Angela Gheorghiu
A Life for Art
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- 26,99 €
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- 26,99 €
Description de l’éditeur
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
