ANGELA GHEORGHIU CELEBRATES HER 25TH ANNIVERSARY AND 150TH PERFORMANCE WITH THE ROYAL OPERA IN ADRIANA LECOUVREUR
Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu celebrates 25 years since her Royal Opera debut as she returns to the Royal Opera House to reprise the title role in David McVicar’s production of Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, which she created in this production in 2010. She will sing Adriana in five performances (7, 10, 17, 24, 27 February 2017), reaching her 150th performance with The Royal Opera on 27 February – a significant milestone for one of the leading artists of the past three decades.
Angela Gheorghiu made her Royal Opera debut in 1992 singing Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Mimì (La bohème). She has since appeared for the Company 145 times, as Liù (Turandot), Nina (Chérubin), Micaëla (Carmen), Violetta Valéry (La traviata), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Magda de Civry (La rondine), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Nedda (Pagliacci), Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra), Marguerite (Faust), Mimì, Tosca and Adriana Lecouvreur.
In 1994 Angela Gheorghiu received worldwide acclaim when she sang Violetta Valéry in the first staging of Richard Eyre’s now celebrated production of Verdi’s La traviata. Her success in the role (under the baton of The Royal Opera’s former Music Director Georg Solti) led to BBC Two clearing its regular schedule and transmitting a performance live from the Royal Opera House. Since then, Angela Gheorghiu has regularly performed for leading opera houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, New York, La Scala, Milan, Vienna State Opera, Liceu, Barcelona, and Paris Opéra.
In 2006 Angela Gheorghiu created the title role in Jonathan Kent’s new production of Puccini’s Tosca for The Royal Opera, returning to reprise the role in 2009, 2011 and 2016. The production replaced Franco Zeffirelli’s legendary 1964 staging of the work which featured such notable Toscas as Maria Callas and Montserrat Caballé. Several of Angela Gheorghiu’s performances with The Royal Opera (including Adriana Lecouvreur, Tosca and Faust) are available on DVD.
To mark Angela Gheorghiu’s 25th anniversary with The Royal Opera, Warner Classics have re-released Live from Covent Garden, a 2001 live recital given by Angela Gheorghiu with Ion Marin and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House.
Angela Gheorghiu’s performances for The Royal Opera
Zerlina (Don Giovanni, Royal Opera debut): 3 March 1992
Mimì (La bohème): 16, 19, 21, 26, 28 May, 12 June 1992
Zerlina (Don Giovanni, tour to Japan): 17 (Tokyo), 20 (Osaka) July 1992
Liù (Turandot): 20, 23, 26 February, 1 March 1993
Zerlina (Don Giovanni): 6, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23 July 1993
Nina (Chérubin): 14, 16, 18, 21, 24 February, 1 March 1994
Micaëla (Carmen): 10, 14, 17, 20 May 1994
Violetta Valéry (La traviata): 25, 29 November, 2, 5, 8, 13, 16 and 19 December 1994
Mimì (La bohème): 10, 16, 21, 23, 25 February 1995
Violetta Valéry (La traviata): 8, 11, 15, 18 July 1996
Gold and Silver Gala: 12 December 1996
Liù (Turandot): 16, 19, 21, 30 December 1996
Adina (L’elisir d’amore): 22, 26, 29 April, 2, 6, 9 May 1997
Magda de Civry (La rondine, concert performance, Royal Albert Hall): 18 May 1998
Concert with Roberto Alagna: 27 December 1999
Juliette (Roméo et Juliette): 18, 21, 26 February, 6, 9 March 2000
Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann): 29 September, 2, 5 October 2000
Angela Gheorghiu in Concert (Live from Convent Garden): 8 June 2001
Magda de Civry (La rondine): 7, 10, 13, 16, 19, 22 May 2002
Pappano and Friends: 13 November 2002
Nedda (Pagliacci): 7, 10, 16, 20 July 2003
Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra): 21, 24, 28 February, 3 March 2004
Marguerite (Faust): 11, 15, 19, 23, 27 June, 2 July 2004
Magda de Civry (La rondine): 12, 15, 18, 20, 26 November 2004
Winter Gala: 22 November 2004
Mimì (La bohème): 17, 20, 24 June 2005
Tosca (Tosca): 13, 16, 20, 23, 26 June, 1 July 2006
Marguerite (Faust): 15, 18, 27 September 2006
Tosca (Tosca): 9, 14 July 2009
Violetta Valéry (La traviata): 8, 11, 14 July 2010
Adriana Lecouvreur (Adriana Lecouvreur): 18, 22, 30 November, 4, 7 December 2010
Tosca (Tosca): 14, 17 July 2011
Marguerite (Faust): 18, 21, 24, 28 September, 1 October 2011
Mimì (La bohème): 19, 23 June 2012
2012/13 Cinema Season Launch Recital: 22 September 2012
Our Extraordinary World Gala: 30 October 2012
Magda de Civry (La rondine): 5, 8, 11, 14, 21 July 2013
Mimì (La bohème): 12, 15, 19 July 2014
Tosca (Tosca): 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 25, 29 January 2016
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