim that, with the exception of Giorgetta in
Puccini's opera of jealousy and revenge Il tabarro, she
has sung everyone of them(see tracklist below) - with
an exceptionally beautifully supple, sweet voice and a passion
that, indeed, can bring tears to one's eyes.
EMI Classics #7243
5 57955 0 2
While
she has not sung on the opera stage all the roles that make up
today's standard Puccini repertoire, this prospect is certainly
in sight for the young Romanian soprano who burst into the international
scene with a bang only in 1994 when she sang the role of Violetta
in Verdi's La Traviata at the Royal Opera House (Covent
Garden) under the baton of the late Sir Georg Solti who, if memory
serves us correctly, came out of this conducting experience of
his last years with - in his own words - "tears in his eyes."
Thus was a star born and her place in the operatic firmament secured.
She has since conquered the hearts of audiences in the world's
major opera houses, singing a repertoire that ranges from Mozart
to bel canto, but for now the Royal Opera House, where
she performs on a regular basis, can be considered to be her artistic
home. (She made her debut there as Zerlina in Mozart's Don
Giovanni in 1992, followed a few months later by a highly
acclaimed performance as Mimi in Puccini's La Boheme.)
In 2000-01, Ms Gheorghiu filmed Tosca with her husband,
star tenor Roberto Alagna and the Royal Opera House Orchestra,
the video and soundtrack recording of which have received critical
acclaim. Next year, she will add Tosca to the list of
Puccini operas she has sung on stage (La boheme and La rondine)
when she performs the demanding role for the first time at the
Royal Opera House. It will certainly be a moment to look forward
to.
This CD is worth adding to one's Puccini collection - for the
music as well as for the de luxe packaging and documention that
includes, in three languages, biographies of the composer and
the artist, the text of the arias, and brief synopses of the operas
that give context to the aria selections. Anton Coppola (uncle
of renowned film director Francis Ford Coppola) conducts the Orchestra
Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, whose chosen tempi some may
find too slow, nevertheless brings a special touch to this Puccini
album that could be traced to his tutelage under the composer
Franco Alfano whose job it was to complete Puccini's unfinished
last opera, Turandot.
Below, a sampling of Puccini, in the style of Angela Gheorgiu,
who can legitimately claim the mantle of the legendary sopranos
(e.g., Callas, Tebaldi) of another age, after whose professional
styles she has partly fashioned her own (click on your choice
of media player):
The
Tracklist:
Madama Butterfly
1. Un Bel Di Vedremo (Butterfly)
2. Tu, Tu, Piccolo Iddio (Butterfly)
Manon Lescaut
10. In Quelle Trine Morbide (Manon)
11. Sola, Perduta, Abbandonata (Manon)
Edgar
3. Addio, Mio Dolce Amor (Fidelia)
4. Nel Villaggio D'Edgar (Fidelia)
Suor Angelica
12. Senza Mamma (Angelica)
La rondine
5. Chi Il Sogno Di Doretta (Magda)
Gianni Schicchi
13. O Mio Babbino Caro (Lauretta)
La boheme
6. Si, Mi Chiamano Mimi (Mimi)
7. Quando Me N'vo (Musetta)
8. Donde Lieta Usci (Mimi)
Le villi
14. Se Come Voi Piccina Io Fossi (Anna)
La fanciulla del West
9. L'amore E Un'altra Cosa...Laggiu Nel Soledad (Minnie)
Turandot
15. Signore, Ascolta! (Liu)
16. Tu Che Di Gel Sei Cinta (Liu)
17. In Questa Reggia (Turandot)
from
Madama Butterfly Track 1
Un beld di (Butterfly)
from
La Boheme Track
6
Si, Mi chiamano Mimi (Mimi)
from
Gianni Schicchi Track
13
O mio babbino caro (Lauretta)
