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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Homage to Maria Callas can be already pre-ordered on Amazon.co.uk, in regular and Deluxe version. No cover or other details yet. Only the release date, November 7 in UK.
Mogens, thanks! ;)
Friday, August 26, 2011
If your operatic plans for next year include Staatsoper Hamburg, maybe you'd like to know that the general booking for La Boheme in 2012 (on March 27, 30 and April 4) starts on Monday, August 29.
Cast
Mimì: Angela Gheorghiu
Rodolfo: Giuseppe Filianoti
Schaunard: Moritz Gogg
Marcello: Aris Argiris
Colline: Adrian Sampetrean
Benoît: Frieder Stricker
Musetta: Katerina Tretyakova
Parpignol: Chris Lysack
Alcindoro: Dieter Schweikart
Philharmoniker Hamburg
Conductor Alexander Soddy
More details about booking and the seat plan of the venue, on the website of the Opera House.
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Rodolfo: Giuseppe Filianoti
Schaunard: Moritz Gogg
Marcello: Aris Argiris
Colline: Adrian Sampetrean
Benoît: Frieder Stricker
Musetta: Katerina Tretyakova
Parpignol: Chris Lysack
Alcindoro: Dieter Schweikart
Philharmoniker Hamburg
Conductor Alexander Soddy
More details about booking and the seat plan of the venue, on the website of the Opera House.
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Tuesday, August 23, 2011
21C Media Group mentions the title of Angela's new CD in their latest newsletter. According to them, EMI CLASSICS releases Homage to Maria Callas, a new album from Angela Gheorghiu. This is a personal collection of songs that reflects the soprano’s rise to stardom as well as how the legendary Maria Callas impacted her life and career.
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More on the topic comes from a blog, Paul Pelkonen's Superconductor. He says the info comes from a recent press release sent by EMI Classics, that states that the new CD will be out in stores (in US) in October. It will feature arias Puccini's La bohème, Catalani's La Wally and La Mamma Morta, the aria from Giordano's Andrea Chenier.
But the most controversial addition to the disc is a digitally built duet between La Gheorghiu and the late Maria Callas. The two sopranos will sing "L'amour c'est l'oiseaux rebelle", the Habañera from Act I of Bizet's Carmen.
The new "duet" was created from the original master tape of Callas' 1961 recording of the aria. The engineers chose this over the '63 recording of the complete opera, because it lacked the usual choral accompaniment.
In the engineering booth, the original orchestra (the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française under the baton of George Prêtre) was scrubbed out. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Marco Armiliato re-recorded the music, with the players using a special click track to match the original. Ms. Gheorghiu also chose to learn Callas' particular sense of rhythm and meter, enabling the two divas to warble together, or seperately.
The new "duet" was created from the original master tape of Callas' 1961 recording of the aria. The engineers chose this over the '63 recording of the complete opera, because it lacked the usual choral accompaniment.
In the engineering booth, the original orchestra (the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française under the baton of George Prêtre) was scrubbed out. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Marco Armiliato re-recorded the music, with the players using a special click track to match the original. Ms. Gheorghiu also chose to learn Callas' particular sense of rhythm and meter, enabling the two divas to warble together, or seperately.
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Quotation from the same press release, according to that blog. That's all for now. More info coming soon, hopefully.
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Friday, August 19, 2011
A blonde Leporello reading a catalogue... which happened to be a Vogue magazine :)). Only Erwin could do that. It happened in Waldbuhne, a few nights ago. As you already know what Vogue is about, the lyrics actually make some sense. What would Mozart think of this? ...Madamina, il catalogo è questo, delle belle che amò il padron bio / E v'han donne d'ogni grado, D'ogni forma, d'ogni età. / Nella bionda egli ha l'usanza di lodar la gentilezza, / Nella bruna la costanza, / Nella bianca la dolcezza....
.I watched this concert live on ZDF (and it's still available in their player for those who haven't watched it). Personally, I created a yellow-free zone... and concentrated on the tenor&baritone. But it's just me. And my ears. Watch and take whatever you want from it.
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And just like that, post by post, this blog is now 2 years old. So let's celebrate :)
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.And from opera to tango. Rojotango was offered as encore, to the delight of the audience.
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
It's a free ten day festival in Lincoln Center Plaza, New York. It starts with Don Pasquale on August 27 and ends with Don Carlo on September 5. Good chance to see (or see again... or see again and again and again) the 2009 La Rondine.
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The entire schedule is on metoperafamily.org
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Friday, August 12, 2011
Did it happen to you to get stuck in a song, to wake up thinking of it then to hum it all day long? Once in a while I discover an aria, something I haven’t listen to in a long while, and I can’t let it go for three-four days.
