Angela Gheorghiu & Vincenzo Scalera
Biography Angela Gheorghiu & Vincenzo Scalera
Angela Gheorghiu
the most glamorous and gifted opera singer of our time (New York Sun), was born in the small Romanian town of Adjud. From early childhood it was obvious that she will become a singer, her destiny was music. She attended the Music High School in Bucharest and graduated from the National University of Music Bucharest. She studied with the remarkable music teacher Mia Barbu. Ms. Gheorghiu’s magnificent voice and dazzling stage presence have established her as a unique international opera superstar.
Angela Gheorghiu’s rise to international stardom began with her debut at London’s Royal Opera House in 1992, when she sang Mimì in La bohème. In the same year she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Vienna State Opera. It was at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden that she first sang her much acclaimed Violetta in La Traviata in 1994, when for the first time in television and operatic history the BBC cleared out its schedules to broadcast the opera live. At one rehearsal the conductor Sir Georg Solti said: “I was in tears. I had to go out. The girl is wonderful. She can do everything.” The performance was also filmed and recorded by Decca. Newspapers and magazines noticed that “A star is born”. Since then Ms Gheorghiu has been in constant demand in opera houses and concert halls around the world: New York, London, Paris, Salzburg, Berlin, Tokyo, Rome, Seoul, Venice, Athens, Monte Carlo, Chicago, Philadelphia (with Philadelphia Orchestra), Sao Paolo, Los Angeles, Lisbon, Valencia, Baalbek, Amsterdam, Kuala Lumpur, Zürich, Vienna, Salzburg, Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Prague, Montreal, Moscow, Taipei, San Juan, Ljubljana, Buenos Aires and others.
Opera roles during the 2023/24 season include Mimì La bohème in her return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where she made her international debut in 1992. Elsewhere she performs numerous gala concerts and recitals worldwide, including an appearance with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.
Gheorghiu debuted as Mimì for the Vienna State Opera (1992) and Metropolitan Opera (1993). She returned to the Royal Opera House in 1994, when she first sang her much acclaimed Violetta La traviata, and when for the first and last time in television and operatic history, the BBC cleared its schedule to broadcast the opera live. She has since appeared at the world’s leading opera houses and concert halls, her repertoire including, among others, Mimì, Violetta, Juliette Roméo et Juliette, Nedda Pagliacci, Adina L’elisir d’amore, Amelia Simon Boccanegra, title role Tosca, Magda La rondine, Marguerite Faust, Micaëla Carmen, Liù Turandot, Charlotte Werther and title role Adriana Lecouvreur.
Gheorghiu has recorded extensively for EMI Classics/Warner Classics and Decca, and has received numerous international artistic honours, including La Médaille Vermeille de la Ville de Paris, the awards of Chevalier and Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the Nihil Sine Deo decoration from King Michael I of Romania, the European Cultural Award for Music, the Victoire d'Honneur Award, multiple Gramophone awards and twice the Female Artist of the Year award at the Classical BRIT Awards.
Gheorghiu performed at the reopening gala of the Royal Opera House (1999) and of the Teatro Malibran in Venice (2001). She sang at the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee celebrations, on the grounds of Buckingham Palace (2002) and at the Royal Opera House (2012). She also sang for Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo in 2002 and at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in 2003. In 2005, she sang at the opening of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia in the presence of Queen Sofia of Spain, and at the Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands Silver Jubilee Gala in Amsterdam. In 2007, she performed the role of Fanny in the world premiere of Vladimir Cosma Marius et Fanny in Marseille. In 2011 she sang at the reopening of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and at the grand opening of the Katara Amphitheater in Doha, Qatar, where she performed music especially composed for her by the legendary Greek composer Vangelis. Gheorghiu headlined the Last Night of the Proms concert in London on three different occasions, at the Royal Albert Hall (2003) and in Hyde Park (2000, 2006).
February 2022 marked her 30th anniversary performing with the Royal Opera House, when she reprised Tosca to great critical acclaim.
