Autograph / Angela Gheorghiu [box Set]

Angela Gheorghiu

Composed by: Various

In a biographical panorama of her career spanning 25 years, the spellbinding Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu has personally selected the scenes, arias and songs in this Autograph collection. It showcases her greatest stage roles – such as Violetta, Mimì, Tosca, Magda and Adriana Lecouvreur – and an array of heroines as diverse as Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Norma and even Turandot. These are complemented by evocative songs from Romania, a DVD of performance extracts, and opera specialist Jon Tolansky’s exclusive and illuminating audio interview with the singer. In 2015, Angela Gheorghiu celebrates 25 years since her career was launched with a performance of Mimì in La bohème at the National Opera of Romania in Cluj. She shot to international fame in 1994 when she sang La traviata, conducted by Sir Georg Solti, in a new production at the Royal Opera House in London. She retains a close relationship with the house and has performed and recorded regularly with its Music Director, Sir Antonio Pappano. With her voice of velvety beauty, her refined sense of style and expression, her physical beauty and her skill as an actress, she is established as one of the leading operatic sopranos of our time, especially noted in the Italian repertoire. Her most celebrated stage roles are Violetta, Mimì, Tosca, Magda (La rondine) and Adriana Lecouvreur. All these feature in her Autograph collection, as do many characters that she has not sung on stage, including Cio-Cio San (from her prizewinning complete recording of Madama Butterfly, made in Rome with Pappano and Jonas Kaufmann), Carmen, Norma, Charlotte (Werther) and even Turandot. Also included are a selection of haunting Romanian songs and a DVD of performance extracts. Drawing on the EMI, Erato and Teldec catalogues, each Autograph box focuses on a single artist, providing a biographical panorama of his or her career through a series of thematically programmed CDs and fascinating documentation. Each collection - which tracklisting is personally overviewed by the artist - is devised in collaboration with the artist in question, who also features in a specially-recorded exclusive interview. Illustrated with musical extracts to illuminate the artist’s life and work, the interviews are conducted by the distinguished journalist and broadcaster Jon Tolansky.

Price: $35.98