Here it is. The aria of the week :)
Here it is. The aria of the week :)
N’est-ce plus ma main, from Manon by Massenet (Angela Gheorghiu/Roberto Alagna). It's in the third act, the Saint Sulpice sceen. Furiously, Des Grieux attempts to reject Manon, but when she recalls their past intimacies, his resistance is overcome, and their voices join in an impassioned avowal of love.
Have a great weekend!
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Originally scheduled for June 19, 2012, the new date for the concert at Salle Pleyel is May 4, 2012, as mailed to the subscribers. And the tenor is the Romanian Stefan Pop, the one who joined Angela Gheorghiu on stage in Korea&Shanghai.
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The program mysteriously includes Airs d'opéras français et italines. There are tickets still available in the first (130 euro) and second category (90 euro) on the website of the venue.
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.Sunday, August 7, 2011
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It begins on September 28 with the live screening of Faust (Angela Gheorghiu/Vittorio Grigolo/Rene Pape/Dmitri Hvorostovsky). It goes on with Adriana Lecouvreur (Angela Gheorghiu/Jonas Kaufmann) in October and Tosca (Angela Gheorghiu/Jonas Kaufmann/Bryn Terfel) in November. This season includes a series of 9 productions (5 live broadcasts) with a mix of opera and ballet.
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Saturday, August 6, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
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Concert program
Part I:
Berlioz - Hungarian March - Damnation of Faust
Massenet - El Cid O - Souverain - Placido Domingo
Dvorak - Rusalka - Song of the Moon - Angela Gheorghiu
Wagner - Die Walküre - Winterstürme - Placido Domingo
Bizet - Carmen - Habanera - Angela Gheorghiu
Giordano - Andrea Chénier - Nemico della patria - Placido Domingo
Catalani - La Wally - Ebben, ne andrò lontana - Angela Gheorghiu
Donizetti - Don Pasquale overture
Verdi - Otello Già nella notte densa - Angela Gheorghiu/Placido Domingo
Part II :
Verdi - Simon Boccanegra - Favella il doge...Figlia, a tal nome - Angela Gheorghiu/Placido Domingo
Loewe - My Fair Lady - I Could Have Danced All Night - Angela Gheorghiu
Leigh - Man of La Mancha - The Impossible Dream - Placido Domingo
Bernstein - Candide overture
Bernstein - West Side Story - Tonight - Anegela Gheorghiu/Placido Domingo
Brediceanu - La Seceris - Angela Gheorghiu
Sorozabal - Maravilla - Amor, vida de mi vida - Placido Domingo
Gimenez - La boda de Luis Alonso intermedio
Penella - El gato Montés - Me llamabas, Rafaeliyo - Angela Gheorghiu/Placido Domingo
Encores:
Sorozabal - Tabernera del puerto - No puede ser! - Placido Domingo
Kerestely - Copacul - Angela Gheorghiu
Puccini - Gianni Schicchi - O, mio babbino caro - Angela Gheorghiu
Velasquez - Besame mucho - Placido Domingo
Lecuona - Siboney - Angela Gheorghiu
Lara - Granada - Placido Domingo
Lehar - The Merry Widow - Lippen Schweigen - Angela Gheorghiu/Placido Domingo
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What did I like most about this concert? Many things
***Song of the Moon, the duet from the first act of Simone Boccanegra, Copacul (sung here for the first time ever, beautifully orchestrated and dedicated to Roberto who was in the audience. It’s a Romanian song from the 80’s, originally performed by Aurelian Andreescu. It was soooo touching. Loved it and hope to listen to it again soon) and O, mio babbino caro (there’s something about this song.. it seems different each time she sings it.. the color of the voice, that amazing last sound, the look in her eyes, the gestures…
***the sound in the venue and the enthusiasm of the people. Even if O2 Arena is huge (something like 20.000 seats), you could hear the instruments and voices perfectly. The sound of the videos posted on YouTube is misleading in most of the cases. The cameras only captured the echo of the venue, not the real sound.
***didn’t quite understand the lighting on the stage. Blue, pink and purple during the concert, blinding white cast on the audience during applauses. But the colored light made the photos… special***Placido’s Wintersturme. I stick to this one as solo piece and not the encores that everybody went crazy for. It’s just me.
***Angela’s second dress and her irresistible smile***And I could go on and on.... lucky you this was not written in the airport. Otherwise it would have been pages long :))
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Simply happy to be there. It was another great evening that I'm so thankful for.
Simply happy to be there. It was another great evening that I'm so thankful for.
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O2 Arena, London
I guess the photos speak for themselves. There are also some videos scattered on YT, but I keep them for the next post.
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O2 Arena, London 
Angela Gheorghiu
Angela Gheorghiu, Placido Domingo and Eugene Kohn
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