Angela Gheorghiu - Casta Diva / Pido
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Free Music Notes for Angela Gheorghiu - Casta Diva / Pido
Free Music Review: Who knew!
Hit: 4 Stars
When I first listened to this CD, I was rather surprised, much like I was when I first listened to Renee Fleming's Bel Canto CD. I always thought that Gheorghiu was just a dramatic/spinto soprano...it never occured to me that she was anything close to a coloratura...although I think all classical singers should have velocity, even if they rarely call on it. She does surprisingly well with all the melismas...not like sills, sutherland, dessay or gruberova, but she stills manages them quite nicely. I also never knew she had an altissimo range...of course I know that the soprano voice doesn't stop automatically at High C, but you just never think about sopranos such as gheorghiu having D's and E-flats. She weathers her acuti (extreme high notes) well...she sometimes sounds like she doesn't know what to do with them once she is up there, but they sound nice anyway. This CD consists of several fav's such as Casta Diva, Una Voce Poco Fa, Regnava nel silencio/Quando rapito, Qui la voce/Vien diletto...all staples of the coloratura repertoire...and she does some not so famous ones, such as selections from William Tell, The siege of Corinth, and Anna Bolena. A nice mix I would say. Overall, this is an enjoyable recital...you get to hear Gheorghiu singing some of your favorite bel canto arias, and you get to hear her singing entirely different styles than you're probably used to hearing her singFree Music Review: An interesting entry into coloratura soprano territory
Hit: 4 Stars
This represents a major excursion of soprano Angela Gheorghiu into the world of coloratura. First, what is coloratura in opera? The Wikipedia says: "In the bel canto era, all singers had to be coloratura specialists, that is, they had to be able to add ornamentations to the written music." Ornamentation includes trills, runs, and other vocal effects (such as appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas), many of which leave the listener in awe.
Gheorghiu does not appear to be a natural coloratura soprano. While coloratura technique can be used by any singer from bass to soprano, male or female, we normally think of sopranos in this context. We also normally think of coloratura sopranos as having lighter voices that can reach those high notes and have the agility to command the ornamentation called for. Of course, as I recall, Joan Sutherland, one of the great coloratura sopranos of the 20th century, began as a dramatic soprano (although my memory may betray me). Certainly, the voice of Gheorghiu is darker than a Beverly Sills, for example. But the true test: What about the ornamentation and agility?
In short, my answer is "not bad." Her trills are not great, but some who essay the coloratura repertoire ignore trills entirely (listen to Maria Callas, for example); others stun, such as Joan Sutherland. While Gheorghiu is no Sutherland (or Sills), she is on a higher plane than Callas. She shows vocal agility in traversing some of the prime coloratura territory for sopranos. The cabaletta to "Casta diva" (from Bellini's Norma) is nicely done; just so, the cabaletta from I Puritani, "Vien, diletto," is competently done; she is able to show agility in Rossini's "Una voce poca fa" (from Il Barbiera de Siviglia), although her voice is darker and heavier than many others who take this tune on. The great test on this CD: her rendering of Mad Lucy's "Quanto rapito in estasi" (from Lucia di Lammermoor). This is not Sills or Sutherland. But it ain't bad! In cabalettas such as this, it's not the first time through that is of interest for the coloratura soprano. The first time through, the singer demonstrates that she can hit the notes and has some coloratura technique. It's the second time through, when the vocal pyrotechnics should emerge. And Gheorghiu's second time through features more ornamentation and vocal effects. She takes it up a jot from the first time through this great cabaletta.
In the end, Angela Gheorghiu is not Sills or Sutherland. But there aren't too many at that level to begin with. She does a pretty good job, and the CD is worth a listen. If nothing else, compare current sopranos who essay the coloratura repertoire with predecessors such as Sills and Sutherland. Gheorghiu need not feel embarrassed with her work on this CD.
Free Music Review: A definite wobble.
Hit: 2 Stars
Angela Gheorghiu may very well be 'the next Callas'. Callas' overuse of chest voice and forcing out high notes that aren't comfortably in her range are all here, as well as some additions: poorly executed coloratura, uneven vowelisation, often dodgy tuning, an uneven scale through the voice, unbalanced resonance and a distracting wobble present at various times throughout the recording (there's vibrato, and then there's a lot of vibrato, and then there's a wobble, and this is a definite wobble). And the girl lacks Callas' utterly unique connection to text and drama.
These are beautiful pieces, probably some of the hardest, if not the hardest, written for the soprano voice, for the technique demanded by the bel canto literature is extreme. And Angela Gheorghiu just isn't there. If you want these beautiful pieces sung by a soprano with the technical capacity to sing them beautifully, look up Edita Gruberova. She may not have the astounding breath and support of Dame Sutherland, or the supreme expression of La Divina, whom both have have produced some admirable and recommendable recordings of many of these arie, but she is as good a combination of the two as I can think of in this repertoire.
Free Music Review: El retorno de la Callas.
Hit: 5 Stars
Como no pod?a ser de otro modo, de nuevo esa gran artista que es ANGELA GHEORGHIU consigue un trabajo redondo, esta vez ofreciendo versiones de las mas celebres arias belcantistas. La Gheorghiu (mas conocida por sus aportaciones a otro tipo de repertorios) ofrece en este disco su voz bellisima, segura en todas las zonas de la tesitura y su expresividad extraordinaria caracteristica. EVELINO PIDO y los cuerpos estables del Covent Garden acompa?an a la perfeccion a la Gheorghiu, lo que redondea un disco que es un nuevo exito para sumar a la lista de triunfos de esta genial artista. BRAVA ANGELA!Free Music Review: Good starting place into dangerous territory
Hit: 4 Stars
Angela Gheorghiu is a beautiful woman who happens to have a lovely, dark voice capable of many colors. Her voice is immediately recognizable. She dives head first into this recital of technically difficult and dramatically challenging arias. Some arias are performed superbly. Others need more work. She has good Italian throughout this disc. She is a speaker of the language, so to say that she has bad Italian shows ignorance on the part of the one reviewer who said disparaging remarks about her diction. She does not have intonation problems on this disc. Her "Casta Diva" sounds far too studied and detached. She sounds as if she wants to perform the aria brilliantly in terms of simply pulling it off rather than investing her entire dramatic intelligence into it. The arias from "Guglielmo Tell" and "L'Assedio di Corinto" are performed superbly with a lot of dramatic commitment. Her coloratura throughout is secure, but it does not have the same fluidity that Sutherland and Sills commanded. However, to criticize her good coloratura technique is too narrow-minded. She is not a true coloratura. Keep that in mind. The "Anna Bolena" aria is sung well. The first half is done superbly, but the requisite nostalgia in the second half is missing. She tries, but fails to convince. Her "Una voce poco fa" is sung brilliantly, but without any charm or wit. It is too bad. The arias from "La Sonnambula" and "I Puritani" are sung nicely, but the high E's are not really secure. She needs to work on those notes. She also lacks a real trill. Her "Lucia di Lammermoor" excerpt is good, but Sutherland and Sills have sung it better. Sills also sang it with more convincing emotion. Overall, this disc is a good look at what may come from Gheorghiu in the future in the bel canto repertory.