Angela Gheorghiu: A Life for Art

by Angela Gheorghiu, Jon Tolansky (Contribution by)

Overview

Angela Gheorghiu is one of the most passionate and talented artists working in opera today, a larger-than-life figure whose intensity and drive, on stage and off, have commanded the attention of the opera world. Largely composed of exclusive interviews with the artist, this authorized biography of the internationally acclaimed soprano, covers Gheorghiu’s life and career from her childhood in Communist Romania to her spectacular Covent Garden debut in 1992 and up to the present day. In it, Gheorghiu shares new insights into the performance of many of her iconic stage roles and her collaborations with opera’s leading lights. Also featured are commentaries and reminiscences by such celebrated figures in the music and art worlds as Grace Bumbry, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Marilyn Horne, Bryn Terfel, and Franco Zeffirelli.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781611689129
Publisher:	University Press of New England
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

ANGELA GHEORGHIU is a world-renowned Romanian soprano. JON TOLANSKY is a writer, lecturer, and documentarian working in the world of opera.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments • Preface • Poems of Childhood • Study, Study, Study • Communist Romania and the Path of Music • Romance and Revolution • Falling in Love with Covent Garden • A Star Is Born • New Beginnings • Dramas and Traumas • Royal Encounters • Becoming Tosca • Choices and Launches • Restoring My Faith in Love • Timeline of Career Highlights • Discography • Index of Names

What People are Saying About This

Franco Zeffirelli

“An instant blaze of vitality, talent, and beauty—like lightning! And she has extraordinary professionalism. You cannot reach that position that is so high unless you work hard. She started with a wonderful voice, of course, but the talent has to be developed by discipline and intelligence, and she has that. This is why—and I must say this with respect to all the other singers—she is unique today. There is one Angela Gheorghiu.”

Sir Antonio Pappano

“I first heard Angela in the autumn of 1993 when she came to the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels to sing Micaëla in Carmen. . . . The beauty of the voice, and not only the beauty but the individuality, just sent people into raptures.”

Grace Bumbry

“Angela is elegant, she has fire, she has a wonderful voice—what more could you possibly want from a singer!”

Placido Domingo

“[Hers] is a voice that acts by itself, and as well as being a fine stage actress there is a special performing quality in her voice. Sometimes you hear a beautiful voice but you don’t feel the performer in it. In Angela’s voice you hear the performing actress.”

Editorial Reviews

07/23/2018
Gheorghiu candidly recalls pivotal moments in her life, from her 1960s childhood in Romania to her later success with the Royal Opera House in London and the New York Metropolitan Opera in this enjoyable memoir. She describes her progression from a local singer in the small city of Adjud to a music conservatory within Romania’s Communist regime: “As we grew older, things began to get worse in the country, and shortages of all kinds appeared—especially the simple things: food, clothing and footwear, everyday things.” Gheorghiu tells of her life in the High School of Art in Bucharest, which she describes as a “prison” due to the watchful eye of government security guards; it was there, however, that she began to feel “more and more confidence in the gift God bestowed on me—my voice.” At 25 she was performing for the National Opera of Bucharest. Shortly after, she auditioned for the Royal Opera House and was immediately cast in several productions, debuting there in 1992 as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Gheorghiu fondly recalls such mentors and colleagues as Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and producer Franco Zeffirelli, yet also tells of her clashes with, for example, Metropolitan Opera manager Joseph Volpe­, who insisted she wear an oversized wig during a performance (she protested by refusing to go on stage). Gheorghiu doesn’t disappoint with her story of becoming a world-class opera star. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

“Gheorghiu doesn’t disappoint with her story of becoming a world-class opera star.”
—Publishers Weekly


“There will doubtless be subsequent books on Gheorghiu, without her involvement or imprimatur. Until then, this provides a lot of worthwhile material. straight from the diva’s mouth.”—Opera

From the Publisher