Angela Gheorghiu - Live from Covent Garden
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Angela Gheorghiu, Ion MartinDVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Running Time: 72 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-05-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: EMI Classics
Movie Reviews of Angela Gheorghiu - Live from Covent Garden
Movie Review: One of the most "glamorous" - but _very_ overrated singers of our time
Summary: 1 Stars
AG the person is far more interesting and significant - for her
Wagnerian awfulness, and vampirism -- see below -- then the mediocre musician she is in fact.
Yes, AG is a great entertainer onstage - when - her voice is amplified
and she is "on" - which is usually. But she has large imperfections as a musician-soprano -- always has - and dozens of superiors. She simply is not in the same league onstage (much less in a recording studio) as Renee or Cece -- to mention a few. AG is nearly 50 despite her official bio. She never fulfilled the promise of this 2002 performance. (In 20 years, she's gotten one _nomination_ for a Grammy, and no wins -- except in Europe and Britain - from special in-grown awards organizations.
Her repertoire has strangely shrunk since 2002, and she never really mastered but half-a-dozen Puccini and Verdi works, and La Rondine; she's a classic jet-setter who's squandered her gifts. She uses the months between performances to play, rather than mastering roles, and has a fraction of the repertoire of her betters. Sad to say, she is one of those rare artists whose bad performaces offstage - in life away from music - has negatively affected her onstage performances and legacy. She has been an utter failure in the recording studio, in comparison to her well-known compatriots, and despite 2+ decades of study, has never mastered Italian diction, much less English. (Her English is still so bad, despite the best tutors money can buy, that she still is prone to explosions and serious misunderstandings -- from _compliments_ and ordinary chit-chat. (I speak from the unpleasant experience of nearly 3 years of correspondence with her, on unrelated topics - she had me promise early on, that I wouldn't read the public writings about her, and I didn't - to my great detriment as it turned out.)
Her colleagues gave her the very apt name "Lavampirette". It is
for unprofessional behaviour, at the least - of which her very public firing by the Lyric Opera of Chicago was but the tip of the iceberg, and one of _many_ old-fashioned diva mannerisms that are echt 19th-century.
One point she was very firm on in our correspondence though, which was right on: _never_ take the public PR announcements at face value - the truth about the inner workings of the opera world are usually 180 degrees from its public face. It really wouldn't matter what is done in private lives, if it was under control enough to enable her to complete a full scheduled run of a performance - which she is now famous for _never_ doing. From this 2002 performer til now, there has been a steady spiral downward, and now Madama is only interested in $ -- look for her to ally more with Andrea B, after the very recent Rome (May '09) earthquake "benefit" concerts with him -- never _really_ "benefits" -- and despite a decade of dissing Andrea in her interviews, as someone who is decidedly not an opera singer, since he never can appear in an opera. (I was appalled - as most - by her utter cruelty in regard to Andrea's obvious disability.)I predict also more appearances with her close buddy Jonas Kaufman - a very bankable rising star > 20 years younger than her, with whom she has partnered several years now...to say they are an item is an understatement...
What really frosted me, was when Luciano P was first hospitalized in NYC
with pancreatic cancer - a death sentence. She didn't visit or say a word to him despite her presence in NYC much of the time he was in hospital....then, she has the chutzpah to participate in a "benefit" for him last year, in Petra, Jordan...and from what I read and saw, there was precious little "benefit" or tribute of any kind to anyone except the particpants. Great food and jewels, though... and this from one who could care less about the big guy whilst he lived.... I think he saw though her, and she knew so...hence the rarity of their performances together when LP was alive.....
How does all this relate to the music she makes? In summary:
1. onstage - a beautiful entertainer-presence and a great, memorable timbre -- but too small a voice. (Marred by silly mannerisms oftimes, though in her acting)
2. in the recording studio - her recordings speak for themselves - put anything she has recorded alongside the same piece any of the greats recorded, and its immediately evident (phrasing, tempo, breathing, diction, control, accuracy... you will be appalled if you follow her singing with a score in hand...)
3. offstage - truly a vampire. One who _takes_ .... I could write a volume -- and may....
I wish her well, and especially good health! She is one who is quite needy of that!
Summary of Angela Gheorghiu - Live from Covent Garden
Angela Gheorghiu first captured international attention in 1994 and rose rapidly to first-class star status. This 2001 recital, from the same opera house where her La traviata set the audience and critics on fire, shows the qualities that have made her one of the most acclaimed opera singers working today.Gheorghiu's best-known roles are in the romantic and verismo operas of the 19th and early 20th centuries, sampled here in beautifully interpreted arias of Massenet, Charpentier, Puccini, and Cilea. In this music, her identification with the role is total, her voice tonally opulent, emotionally expressive, and exquisitely controlled. When her selections venture outside that rather restricted category, the results are equally impressive. A charming novelty is the folk-flavored aria by Romanian composer Tiberiu Brediceanu. Gheorghiu's 18th-century arias give Handel and Mozart a refreshing energy, and she is captivating in "I could have danced all night." The disc is in widescreen anamorphic format with DTS, Dolby Digital 5.0, and PCM stereo sound, and EMI's booklet is a model of what all DVD releases should offer but seldom do. --Joe McLellan
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