Angela Gheorghiu - Casta Diva - EMI Classics 

Angela Gheorghiu is a good lyric soprano. Her voice is very beautiful and live (I saw her as Liu) she can be touching if a shade cool and lacking in Italianate bite.

However it seems she thinks she is the next Callas, oh well, a lot of sopranos thought the same ... where are they .... Tokodi (I saw her live in as a terrible Puccini Manon Lescaut shouting her way through the role), Sass (when I was going to see her as Tosca she cancelled because the only performance she did sing she was so terribly booed she had to flee !), Suliotis (as fast as a comet from rise to fall I mean), etc ....

There is a fundamental difference between these previous singers and Gheorghiu. Gheorghiu is a much better prepared singer and does not try to emulate the Callas sound.

But her new CD, Casta Diva, is surely an attempt to enter in Callas and Sutherland and Caballe's repertoire. Just the mention of these three singers should give some indication as to why Gheorghiu is from the beginning unqualified, they were singers not only with larger voices but endowed by Nature with phenomenal voices and technique.

Gheorghiu is unafraid of such comparisons and boldly sings the following:

 

1- Casta Diva and Ah bello a me ritorna from Norma

    I will not even compare to other singers. On her own merit, the beginning of Casta Diva is very beautiful and she knows how to pour out that beautiful timbre, but as soon as she gets to the long sustained notes that demand a notion of the Bellini cantabili, she looses foot. It is providential that the recitative that comes before the aria is omitted because it would be very clear she is not up to the task. The caballeta goes Ok (we are in the studio) but live she would probably be screaming for the paramedics.

 

2 - Selva opaca from Guglielmo Tell

    This is a sad affair indeed. She has no notion of Rossinian style and cannot sing true pianissimo when required. Just listen to Aprile Milo's live recording (a must-have !) or Ricciarelli's CD to see what I mean.

 

3 - Qui la voce from I Puritani

    The same problems she had in Casta Diva and the interpretation also goes for nothing here.

 

4 - Vien diletto from I Puritani

    She makes a big interpretation mistake here and puts a smile in her voice as if the character were happy here (Elvira is crazy by the time she gets here). The coloratura is very sketchy.

 

5 - Una voce poco fa from Il Barbiere

    The problem is that Gheorghiu hasn't been convinced her lower voice is very weak for these roles and she is no coloratura either. She tries to "color" her voice (mimicking her husband). I'll leave to the listeners the judgment of that. It sounds very artificial to me

 

6 - L'ora fatal from L'Assedio di Corinto

    For me a total disaster. She lacks true pianissimos (she has them but the tessitura is a little bit low for her so she cannot get to them) and style. Just listen to Caballe or Ricciarelli here.

 

7 - Al dolce guidami from Anna Bolena

    I thought this was going to be good and started awfully well, the voice beautiful in the recitative and in the right mood. But in the closing of the aria I heard for the first time on records Gheorghiu falter, it is true, she cannot sing those high notes. It should have been retaped. I'm surprised she let this one go. Just listen to the live Ricciarelli CD here.

 

8 - Regnava nel silenzio from Lucia di Lammermoor

    I personally don't like this aria sung in the original key with no coloratura at all. Well that is what wisely Gheorghiu does. But she does not convince. Where is the haunting mood set by the piece ? And the high notes are closer to screaming.

 

    The conducting by Evelino Pidó is routine to say the least. The technical recording is very good though.

 

    And why did I say beginning of the end ? Well, if Gheorghiu really attempts any of the roles she sang here she is certainly on the road to disaster. There is not one aria that suits her, she lacks the bel canto style and her high notes are perilous. With a true conductor the results might have been different (and it is well known that Muti - a bel canto specialist - hates her). As it stands, this recording is a sad disappointment but serves as an indication to Gheorghiu to stay true to her Fach (lyric Italian and French repertoire).

 

    Well as we all know her, with plans of recording Adriana Lecouvreur, Tosca and all, she probably does not give heed to any advice.

    Is the market for true bel canto sopranos so bad that Gheorghiu feels she can attempt it ?

    Follow the link to this article and let me know what you think.