ANGELA GHEORGHIU - Live from La Scala

 

1. Martini: Piacer d’amor

2. Scarlatti: O cessate di piagarmi

3. Parisotti: Se tu m’ami

4. Gluck: O del mio dolce ardor

5. Bellini: Malinconia, ninfa gentile

6. Bellini: Vanne o rosa fortunata

7. Donizetti: Me voglio fa’na casa

8. Verdi: Stornello

9. Verdi: In solitaria stanza

10. Verdi: Brindisi II

11. Gounod: Serenade

12. Bizet: Chant d’amour

13. Massenet: Elegie

14. Alfred Alessandrescu : Sub perdeaua dragei mele

15. Diamanti Gheciu: Si daca

16. Tiberiu Brediceanu: Floricica de pe apa

17. Tiberiu Brediceanu: Bade, pentru ochii tai

18. Tiberiu Brediceanu: Vai, badita, dragi ne-avem

19. Gherase Dendrino: Te iubesc (from the operetta “Lasati-ma sa cant”)

20. F. P. Tosti: A Vucchella

21. Lerner/Loewe: I could have danced all night

22. Puccini: O mio babbino caro

 

Jeff Cohen - piano

 

‘The public feels so close and intimate. There’s really nowhere to escape…’ Angela Gheorghiu

 

Her magnificent voice and dazzling stage presence have established her as a unique international opera star. For the last 12 years, Angela Gheorghiu has been in constant demand in opera houses and concert halls around the world. So it is a surprising fact that she only made her debut at La Scala last year with a recital accompanied by pianist Jeff Cohen, now to be released on disc. If you want to hear her melt her way through glorious French chansons, or sparkle with brilliance in bel canto by Donizetti and Verdi, this CD is a must.

 

‘The public feels so close and intimate. There’s really nowhere to escape,’ says Angela Gheorghiu about the challenge of giving recitals. ‘To make my debut at La Scala with a recital… I think it was very courageous,’ she continues with justifiable pride.

 

To make those first steps on the legendary La Scala stage less daunting, she chose works primarily by opera composers. ‘They’re less like songs, more like arias. I thought that for such a big house it would be more appropriate,’ she says. As you can hear from the rapturous reception, her decision went down well with the notoriously hard-to-please audience.

 

Gheorghiu’s recital falls into four sections. She begins with a selection of arie antiche, continues into the bel canto and then French repertoire, and finishes with pieces from her native Romania.

 

EMI 3944202